Navigating Conflict,
Unlocking Resolution
Combining extensive legal knowledge and sharp business insight to craft tailored settlements for your most challenging disputes
Areas of Expertise
Labor and Employment Disputes
Workplace disputes impact productivity and morale. Our mediation services offer a confidential, efficient path to resolution. In employment law matters, we expertly handle sensitive issues like wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and wage and hour claims. We also specialize in labor law in unionized environments. This includes mediating collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations and grievance disputes arising from existing CBAs. We help unions and management find common ground, aiming to resolve conflicts before arbitration or legal action, fostering communication and sustainable solutions.
Workers Compensation Matters
Navigating workers' compensation claims can be complex and contentious for both injured workers and employers. Our mediation services provide a neutral and efficient pathway to resolve these disputes. We facilitate discussions on various issues including claims eligibility, extent of injuries, medical treatment disputes, return-to-work issues, and permanent disability ratings. Our goal is to help all parties achieve fair, practical settlements and avoid the protracted and often adversarial nature of traditional litigation, leading to quicker and more satisfactory outcomes.
Contract and Commercial Disputes
Contract and commercial disputes can disrupt business operations, strain relationships, and lead to significant financial burdens. Our mediation services offer an effective and confidential forum for resolving these complex disagreements. We assist businesses and individuals in navigating a wide range of issues, including breaches of contract, partnership disputes, vendor disagreements, service contract conflicts, and other commercial transaction challenges. Our approach focuses on facilitating constructive dialogue, identifying underlying interests, and guiding parties toward innovative, mutually beneficial solutions that preserve business relationships whenever possible.
Startup and Partnership Disputes
The fast-paced world of startups and business partnerships often brings unique challenges, and disagreements can quickly jeopardize a venture's future. Our mediation services are designed to address the specific complexities of startup and partnership disputes. We help founders, partners, and early-stage companies navigate sensitive issues such as equity divisions, roles and responsibilities, strategic disagreements, intellectual property rights, and paths to dissolution. Our goal is to facilitate open communication and guide parties toward creative, sustainable solutions that protect their investments, preserve professional relationships where possible, and allow them to move forward constructively.
Entertainment Industry Disputes
The entertainment industry is dynamic and complex, often leading to unique disputes that demand specialized understanding. Our mediation services cater specifically to entertainment industry disputes, offering a confidential and efficient path to resolution for artists, talent, production companies, studios, and executives. We adeptly handle conflicts related to contractual agreements, intellectual property rights, royalty disputes, co-production disagreements, management and agency conflicts, and issues arising from creative differences. Our approach focuses on facilitating constructive dialogue and guiding parties toward innovative, mutually beneficial solutions that respect industry norms, preserve valuable relationships, and avoid the public scrutiny, expense, and uncertainty of litigation.
General Civil Disputes
Beyond specialized areas, many disagreements fall under the broad umbrella of general civil disputes. Our mediation services provide a versatile and effective approach to resolving a wide array of personal and business conflicts that might otherwise lead to costly and protracted litigation. We assist individuals, families, and businesses in navigating disputes such as real estate disagreements, property disputes, personal injury claims (pre-litigation), neighborhood conflicts, breach of verbal agreements, and consumer complaints.
About Us
Laura K. Cline
Laura brings a unique blend of legal expertise, corporate insight, and refined communication skills to every mediation. With nearly a decade in the legal field, she has extensive experience as both a litigator specializing in labor law, employment law, workers' compensation, and ERISA, and as in-house corporate counsel in the employee benefits arena. This background gives her a firsthand understanding of complex business challenges, from navigating intricate regulations to resolving sensitive employee relations. She understands the practical impact of disputes on a company's bottom line, reputation, and people.
Laura's prior decade as an English instructor uniquely equips her as a mediator. This experience, combined with her litigation background, honed her active listening, clear articulation, and persuasive communication skills —skills vital for fostering productive dialogue and finding common ground. She excels at cutting through legal jargon, helping parties understand their options and articulate their interests effectively.
As a mediator, Laura leverages this comprehensive background to facilitate fair, practical, and lasting resolutions. Her approach creates a neutral, respectful environment where all parties feel heard and empowered to craft their own solutions. She understands the legal, human, and business elements at play. Her goal is to help clients achieve positive outcomes efficiently, avoiding the cost and stress of litigation, and preserving relationships whenever possible.
Laura earned her J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans School of Law and an M.Ed. from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Austin A. Allen
Austin is a seasoned business leader and founder with over 15 years of experience building successful enterprises and expertly navigating complex challenges. With a natural talent for facilitation, Austin is passionate about fostering understanding and achieving mutually agreeable solutions. He now dedicates his extensive expertise to mediation, committed to helping individuals and organizations find common ground and effectively resolve disputes.
Austin's diverse background includes founding and leading two successful companies, experiences that significantly honed his negotiation and mediation-related skills. As CEO of The Artist Collective, LLC, he built an automated workspace for creative professionals, where he led cross-functional teams, managed projects, and proactively mitigated risks. This role demanded constant conflict resolution, strategic communication, and the ability to find consensus among diverse stakeholders. Austin also founded and continues to own Quality Entertainment, LLC d/b/a Q Music Agency. His responsibilities in this venture are particularly relevant to mediation, as they consistently involve contract negotiations and expert facilitation of agreements between diverse parties—musical talent and clients. These situations frequently require him to employ skilled mediation techniques to bridge differing expectations, resolve potential conflicts, and ensure successful, mutually beneficial outcomes while preserving vital professional relationships. This hands-on experience has significantly refined his ability to identify common ground, manage expectations, and guide discussions toward resolution.
Holding a B.S. from The University of North Texas, Austin further enhanced his mediation credentials through his training with Kreider Mediation. Based in Fort Worth, TX, Austin utilizes his proven skills in conflict resolution, problem-solving, critical thinking, de-escalation, active listening, and strategic planning to guide clients toward constructive and lasting resolutions.
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