Felicia Harris Hoss: Q&A
Thu, Mar 20th, 2025 | by Miles Mediation and Arbitration | Article | Social Share
In this Q&A, we speak with mediator and arbitrator, Felicia Harris Hoss, one of the independent neutrals in Miles’ Houston office. Felicia’s work as a neutral spans a wide range of business and commercial disputes, including those in the energy and construction industries. She is also a highly sought-after mediator for HOA/POA disputes.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your legal background.
A: Well, for the first couple of decades of my career, I represented companies in commercial disputes on both sides of the “v”. Most of my clients were energy sector companies with business problems such as contract disputes between partners and suppliers, business torts and corporate governance issues, trade secret and employment issues, and even some personal injury and wrongful death cases too. Throughout the years, it always seemed that I had at least one or two cases on my docket that were different, which I enjoyed. Those cases gave me the chance to work on a number of securities and consumer-finance arbitrations and construction disputes, along with some product liability cases and class actions too.
My first job out of law school was clerking for Chief Justice John Cayce at the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth. After that, I spent the next eight years in private practice at Beck, Redden & Secrest, where I learned how to try complex commercial cases. In the years that followed, I had the pleasure of being a trial partner in national law firms and in regional boutiques. The last one, I cofounded in 2016 with two of my energy transactional partners from Burleson LLP to carry forward our respective practices serving the transactional and litigation needs of energy sector clients.
Q: What spurred your interest in alternative dispute resolution (ADR)?
A: Let’s start with mediation. With most courts requiring mediation before trial, there’s a growing consensus that mediation is now no longer “alternative.” It’s simply another process available to lawyers to help their clients resolve disputes. And, since the goal of trial and mediation is the same – the resolution of disputes – I guess you might say that I’ve always been interested in ADR. What has changed, if you will, is simply the seat that I sit in now.
In 2014, I completed the required 40-hour mediation training and tried to split time as a trial partner in law firms and as a mediator. I found that keeping a busy trial docket, while trying to hone skills as a mediator, just wasn’t ideal.
Then COVID happened. With the backlog on court dockets growing more severe, I decided that was a good time to pivot my practice away from the courtroom and into the conference room as a full-time mediator and arbitrator.
Over the years, I’ve arbitrated a number of cases through the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and one case through the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). That’s where the interest in arbitration comes from.
Q: What kind of approach do you take as a mediator?
A: I approach each mediation with a sense of curiosity, eager to learn and understand each party’s perspective, and with a goal of helping the parties control how their dispute ends.
To do this effectively, I start working before the mediation session. In every mediation, I propose a pre-mediation call with counsel – and their clients if willing and available – to just talk about the case, the personalities, the goals for the mediation session, and anything else that may improve the chances of resolution. Of course, I also read the pre-mediation submissions, key contract provisions, relevant legal authorities, and in some instances, deposition testimony too.
Just as good lawyers will construct a mental plan to anticipate what may arise during depositions and hearings, I use this time learning the case not only to build rapport and gather information, but also to prepare myself and to mentally plan an approach for the mediation session that fits the case.
During this time, I also try to determine whether there is anything I can do to help the parties better prepare for the negotiation. For example, if there are information gaps that could hinder the chance of a resolution, I am often able to assist the parties in a confidential exchange of pre-mediation information and/or documents.
And, when a mediation session ends without a resolution, I follow up to try to determine if there is something else I can do to help close the gap between the parties — for example, providing a neutral evaluation. In all cases, I remain available for post-mediation calls and emails to keep the lines of communication open and the prospect of resolution on the table.
Q: You’ve been a commercial trial lawyer for more than 20 years with an active trial docket; how did you gain experience with HOAs/POAs?
A: In the early 2000s, there was a period of about 10 years in which I had the pleasure of serving in either an appointed or elected position in one of the then-fastest growing communities in the country. Through that experience, I learned the value of listening to and working with property owners, HOAs, developers, and engineering and construction firms to resolve a variety of concerns centered upon property rights, land use, and the like.
