Get to know Felicia
For over 26 years, Felicia’s advice, experience, and skill as a negotiator and lawyer have helped parties resolve disputes. As an advocate, Felicia has been a trusted advisor in some of her clients’ toughest personal and professional times and is recognized by her peers for inclusion among The Best Lawyers® in America in commercial litigation (2021-2025) and listed in Marquis Who’s Who in America®. As a neutral, Felicia is a TMCA Credentialed Distinguished Mediator, Co-Chair of the American Bar Association’s Early Dispute Resolution (EDR) Committee (2023-2024), Chair (2024-2025) for the Houston Bar Association ADR Council, a Member of the State Bar of Texas ADR Council (2024-2027), a Member of the American Bar Association ADR Council, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb).
She has experience helping parties – both plaintiffs and defendants – resolve disputes inside and outside of the courtroom. She has worked with individuals and entrepreneurs, as well as privately-held and publicly-traded companies with local, national, and/or international teams and operations.
Spanning a range of industries and involving a broad spectrum of legal and business problems, Felicia’s has experience resolving conflicts involving contractual rights, indemnity, negligence, personal injury and wrongful death, partnership formation and duties, trade secrets, employment agreements, non-compete and non-solicitation, fraud, business disparagement, defamation, fiduciary duties, corporate governance, federal and state employment laws, lease agreements, landlord-tenant disputes, healthcare, home-health & nursing home operations, medical malpractice, product liability, seismic exploration rights and other real property interests, offshore plugging & abandonment, consumer credit, OSHA & EEOC investigations, UCC, homeowners & community associations, construction trust fund, first-party insurance, collections, and warranty claims.
Felicia understands the pressures, demands and risks lawyers and their clients deal with in conflict management and resolution. She understands the dynamics of negotiations between parties wanting to deescalate, avoid, or resolve conflict while also preserving and protecting litigation positions, should negotiations prove unsuccessful.
This kind of understanding and experience proves relevant during mediations as lawyers and their clients consider, evaluate, and confidentially negotiate risk management and dispute resolution options.
This kind of understanding and experience also proves relevant as an arbitrator. Felicia is keenly aware of the importance of neutrality in arbitration and goes out of her way to ensure all parties and their counsel trust that her neutrality, objectivity, and judgment are never compromised.
As a neutral, Felicia accepts private (ad hoc) engagements and court appointments, in addition to serving as a neutral on public and private panels such as:
American Arbitration Association National Rosters of Arbitrators & Mediators
American Health Law Association National Roster of Arbitrators & Mediators
Caroline Center for Dispute Resolution (Houston) Mediation & Arbitration Panel
Texas Comptroller Arbitrator Registry – Appraisal Review Board Appeals
Texas Department of Insurance Roster of Mediators
Texas Justice Center Roster of Arbitrators & Mediators
United State District Court, Southern District of Texas – Alternative Dispute Resolution Provider
Early Dispute Resolution Institute
Harris County Dispute Resolution Center
Brazoria County Special Commissioner
Felicia is a frequent speaker on private dispute resolution methods and best practices, and is active in the ADR Sections of the Houston Bar Association (HBA), State Bar of Texas, and the American Bar Association (ABA). She is currently serving as Co-Chair for the ABA’s EDR Committee and Vice Chair for the ABA Mediation Committee, Chair of the Houston Bar Association ADR Council for the 2024-2025 Bar year, and is serving a three-year term (2024-2027) on the State Bar of Texas ADR Council and on the American Bar Association ADR Council. Felicia also serves on the Board of the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association as the Association of Attorney-Mediators representative. In April 2024, Felicia was listed among the Featured Members for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators North American Branch.
