Dispute Resolution
DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO CONFLICT
Ratings and Speaking Engagements
- Kyle-Beth Hilfer is rated in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Arbitration and Mediation.
- She has been rated as one of the “Super Lawyers®” by Thomson Reuters in New York for Media & Advertising Law since 2021.
- Kyle-Beth Hilfer is a frequent speaker on arbitration and mediation. You can read about those engagements here.
Philosophy
Kyle-Beth Hilfer resolves disputes through alternate means of dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation.
As a Harvard Law student, Kyle-Beth distinguished herself in the competitive Williston Contract Competition and studied alternative dispute resolution. Throughout her years of practice, Kyle-Beth has been an active advocate for alternate dispute resolution. She excels at developing innovative solutions to conflict.
In her transactional practice, Kyle-Beth drafts fair contracts that produce business results and sustain relationships. She approaches each transactional matter with the overarching philosophy that clients do not want to end up in court. She appreciates the emotional and financial toll that lawsuits can exact. Kyle-Beth works proactively for her clients to anticipate problems before they arise and avoid litigation.
As a dispute resolution provider, Kyle-Beth resolves disputes in a fair, unbiased manner. In both arbitrations and mediations, she differentiates herself from other neutrals with an active case management style.
- Co-chair, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Section of New York State Bar Association
- Member, Dispute Resolution Section, New York State Bar Association.
- Member, Alternate Dispute Resolution Section of the Westchester County Bar Association.
Industries
Advertising/marketing/public relations, art, consumer products (e.g. apparel, auto, cosmetics, food/beverage, design, luxury, packaged, textiles), digital/e-commerce, entertainment, franchise, health, hospitality, licensing, media, publishing, restaurant, retail, social media, sports, technology, telecommunications.
Arbitration Practice
Kyle-Beth Hilfer is a seasoned arbitrator with over 30 years’ experience hearing disputes. Having served as an independent Panel Advisor to the National Advertising Review Board of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council of the Better Business Bureau, Ms. Hilfer has a unique understanding of advertising industry disputes. In addition, parties to disputes hire her because of her broad expertise in managing intellectual property and commercial disputes of all sizes.
Kyle-Beth has presided over disputes with damages ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to multimillion-dollar large complex case awards.
Dispute types:
- Commercial law
- Advertising/marketing law
- Intellectual Property law
- Entertainment/media/publishing disputes
- Retail and consumer products and related-technology disputes
- Sports
As an arbitrator, Kyle-Beth manages hearings closely to achieve both efficiency and fairness, incorporating:
- Pre-hearing telephonic conferences
- Early resolution of discovery issues
- Ongoing communication with parties pre-hearings
- Clear and detailed schedules
- Organized evidentiary hearings
- Confidentiality
- Cybersecurity
- Impartiality
- Respect for the parties
- Awareness of budget
Kyle-Beth serves as sole arbitrator, panel chairperson, or panelist through:
- American Arbitration Association: Commercial, Customer Account, Intellectual Property, Large Complex Case Panel, and Sports Panels.
- The City of New York Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings Contract Dispute Resolution Board: appointed through the judicial system to hear disputes arising out of contracts between New York City and its vendors for goods, services, and construction.
- World Intellectual Property Organization: appointed to panel to hear intellectual property disputes.
- Non-administered private arbitrations.
Mediation Practice
Kyle-Beth Hilfer brings to mediations over thirty years’ experience in private practice and dispute resolution. She uses facilitative and transformative approaches to mediation that help the parties and their attorneys understand better their interests and resolve their disputes. When requested by the parties, she also employs evaluative techniques.
At the outset, Kyle-Beth prepares carefully to understand the parties’ conflict. Through pre-mediation conferences, she considers the parties’ positions and interests as well as the history of any settlement discussions. From the first interactions, she creates an atmosphere of trust that encourages cooperation and honesty. Stressing that it is the parties’ process, Kyle-Beth deploys tools tactically and always with the parties’ consent. These tools include active listening, questioning, reality testing, and risk-reward analyses. Whether in a joint session or caucus, her focus is a neutral and confidential facilitation.
Kyle-Beth is a determined mediator; she does not give up on the parties. Her job is to uncloak the parties’ own abilities to remove obstacles and discover opportunities for resolution. Along the way, Kyle-Beth checks in frequently with the parties to determine how the process is serving each side’s goals. It is the parties’ dispute, and only they can deliver solutions. At the same time, her omnipresent hope is that with her patient, unbiased, and diligent assistance, they may unearth creative and workable results.
Kyle-Beth is a mediator in the following venues:
- American Arbitration Association. For more information about retaining Kyle-Beth Hilfer through the AAA to serve as your mediator, please click here.
- World Intellectual Property Organization.
- Eastern District of New York.
- New York State’s 2d Department Appellate Division Special Master Panel.
- Nassau County, New York State Commercial Division ADR Roster.
- Non-administered, private mediations.
She is a New York Part 146 certified mediator.
Kyle-Beth differentiates herself with a mediation style that incorporates:
- Confidentiality
- Cybersecurity
- Impartiality
- Respect for the parties
- Empowerment
- Collaboration
- Empathetic and dynamic listening
- Evaluative techniques when requested
- Awareness of budget
Technology Proficiency
Kyle-Beth Hilfer is available for arbitrations and mediations by videoconference or teleconference as well as in person. She has conducted proceedings via online platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, LoopUp, BlueJeans, GoToMeeting. She uses bespoke video conference protocols for each matter, working with parties’ needs. In addition, she is willing and able to work with online case management and document sharing platforms and electronic documents and exhibits. Ms. Hilfer encourages the use of technology to augment hearing efficiency while not compromising confidentiality or ethics. She is a signatory of the Green Pledge of the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations. She regularly effective cybersecurity protections, including VPN, anti-virus/anti-malware software, and multi-factor authentication. Finally, Ms. Hilfer discusses with the parties the impact of artificial intelligence on proceedings and how they can be used to enhance the process.
To read about a virtual hearing Kyle-Beth conducted, click here.
For more information about hiring Kyle-Beth Hilfer to resolve your dispute, contact her for a consultation.