Local knowledge.Neutral judgment.
Flat-fee mediation in Bend, Redmond, and Deschutes County.
Ryan C.Kaiser
Experience
I have practiced civil litigation for more than twenty years. I began my career in Dallas, Texas, and moved to Bend in 2013, where I have spent more than a decade representing clients in contested civil matters in the Deschutes County Circuit Court.
My practice has included business and partnership disputes, real property and HOA litigation, construction claims, contract and tort cases, trust and estate disputes, employment matters, and other complex civil litigation. That work has required evaluating difficult facts, assessing legal and financial risk, negotiating settlements, and preparing cases for trial.
That litigation experience informs my approach to mediation, particularly in high conflict cases where the legal issues are only part of what is driving the dispute. My practice has required managing strong personalities, deescalating conflict, identifying the issues preventing settlement, and working toward practical resolutions. I understand how cases develop, where risk lies, and how judges and lawyers evaluate disputes as they move toward trial.
- Firms
- Partner, Kaiser Johnston Keathley LLP, Redmond, 2024 - present
Solo, Broken Top Law, 2016 - 2024
Of Counsel, Miller Nash, 2013 - 2016
Associate, Gardere Wynne Sewell, 2005 - 2012 - Neutral
- Arbitrator, Deschutes County Circuit Court, 2016 - 2023
- Bar admissions
- Oregon State Bar, 2013
Texas State Bar, 2005 (inactive) - Education
- J.D., Southern Methodist University, 2005
B.A., University of Colorado, 2001 - Accolades
- Oregon Super Lawyers, 2024 - 2026
Rising Stars, 2010 - 2012 (Texas), 2015 - 2018 (Oregon)
How itworks
Conflicts check and engagement
Send the caption, the parties, affiliated entities, and counsel of record. I run conflicts before I discuss the case. If I am clear, I circulate a short mediation agreement covering fees, confidentiality, and my role as neutral, and I disclose anything that could reasonably bear on my impartiality.
Pre-mediation statements and calls
Confidential statements are due one week before the session. I take a short call with each side beforehand at no additional charge. That call is where I learn what the case is really about, including the parts that are not in the file.
The session
An eight-hour session. Joint session where it helps and caucus where it does not. Decision makers with full authority attend and stay for the day. If we are close as the eighth hour approaches, I stay, and the fee does not change.
Documenting the agreement
If the case resolves, I work with the parties and counsel to finalize a term sheet and get it signed before anyone leaves. Every party should have independent counsel review the terms before signing, and I will say so again on the day. Counsel draft the long-form documents.
Follow-up
If the case does not resolve on the day, it often resolves within the next two weeks. I keep working it by phone at no additional charge. If the parties want another day, the rate drops, because the preparation is already done.
Oneflat fee
divided equally among the parties unless counsel agree otherwise in writing
- Payment
- Each party's share is due no less than one week before the session. Firm check, cashier's check, or electronic transfer.
- The day
- Sessions are scheduled for eight hours. If the parties are close as the eighth hour approaches, I stay, at no additional charge. If they are not, we stop and I keep working the case by phone.
- Subsequent days
- Every full day of mediation between the same parties after the first is $3,000, divided on the same terms, however many the case takes. The preparation is already done, so the price reflects that. It also means I am not paid more for a case that does not settle the first time.
- Where sessions happen
- In person or by video, anywhere in Deschutes County, at whatever site the parties choose, at no additional charge. I do not take cases filed elsewhere.
- Cancellation
- Cancel at any time more than seven days before the session and there is no charge. Inside seven days the fee is earned, because the date is gone and the preparation is done. Medical emergencies and court-ordered conflicts are excused.
What the flat fee covers
- Conflicts check and engagement
- Review of the pleadings, motions, and exhibits
- Review of your confidential mediation statement
- A pre-mediation call with each side
- An eight-hour session in the room
- Staying past the eighth hour when the parties are close
- Travel anywhere in Deschutes County
- Working with the parties and counsel to finalize the term sheet
- Follow-up in the two weeks after the session
- Video sessions, on the same terms
Checkavailability
Two ways to start. Each one places a tentative hold; the date is confirmed once conflicts are cleared and the mediation agreement is signed.
Pick an open day
My online calendar shows the days I have open and takes a request in a few minutes. It asks for the caption, the parties, counsel of record, and whether the session is in person or by video. Nothing is booked when you submit; I review each request and confirm.
Reach me directly
Include the caption, the parties and affiliated entities, counsel of record, whether the session is in person or by video, and two or three workable dates.
What happens next
I run conflicts against the parties and counsel you identify, confirm the date, and circulate a short mediation agreement covering fees, confidentiality, and my role as neutral. Payment and confidential statements are due one week before the session.
Local by design
My mediation practice is limited to Deschutes County. This is where I live, raise my family, practice law, and regularly appear before the judges of the Deschutes County Circuit Court. More than a decade of practicing here has provided familiarity with the local legal community, the court, and the environment in which these disputes are decided. That local experience informs the mediation process. The goal is not to offer mediation everywhere, but to know one court and one community well.