In 2023, during her time as a Fellow for the ABA EDR Committee, Felicia wrote a report in support of ABA Resolution 500 urging greater voluntary and informed use of EDR in dispute resolution. In February 2024, Felicia was privileged to speak in support of ABA Resolution 500 at the ABA Mid-Year Meeting of the House of Delegates (“HOD”) in Louisville, Kentucky. During this meeting, ABA Resolution 500 was submitted to the HOD by the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, along with support and co-sponsorship from the ABA Section of State and Local Government and ABA Senior Lawyers Division. Prior to submission, the Resolution also received the support of the ABA Business Law Section, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, ABA Young Lawyers Division, and the ABA Section of Government and Public Sector Lawyers. On February 5, 2024, the ABA House of Delegates unanimously, and without opposition, adopted ABA Resolution 500.
In 2022, Felicia Chaired the ABA’s Section of Dispute Resolution Mediation Week 2022 Program – Winning from the Beginning through Early Dispute Resolution, which received the ABA Dispute Resolution Section’s Program of the Year Award, and she received the HBA Foundation 2021 Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Harris County Dispute Resolution Center.
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Fellow (FCIArb)
American Arbitration Association National Roster of Arbitrators, Commercial, Energy & Consumer
American Arbitration Association National Roster of Mediators
American Health Law Association, National Roster of Arbitrators and Mediators
Caroline Center for Dispute Resolution (Houston), Mediation & Arbitration Panels
Texas Mediator Credentialing Association, Credentialed Advanced Mediator
Texas Justice Center, Roster of Arbitrators and Mediators
United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Alternative Dispute Resolution Provider
Harris County Dispute Resolution Center, Board Member & Volunteer Mediator & Arbitrator
Houston Bar Foundation 2021 Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Dispute Resolution Center, Recipient
Texas Comptroller Registry of Arbitrators, Property Tax Appraisal Review Arbitrator
Texas Department of Insurance Roster of Mediators, Texas Windstorm Insurance Association property claims
The Dispute Resolution Board Foundation, Member
Early Dispute Resolution Institute, Mediator
American Bar Association
Dispute Resolution Section, At-Large Council Member (2024-2027)
-Arbitration Committee, Member
-Early Dispute Resolution Committee, Co-Chair (2023-2025), Fellow (2023), Member (since 2021)
-Ethics Committee, Member
-Mediation Committee, Vice-Chair (2023-2025)
2024 Advanced Mediation & Advocacy Skills Institute, Planning Committee Member
Mediation Week 2022 Program, Chair
-Women In Dispute Resolution Committee, Member
Programs Subcommittee, Member 2022-2023
Litigation Section, Member
State Bar of Texas
Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, At-Large Council Member (2024-2027)
-Advanced Alternative Dispute Resolution CLE (22nd Annual Course), Planning Committee Member (2023-2024)
Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
Texas Bar College, Member
Houston Bar Association
Bench-Bar Conference Committee, Member (2023-2024)
Dispute Resolution Section, Member (2021-present)
ADR Council, Chair (2024-2025), Chair-Elect (2023-2024), Member At-Large (2022-2023)
Fee Dispute Committee, Co-Chair (2024-2025, 2023-2024), Member (2022-present)
Professionalism Committee, Co-Chair (2022-2023); Member (2021-2024)
Mentorship Subcommittee, Co-Chair (2021-2022)
Texas Day of Civility in Law Program Moderator and Subcommittee Member (2021-2023)
Speakers Bureau Committee, Member (2021-2024)
How to Hire an Attorney (Webinar and CLE presentation), March 8, 2022
Brazoria County Bar Association
Dispute Resolution Practice Area
Houston Association of Women Attorneys, Member
University of Houston Law Center, ADR Coach (2022-2023) & Guest Mediator for Mediation Training
Intramural Negotiations
ABA Arbitration Competition
South Texas College of Law, ADR Guest Lecturer on Early Dispute Resolution (2023-204)