That experience is coupled with the experience of living in an HOA for more than 25 years. Combine all of this together, and what I am able to say to the parties in an HOA/POA mediation is that I truly understand each of their perspectives – both that of the volunteer, elected directors and that of the property owners. Through our conversations, it seems I’ve been able to help them better appreciate how the law and its limitations rarely adequately solves the problem(s) that brought them to mediation and facilitate their ability to control how the conflict ends.
Q: You’ve also been very involved in the “early dispute resolution” (EDR) movement. How did that come about?
A: The truth is, EDR really isn’t a new idea. Experienced litigants have been using early mediations for years; we just didn’t call it EDR until recently.
During the COVID pandemic, the backlogs that courts had worsened significantly. This drove my own curiosity about how to help parties mediate more effectively, earlier in the lifecycle of a dispute. So, when I accepted the invitation to chair the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution’s 2022 Mediation Week Program, I selected early dispute resolution as the topic. This one decision set in motion a series of successive opportunities and experiences to hone my skills as an effective early mediation mediator.
As chair of the ABA program, I worked with ABA Dispute Resolution EDR Co-Chairs Ellie Vilendrer and Mary Cullen, who then invited me to be an ABA Fellow for the committee. As a Fellow, I took on the responsibility of writing the report for ABA Resolution 500 (Resolution) which encouraged greater voluntary use of EDR. After this role, I was appointed co-chair of the ABA EDR Committee and was on the team that traveled to the ABA House of Delegates meeting in Kansas to speak in support of the Resolution and witness first-hand its unanimous passage.
The Resolution’s adoption opened other opportunities to discuss the effectiveness of early mediations. One of the most rewarding was a two-part webinar series jointly presented by the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) Dispute Resolution Committee and the ABA EDR Committee, called “Mastering Early Mediations: Strategies for Success.” As co-moderator for that program, it was an honor to work with the panelists, Federal Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison, former California Justice Halim Dhanidina, and a Texas mediation master, Eric Galton, on this expanding practice area.
These experiences, in addition to collaborations with EDR Institute leaders, Michael Hawash, Peter Silverman, and Anne Jordan — and mediating complex commercial disputes to resolution before a lawsuit or arbitration demand was filed — fuels my confidence in the effectiveness of an early mediation process to resolve commercial disputes, in addition to many other kinds of cases.
Q: You also do a fair amount of speaking and writing. Do you have any speaking engagements coming up soon?
A: I do. I just finished a presentation on “Damages in ADR: Mediation Assessments and Arbitration Awards” for the State Bar of Texas’ 17th Annual Damages in Civil Litigation CLE in February.
Coming up, I’m looking forward to participating on three panels in April. On April 9, I’m part of an International Bar Association webinar on the topic, “From Aspirant to Arbitrator! How to Build an Arbitration Practice – from Small to Larger Cases”. Then later that month, I’ll be in Chicago for the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Spring Conference where, first, I’ll join Dana MacGrath and Bill Bay for a discussion on commercial arbitrations, moderated by another Miles’ mediator, Rob Litz. Then, I’ll be a part of a presentation on the “Role of the ABA DR Section in Developing ADR Policy,” talking about the experience of drafting and presenting EDR Resolution 500 to the ABA House of Delegates for adoption.
In June, I’ll be in San Antonio for the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting where I’ll participate in a mock mediation as part of the ADR Section’s program.
And, finally, I may be heading back to Chicago in September to be a part of a panel on the topic of early mediations at an inaugural ADR Summit for the DR Committee for the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) that ABA TIPS DR Committee Chair Steve Schulwolf is organizing.
ABOUT MILES MEDIATION & ARBITRATION
Miles Mediation & Arbitration is shaping the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) industry with our comprehensive professional services model that combines the expertise of our highly skilled, diverse panel of neutrals with an unparalleled level of client support to guide and empower parties to fair, timely, and cost-effective resolution regardless of case size, specialization, or complexity. For more information, please call 888-305-3553 or email support@milesadr.com.