Sylvia Mayer

An arbitrator, mediator, and attorney with over 30 years of experience in courts nationwide and over 10 years of experience as a neutral.  As a National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals member and a TMCA Credentialed Distinguished Mediator, Sylvia Mayer has served as counsel or neutral in thousands of disputes spanning a breadth of industries and a wide variety of issues.  She serves on several arbitration and mediation rosters for civil, commercial, consumer, energy, employment, and healthcare disputes.  As a neutral, she has resolved disputes with damages ranging from several thousand dollars to multi-million and billion dollars.  As an arbitrator, she has served as an emergency, chair, panel, and sole arbitrator.  As a mediator, she has mediated two-party disputes and complex multi-party disputes.  Sylvia is available to assist parties throughout the U.S. with online, in-person, and hybrid mediations and arbitrations. 

CONTRACT AND COMMERCIAL DISPUTES:  Served as neutral in disputes involving breach of contract, business litigation, business separations, collections, corporate governance, credit defaults, director and officer liability, fiduciary duties, financial services, guarantees, insurance, operating agreements, professional liability, promissory estoppel, secured transactions, surety bonds, tortious interference, and branding agreements. 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND PARTNERSHIP DISPUTES:  Served as neutral in disputes involving breach of fiduciary duty, business separations and dissolutions, valuation, corporate governance, corporations, limited liability companies, and limited partnerships.

ENERGY, OIL & GAS:  Served as neutral in a variety of energy, oil and gas related disputes including disputes involving (a) exploration and production, (b) joint operating agreement and working interest owners, (c) royalties and overrides, (d) power purchase agreements, (e) oil and gas titles, (f) distribution of oil and natural gas, (g) construction of pipelines and energy facilities, (h) lease termination, (i) oilfield services, (j) product and service contracts, (k) joint venture agreements, (l) statutory and vendor lien rights, (m) gathering and transportation agreements, and (n) retail and wholesale distribution of petroleum products.

HEALTHCARE AND LIFE SCIENCES:  Served as neutral in a variety of healthcare and life sciences disputes including (a) payor/provider disputes involving claims for reimbursement, breach of contract, future contract terms, and determination of the usual, customary and reasonable rate; (b) disputes over mergers, sales, dissolutions, and other business issues, including within physician practice groups and among hospitals and health care businesses and joint ventures, (c) employment disputes involving executives and business partners, (d) trade secrets disputes, (e) disputes over nondisclosure agreements and misuse of confidential information, (f) breach of contract disputes including involving pharmaceuticals, patents, licensing, manufacturing, commercial supply agreements, product development agreements, and commercially reasonable efforts.

EMPLOYMENT:  Served as neutral in disputes involving separation, severance, non-competition, discrimination, harassment, defamation, workplace disputes, employment contracts, executive compensation, breach of confidentiality, wrongful discharge, and wrongful termination.

FINANCIAL SERVICES AND SECURITIES:  Served as neutral in disputes involving financial services and securities including fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, underwriting, rights and obligations of classes of creditors, credit defaults, collections, secured transactions, and allegations of false and misleading statements.

BANKRUPTCY LITIGATION:  Served as neutral in disputes involving out-of-court restructurings and workouts, chapter 11 plan negotiations, nondischargeability complaints, preference actions, fraudulent transfer actions, breach of fiduciary duty claims, statutory lien claims, assets sales, executory contract issues, corporate governance issues, and determination of the extent, validity, priority and potential subordination of claims.  In addition, served as a court-appointed examiner and a court-appointed representative on a section 1114 committee.

CRYPTOCURRENCY:  Served as neutral in disputes involving issues of ownership of crypto assets, validity of crypto transactions, valuation of crypto assets, and misappropriation of crypto assets.

CONSUMER:  Served as neutral in disputes involving collections, credit default, fraud, breach of contract, landlord-tenant, warranties, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, Texas Debt Collection Act, Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, credit cards, utilities, and cryptocurrency.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY:  Served as neutral in disputes involving technology, networks, telecommunications, CLECs (competitive local exchange carriers), LECs (local exchange carriers), LANs (local area networks), ILECs (incumbent local exchange carriers), RBOCs (regional bell operating companies), digital assets, e-commerce, licensing, and joint development agreements.

PROFESSIONAL FEE DISPUTES:  Served as neutral in disputes involving the reasonableness, propriety, and amount of professional fees.

WORK HISTORY:  S. Mayer Law PLLC: 2014 to Present; Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP : 1993 – 2014

Sylvia graduated from Washington University in 1987, cum laude, with a B.A. in Theater. After working for three years in the arts community in Houston, Sylvia went to law school and, in 1993, graduated from the University of Houston Law Center, summa cum laude.

Neutral Rosters and Credentials:

·         Academy of Court Appointed Neutrals (ACAN) Neutrals Roster

·         American Arbitration Association (AAA) Arbitrator and Mediator Rosters

·         American Health Law Association (AHLA) Arbitrator and Mediator Rosters

·         CPR Dispute Resolution Services (CPR) Arbitrator and Mediator Rosters

·         Credentialed Distinguished Mediator with the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association (TMCA)

·         Court Call ODR Roster for Arbitrators and Mediators

·         Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Arbitrator Roster

·         International Chamber of Commerce (ICC/USCIB) Arbitrator and Mediator Rosters

·         National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (Texas) (NADN) Arbitrator and Mediator Rosters

·         New ERA ADR, Inc. Neutrals Roster

·         Resolute Systems Neutrals Roster

·         Yes Mediate, Balanced Billing Arbitrator Roster

·         Texas Justice Center, Arbitrator and Mediators List

·         Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) Balanced Billing Arbitrator and Mediator Rosters

·         Virginia Bureau of Insurance Balanced Billing Arbitrator Roster

·         Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner Balanced Billing Arbitrator Roster

·         U.S. Bankruptcy Court, D. of Delaware, Register of Mediators and Arbitrators

·         U.S. Bankruptcy Court S.D. of Texas, Subchapter V Trustee Panel 

Professional Associations include:

·         American Bar Association

·         American Bankruptcy Institute

·         ArbitralWomen

·         Association of Attorney Mediators

·         American Health Law Association

·         Association of Women Attorneys

·         Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals

·         Women’s Business Enterprise by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)

·         Fellow of the American Bar Association

·         Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce

·         Houston Bar Association

·         Impact100 Houston

·         National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals

·         National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees

·         National Association of Women Lawyers

·         State Bar of Texas

·         Texas Association of Mediators

·         Texas Bar Foundation

·         Texas Mediators Credentialing Association

 Current Community and Bar Service:

·       American Bankruptcy Institute, Mediation Committee

·       Buckingham Senior Living Community, Inc., Corporate Secretary and Board Member

·       Houston Bar Association, Fee Dispute Committee

·       Houston Pro Bono Joint Initiative, Founder and Organizer

·       Houston Zoo Development Corporation, Director

·       Peach Outreach (Non-Profit), Corporate Secretary and Board Member

·       State Bar of Texas, ADR Council

My standard rates for Mediation are $800 per party for a half-day mediation (4 hours or less) or $1,600 per party for a full-day mediation.

My standard rate for Arbitration is $450 per hour, plus if applicable, travel expenses.