State Bar of Texas, Advanced Alternative Dispute Resolution CLE 2024
American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution 2023 Advanced Mediation and Advocacy Skills Institute, Facilitator, AI Advancements in Mediation & Law
American Arbitration Association, The State of Energy in Alternative Dispute Resolution 2023, Panelist, Anatomy of an Energy Arbitration Claim: Notice through Award
American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section Spring Conference 2023
HBA ADR Annual CLE 2023
Managing the Arbitration Process for Efficiency and Economy, American Arbitration Association
Process Essentials for AAA Arbitrators, American Arbitration Association
Panelist Safety & Security, American Arbitration Association
Awarding Attorney Fees, Costs, and Post-Award Interests in Arbitration, American Arbitration Association
Advanced Alternative Dispute Resolution 2022, State Bar of Texas
Pro Se – Managing Cases with Self-Represented Parties, American Arbitration Association
How Decision-Making Science Can Make You a Better Arbitrator, American Arbitration Association
Veteran Insights on Private Dispute Resolution Strategies (Moderator), Houston Bar Association
Employment Dispute Resolution Revolution, Houston Chapter, Labor and Employment Relations Association
Texas Arbitration Review, Houston Bar Association
3 Rs of Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution Post-Covid (Presenter), Brazoria County Bar Association
Preparation, Presentation, and Persistence in Mediation, Houston Bar Association
Avoiding Ten Common Missteps Arbitrators Make, American Arbitration Association
Award Writing: Safeguarding, Deciding & Writing Awards, American Arbitration Association
Attorney-Client Fee Disputes and Arbitration Clauses, Houston Bar Association
Arbitration Fundamentals and Best Practices for New AAA Arbitrators, American Arbitration Association
Health Care Arbitration Training, American Health Law Association
Family & SAPCR Mediation Training, Mediation Dynamics
Evaluative Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution, Houston Bar Association
Elder and Adult Care Mediation, Manousso Mediation Training & Arbitration LLC
Mediation During the Pandemic, American Bar Association
The Future of Alternative Dispute Resolution-EDR, EDR Institute
The Ethics and Art of Settlement at Mediation, American Bar Association
Advanced Negotiations in Mediation, American Bar Association
Arbitration Training, Manousso Mediation Training & Arbitration
The Neuroscience of Decision-Making for Mediators, Houston Bar Association
Advocacy in Mediation and Arbitration, Houston Bar Association
Licensed to practice before all state courts in Texas
Admitted to practice before the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and Federal courts in the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas
Admitted pro hac vice in courts of other states (including Louisiana, Oklahoma, Indiana)
South Texas College of Law, Houston, Texas, 1997
Doctorate of Jurisprudence, summa cum laude
Class Rank: No. 1
Selected by peers as “Outstanding Female Graduate”
Articles Editor, South Texas Law Review
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, 1992
Bachelor of Arts, Journalism (emphasis in Public Relations), cum laude
Section Editor, Aggieland (TAMU’s Yearbook)
Barry Conge Harris LLP, Founding Partner & Head of Litigation
Burleson LLP, Litigation Partner
Buck Keenan LLP, Litigation Partner
Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, LLP (nka Eversheds Sutherland, LLP), Litigation Partner
Morgan Lewis & Bockius, LLP, Senior Associate
Kyle & Kyle, LLP, Founding & Managing Partner
Beck, Redden & Secrest, LLP (nka Beck Redden LLP), Senior Associate
Briefing Attorney, Chief Justice John Hill Cayce, Jr. (Ret.), Second Court of Appeals, Fort Worth, Texas
Intern, Justice Adele Hedges (Ret.), First Court of Appeals, Houston, Texas
City of Pearland
Mayor Pro-Tem (2009-2010)
Councilmember, Position 4 (2006-2009, 2009-2012)
Pearland Economic Development Corporation, Director (2003-2006)
Center for Houston’s Future Leadership Forum, Graduate, Fall 2009
K9s4Cops, Second Annual “2-9s for K9s” Charity Golf Tournament, Co-Chair (2014)