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Contact Donald R Philbin, Jr.

Don Philbin, J.D., M.B.A., LL.M., is an AV-rated attorney-mediator and president of Picture It Settled®, a software company that develops predictive analytics for negotiation based upon deep data from thousands of litigated cases. After litigating commercial cases, forging business deals and case resolutions as general counsel and president of technology companies, and mediating hundreds of individual and collective cases in a wide variety of substantive areas, Don observed that the rhythm of the negotiation dance was predictable. So he collected data on thousands of cases from lawyers, companies, mediators, and other sources. Studying the patterns in two dimensions (money and time), he developed Picture It Settled. Using neural networks, predictive modeling, and genetic algorithms, Don, with considerable assistance from scientists at Southwest Research Institute®, isolated trends across groups of similar negotiations and trends that develop within particular negotiations. Now Picture It Settled® web-based software and its mobile app help negotiators optimize their concession strategies and predict where a round will end. Don was one of three Texas mediators listed in the inaugural edition of The International Who’s Who of Commercial Mediation (2011; one of five Texas mediators in the 2012 edition) and was recognized as the 2011 Outstanding Lawyer in Mediation by the San Antonio Business Journal.

27+ years’ experience representing public and private business entities and individuals, first as an associate and partner in Bar Register law firms and as a senior manager in companies involved in the communications, technology, software, and Internet industries, and as a neutral with business and legal experience, including: • President; Chief Operating Officer; General Counsel, Billing Concepts, Inc., affiliates and predecessors (legal functions; strategic direction and day-to-day operations; doubled operating income in three years) • Vice President and Associate General Counsel, USLD Communications Corp. (through mergers with LCI Communications and Qwest Communications) • Partner, Law Firms of Wheatley, Campagnolo & Sessions, L.L.P. and Campagnolo & Philbin, L.C. • Associate, Law Firm of Oppenheimer, Rosenberg, Kelleher & Wheatley, Inc. Substantial experience handling disputes in various courts and other dispute resolution forums as well as negotiating and drafting a variety of contracts, license agreements, and corporate documents in many areas of commercial and general civil law, including accounting, antitrust, banking, bill processing, civil rights, commercial, communications, construction, consumer, contract, corporate and organizational, employment, entertainment, environmental, family, insurance coverage, intellectual property, international, partnership dissolution, personal injury/death, property damage, public policy, real estate, regulatory, securities, software licensing and technology law, and business and personal torts.

Don has trained in a number of different mediation / facilitation styles. Optimally, he is able to talk with the parties prior to the scheduled mediation to help them determine what styles might be most effective. In general, he is of the view that the mediator ought to carry a full toolbox and use a range of tools depending on individual circumstances and party consent.

Training:

• Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law (ranked No. 1 in the country by U.S. News and World Report more than five times)
• Academic courses: Commercial and International Dispute Resolution, Mediation, Negotiation and Settlement Advocacy, Arbitration, International Investment Disputes, Selected Issues in Dispute Resolution (Labor Disputes), Third-Party Processes, Faith-Based Diplomacy and International Peacemaking, Communication and Conflict, Social Psychology of Conflict
• Professional Skills Programs: Advanced Mediation; Improvisational Mediation; Mediating the Complex Case; Mediating Complex Construction Disputes
• Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (The Program on Negotiation for Senior Executives and Dealing with Difficult People and Difficult Situations)
• Dispute Resolution Section of the American Bar Association (Advanced Mediation and Advocacy Skills Training; Annual Conferences)
• Advanced Commercial Mediation Institute (AAA and ACR)
• Austin Dispute Resolution Center (Advanced Family Mediation Training)
• Association of Attorney-Mediators

MEDIATION FEE SCHEDULE

FULL-DAY MEDIATION: $1,000 per party
Don Philbin charges a flat fee of $1,000 per party for full-day mediations. This fee covers the cost of preparing for the mediation, the mediation session, and a limited number of post-mediation conferences.

HALF-DAY MEDIATION: $600 per party
A half-day mediation is scheduled for less than four hours. This fee covers the cost of preparing for the mediation, the mediation session, and a limited number of post-mediation conferences.

PAYMENT
Payment is due before or on the day of the mediation session. Payment should be made payable to DONALD R. PHILBIN, JR., P.C. The tax identification number is 74-2800147.

TRAVEL EXPENSES
If the mediation session occurs outside of San Antonio, all travel expenses (airfare, meals, lodging, ground transportation, etc.) are divided equally and invoiced to the parties unless otherwise agreed in advance.

PUBLICATIONS

The One Minute Manager Prepares for Mediation: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Negotiation Preparation

HARVARD NEGOTIATION LAW REVIEW 249 (2008); reprinted in Securities Arbitration & Mediation Hot Topics 2008: “The” Program for Attorneys, In-House Counsel, Experts, Arbitrators & Mediators, New York City Bar (2008); The Value of Economic Analysis in Preparing for Mediation

DISPUTE RESOLUTION JOURNAL 49 (April 2008); Deal or No Deal? Or Perhaps a Better Deal? The Impact of Improved Information

ALTERNATIVES TO THE HIGH COST OF LITIGATION 177 (Dec. 2007); The Psychology of Bad Economic Decisions

JAMS DISPUTE RESOLUTION ALERT 1 (Fall 2007); Comprehensive Trial Preparation Includes ADR Process Design: What Type of Mediator Best Fits This Case?

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT Newsletter 17 (ABA, Section of Litigation, Fall 2007), reprinted as Trial Preparation Includes ADR Process Design: What Type of Mediator Fits Best?

ABA COMMERCIAL & BUSINESS LIT. 1 (ABA LIT. WINTER 2008); Litigating Arbitration: A 2007 Texas Arbitration Review

BAYLOR LAW REVIEW 613 (2008); Fifth Circuit Survey Articles, Alternative Dispute Resolution, 40 Texas Tech Law Review 445 (2008); (2009 pending).

PRESENTATIONS

ABA Sections of (1) Litigation and (2) Dispute Resolution; Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution Symposium; Texas Wesleyan Law Review Symposium; The Conference Board: Council of Chief Legal Officers; Manufacturers Alliance / MAPI Law Council; Association of Attorney-Mediators

Peter Robinson Pepperdine's Straus Institute Suzanne Kaplan Diamond McCarthy Mike O'Donnell Fulbright & Jaworski Royal Lea Bingham & Lea PC Dan Crowder Crowder Law Firm Norma Herrera Worley Ball & Weed, P.C. Andrew B. Ryan Diamond, McCarthy, Taylor, Finley & Lee, LLP Lisa Vance Vance & Whitley, L.L.P. Tina Torres The Torres Law Firm, P.C. James D. Rosenblatt james@rosenblattlawfirm.com