Kimberlee K. Kovach has over thirty-five years of experience in dispute resolution as a leading teacher, trainer, scholar and practitioner.
She was a founding officer and Past Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, as well as a former Chair of the State Bar of Texas and Houston Bar ADR Sections. Kim was also actively involved with the development of early dispute resolution programs at the local, state and national levels.
Kim was instrumental in the development of court-annexed mediation and dispute resolution programs, working with courts throughout Texas. She also served as a consultant to courts in several other jurisdictions nationwide. Kim was an early pioneer in the creation of community dispute resolution centers, and trained several hundred initial volunteer mediators in Texas.
Professor Kovach has taught a variety of ADR courses in legal education for nearly twenty-five years, and is the author of a text book for law school use, Mediation: Principles And Practice (3rd ed. 2004). She is also the author of Mediation In a Nutshell ( 3rd ed, 2014). In addition, Kovach has published numerous law review articles, book chapters as well as short articles on a variety of ADR related topics. For access to selected articles, please click here. Kovach has also lectured extensively throughout the United States and abroad, working in advancing the awareness and use of dispute resolution processes.
Kim was the first recipient of the State Bar of Texas ADR Section Evans' Award for exceptional work in the field of dispute resolution in 1995. More recently, Kim was honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Academy of Mediators (IAM) in recognition of her extensive work in the field of mediation and ADR. In presenting this award, Howard Vogel, then President of IAM noted, "Kim Kovach is a Texas treasure, legend and pioneer. She was an early voice for the advancement of ADR in the United States. That voice has remained strong and highly respected around the world." 
Kimberlee Kovach: Hopes for the Future - Video (04/04/10)
Kim shares her hopes for the future. These include having ADR taught in schools so people can build a skillset,
shifting the resistance to mediation into have people collaborate more.
Kimberlee Kovach: Evaluative Mediation to Marginilize Clients - Video (11/03/09)
Kovach discusses the process of evaluative mediation and how it can marginilize clients.
Kimberlee Kovach: Mediation Growing in Popularity - Video (07/02/09)
Kim Kovach talks about how mediation as become more popular and accepted, but how many people see it as part of the legal system - not a stand-alone process.
Kimberlee Kovach: Goals When First Starting Out in Field - Video (07/02/09)
Kovach shares her two main objectives when she began mediating - provide people with a process in which they could participate in decision-making and have control over the outcome & teaching parties new skills to enable them to resolve conflict on their own.
Kimberlee Kovach: Mediation Movement from the 1970s to 2010 - Video (06/02/09)
Kovach describes the development of mediation from experimental programs to research to implementation and now to regulation.
Kimberlee Kovach: Downside to Growth of Court Mediation - Video (04/22/09)
Kim shares her concern with the growth of court-connected mediations. She believes that there are many more disputes outside the courts that could benefit from mediation.
Kimberlee Kovach: Culture of Right and Wrong - Video (01/02/09)
Kovach describes society's culture of right and wrong and how we don't have to think in those terms. We can resolve a conflict without determining who is right and who is wrong.