Where I Come From

My background includes over five years as a senior contract negotiator at Microsoft, leading the commercial negotiation of complex software licensing agreements — hundreds of contracts, each valued between $2M and $200M. That work demands more than legal fluency. It demands understanding what each party actually needs, where the real pressure points are, and how to structure outcomes that both sides can live with under significant financial and organizational stakes.

I also know what it means to run a business. As a former business owner, I've navigated the operational realities of supplier conflicts, customer disputes, and labor friction — not as an outside observer, but as the person responsible for resolving them.

Those two experiences — high-stakes corporate negotiation and hands-on business ownership — shape how I approach every mediation. I don't just hold space for conversation. I help parties understand their own interests more clearly, find the value that prolonged conflict is destroying, and reach decisions they can act on.

I Know Your Dispute From the Inside

Most mediators are process facilitators. I've made deliberate choices to build genuine technical knowledge in the areas where I practice — because understanding the mechanics of a dispute changes what's possible at the table.

A Distinct Edge in Insurance Claims

Insurance disputes are won and lost on technical details that most mediators aren't equipped to evaluate. I hold active licenses from the Texas Department of Insurance as both an Independent Adjuster and a Public Adjuster — a combination that is rare and strategically valuable at the negotiating table.

As an Independent Adjuster, I've worked inside the carrier process. As a Public Adjuster, I've represented policyholders navigating that same system. That dual vantage point means I understand how claims are structured and priced, how policy language is drafted and interpreted, and how Xactimate estimates are built, challenged, and negotiated at the line-item level. In a region where severe weather events generate some of the highest commercial property claim volumes in the country, that fluency isn't incidental — it's the difference between a mediation that moves and one that stalls.

Built for Technical Complexity

Beyond insurance, I bring cross-functional depth that allows me to engage with the substantive complexity of disputes in real estate, construction, and commercial business — not just their legal framing.

My Bachelor of Engineering means I can work directly with structural assessments, design specifications, and construction defect claims rather than relying solely on expert summaries. Completion of the 180-hour TREC Sales Agent curriculum gives me firsthand fluency in real estate transactions, title issues, and development frameworks. A Certificate in Accounting from UC Berkeley Extension and a Certificate in Paralegal Studies from the University of Washington allow me to follow complex damage cost models, financial arguments, and contractual structures that would be opaque to a generalist mediator.

The result is a practice built on the conviction that the best mediation is informed mediation — and that the more clearly a mediator understands what's actually at stake, the more effectively they can help both parties find their way through it.

Credentials

Texas Court-Qualified Mediator
Fully qualified for court appointment in the State of Texas, having completed the statutory training required under the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Title 7, Chapter 154.

Advanced Negotiation Training
Completed Executive Education in Business Negotiation at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, alongside ongoing advanced training and active casework in complex commercial disputes.

Academic Foundation
Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng) in Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University — Certificate in Accounting, UC Berkeley Extension — Certificate in Paralegal Studies, University of Washington.

Community Practice
Serve as an Independent Mediator with the Tarrant County Dispute Resolution Center — active, hands-on mediation experience across a wide range of disputes.

The Skill That Doesn't Appear on a Resume

Technical knowledge and professional credentials matter. But so does what happens in the room when emotions are running high, positions have hardened, and both parties have stopped listening to each other.

I've spent years developing those harder-to-measure skills: the ability to listen without an agenda, to build enough trust with both sides that honesty becomes possible, and to remain steady when the pressure in the room is anything but. In my experience, that capacity — the calm in the room — is often what makes the difference between a dispute that resolves and one that doesn't.

If you're facing a dispute that matters, I'd welcome the opportunity to talk about how I can help.