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Laura Alyx Kaster
Dispute Resolution Section
Co-Chair, Committee on Publications

Laura Alyx Kaster                       
84 Heather Lane                                                                                                                                       
Princeton , NJ 08540
609.921.9129
laura.kaster@gmail.com 
http://www.AppropriateDisputeSolutions.com

Laura A. Kaster brings to her work as a neutral over 30 years of experience with arbitration, mediation and settlement negotiation in a wide variety of complex commercial disputes.

ARBITRATION

Since 2006, Ms. Kaster has served as an arbitrator for:

• the Better Business Bureau,
• the American Arbitration Association and
• FINRA

MEDIATION

She has also served as a mediator on the panel of:

• the American Arbitration Association,
• the Roster of Mediators for Civil, General Equity and Probate cases for the New Jersey state court system, and
• the Roster of Mediators for the Commercial Division Alternative Dispute Resolution Program for the Supreme Court of New York

INSTRUCTION

Ms. Kaster teaches teaching Dispute Resolution Processes at Seton Hall Law Schoolas an Adjunct Professor.

COUNSELOR EXPERIENCE – AT&T

As chief litigation counsel for AT&T Corporation for almost 10 years before devoting herself primarily to dispute resolution, Ms. Kaster represented AT&T Labs in all of its litigation. She also supervised litigation, arbitration, mediation and or settlement of all AT&T patent cases, trademark and trade secret cases, other intellectual property matters involving telecommunications, software, internet, audio, and related technology, class actions, post-closing disputes relating to AT&T's purchase and sale of significant businesses, such as its sale of satellite and submarine businesses, and for litigation that ultimately allowed AT&T to sell the Salt Lake Tribune. 

She was responsible for matters, including disputes involving multimillions of dollars, involving complex supplier, outsourcing, and major customer disputes and international arbitrations. Several of these matters involved multiple parties, including the resolution of AT&T’s claims against 50 insurance carriers arising out of the damage to the World Trade Centeron 9/11.  She has handled matters under the AAA rules, CPR rules, ICC and other international proceedings.

She served as AT&T's lead counsel on several seminal cases, including, AT&T v. Microsoft, a patent case which was settled at trial with a novel carve out for an appeal, and AOL v. AT&T, which she briefed and successfully argued before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that "You've Got Mail" was generic for indicating the receipt of email.

Ms. Kaster handled and resolved class actions and class action appeals in employment and ERISA related disputes and was involved in establishing AT&T's consumer arbitration program and its retention and email policies. She had wide exposure to e-discovery.

LAW FIRM EXPERIENCE

Prior to her work at AT&T, as a partner at Jenner & Block, Ms. Kaster handled a wide variety of complex disputes and developed special expertise in disputes involving intellectual property, technology, environmental issues, taxes, fee litigations and sanctions, closely held companies and estates.

EDUCATION

Ms. Kaster is a master in the Judge Marie Garibaldi Inn of Court, devoted exclusively to alternative dispute resolution. She is a member of the American Bar Association (Dispute Resolution Section; Litigation Section; Intellectual Property Section); the New York State Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section; the New Jersey Bar Association (Dispute Resolution Section); the New York State Dispute Resolution Association; the Seventh Circuit Bar Association; the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights (Board); and the Diversity Task Force of CPR.

Her dispute resolution trainings include:

• Alternative Dispute Resolution Training AAA Arbitration Fundamentals and Best Practices for New Arbitrators, 2008;
• New York StateJudicial Institute, Advanced Training for Commercial Division Mediators 2008;
• Center for Mediation In Law, Self-Reflection in Action for Conflict Professionals 2008;
• CPR Annual Meeting 2008;
• Center For Mediation In Law Advanced Training Series 2007;
• CPR, Intensive Mediation Training, 2007;
• NASD, Arbitration Basic Training, Expungement, Revised Code of Arbitration Procedures, 2007;
• ABADispute Resolution Section, Third Annual Arbitration Training, 2007;
• NJICLE, Advanced Mediation Clinic, 2007;
• NJICLE, Arbitration Training Course, 2007; Fulbright & Jaworski, International Dispute Resolution: Drafting An Effective International Arbitration Clause; and the Center for Mediation in Law, Mediation Intensive Training, 2006

She is admitted to the Bar of Massachusetts, 1973; Illinois, 1975; New Jersey, 2005; New York, 2006; U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 1975; the United States Supreme Court, The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and for the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits.

She holds a BA from Tufts University (Political Science-1970); and a JD, magna cum laude from Boston University, where she was Notes Editor for the Law Review and recipient of the Melville M. Bigelow Award in 1973.  Following law school, she was a law clerk to then Chief Judge Frank M. Coffin of the Federal Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Ms. Kaster is listed in "Who's Who in America" (2007) and "Who's Who of American Women" (2001-2007) and is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.