Denise E. Peterson, FCIArb

I am a civil mediator, arbitrator, and am licensed as an attorney in the states ofTexas and New York. I am also a Solicitor to the Senior Courts of England and Wales. My focus is on being a professional neutral. I am a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators based in London and a member of the Association of Attorney-Mediators here in the United States. While my experience is global, my focus is local on the needs of businesses and individuals here in Texas.

In addition to providing ADR services, I also lead talks and teach continuing legal education for attorneys and mediators on subjects as diverse as implicit bias, when to mediate, mediation ethics, and LGBT issues in mediation. I have had the privilege of presenting for the State Bar of Texas, Montgomery County Dispute Resolution Center, the Houston Bar Association, The Woodlands Bar Association, the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston, Houston Lawyers Association, and others.

I am active in the legal and ADR communities, and currently serve the State Bar of Texas both as a member of the Grievance Committee (2018-2021) and the Local Bar Services Committee (2019-2022). As a member of the Houston Bar Association, I am a member of both the Minority Opportunities in Law and Gender Fairness Committees for 2019-2020. Working with the Houston Bar Association’s Speaker’s Bureau, I have taught about Texas courts at local community colleges and been a part of the annual Teach Texas program in Houston-area schools. Every Constitution Day, I look forward to reading in local elementary schools about our Founding Fathers.

From 2010 to 2015, I represented major multinational clients in litigation and government investigations in mortgage banking, consumer debt litigation, employment law, toxic tort, and real estate. Among my professional responsibilities were running investigations, which included teams of up to twenty attorneys and paralegals, engaging in settlement negotiations with consumers and government regulators, and managing local counsel.

I am a second career attorney. Prior to law school, I had a successful business career in IT consulting during the dot-com era. Before that, I worked for a range of companies and industries from mortgage banking to manufacturing and retail. I worked for start-ups, family-owned businesses, and in corporate environments. I lived the unique business issues for these types of organizations. 

I am committed to access to justice and have recently become an outside partner for Lone Star Legal Aid’s Statewide Disaster Pro Bono Technology Committee, whose goa is to create a state-wide portal allowing more attorneys to assist after a disaster like Hurricane Harvey. In the past, I have worked with Catholic Charities to get an infant human trafficking victim a permanent and loving home and even ensured snow monkeys could stay safely at their sanctuary. I believe that as an attorney has the responsibility to serve my community.

• TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, MA PROGRAM, 2021-PRESENT
• SOUTH TEXAS COLLEGE OF LAW, JD, 2010
• UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, BA HISTORY, 2007

• Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
• State Bar of Texas
• Houston Bar Association
• Association of Attorney-Mediators
• HIAC
• Northwest Bar Association of Houston
• Muslim American Bar Association
• Mexican American Bar Association
• Houston Maritime Arbitrators Association

Mediation pricing is the same for in-person and online mediation.

Standard pricing:

• Half-day: $850/per party
• Full-day: $2,000/per party

Special pricing:

•  Small cases: $400/per party
  • Small cases are a two-hour time slot, online only.
• Cases from Harris County County courts 1-4, same as the small case pricing.
• TDI case pricing is in the TDI portal.
• Cases involving travel outside of Harris and contiguous counties such as Fort Bend or Montgomery counties have a travel premium based on location and duration of mediation.
• Questions? Email Emilie Laversin, Ms. Peterson's case manager: emilie@petersonadrtx.com.