Denise Peterson is a full-time professional neutral, focusing her practice exclusively on alternative dispute resolution services. She mediates both civil and probate cases and is on several arbitration panels. In addition to being licensed as an attorney in Texas and New York, she is a solicitor to the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Both a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and Vice-Chair of the North American Branch of the organization, her goals include both bringing in more law students to the organization as well as improve its diversity.
Ms. Peterson is committed to bar service and currently is a member of the local Houston grievance committee for the State Bar of Texas. She is also a member of the Association of Attorney-Mediators and a Houston Bar Foundation Fellow as well as being a member of diverse specialized bar organizations including the Mexican-American Bar Association of Houston, the Muslim-American Bar Association of Houston and is a sustaining member with the Houston Young Lawyers Association. Her memberships also include the Houston International Arbitrator’s Club and the Houston Maritime Arbitrator’s Association.
Ms. Peterson is a sought-after speaker for continuing legal education classes on mediation tactics and strategies, mediation ethics, implicit bias, LGBT issues in mediation, and avoiding grievances. Ms. Peterson is a member of the Texas Bar Honors College. Committed to access to justice, Ms. Peterson’s pro bono work has included helping an infant victim of human trafficking and ensuring the safety of rescued snow monkeys as well as acting as a volunteer mediator for the Harris and Montgomery County Dispute Resolution Centers.