Judge Patricia J Kerrigan
Judge Kerrigan has been mediating and arbitrating complex commercial, energy and employment matters since 2017. She brings 24 years of experience as a trial lawyer and 10 years as a District Court Judge to her practice, experience which gives her a keen understanding of the law and the dynamics of a trial. Importantly, her background gives her the ability to develop efficient cost-conscious discovery protocols for arbitrations and to effectively handle discovery disputes. She encourages cost saving devices, such as the use of witness statements and affidavits rather than depositions. She also works with counsel to tailor her time and involvement to where it is necessary by encouraging the parties to resolve issues and limiting unnecessary status conferences. At the same time, she understands that her involvement early in a discovery or other case dispute works to resolve the issue more economically. In other words, she works to not only make the lawyers and the process efficient and economic but also her own role. Her arbitration experience includes fiduciary duty issues, business divorces, midstream and upstream energy disputes, contract disputes, executive employment disputes, employment discrimination and sexual harassment. Due to her background in healthcare, she also handles healthcare related matters, such as medical malpractice and medical partnership disputes.
Her mediation practice includes the same subject matter areas as her arbitration practice, but additionally she is frequently asked to mediate torts, personal injury and bad faith insurance disputes. Judge Kerrigan firmly believes that a well-prepared mediator impacts the successful outcome of a mediation and takes the time needed to review and understand the submitted materials and often engages in pre-mediation telephone conferences with counsel. If a case does not settle, she will often follow up and monitor the status of the trial preparations to determine if an opportunity for further negotiations develops. She completed the University of Houston AA White Dispute Resolution Center mediation training and qualified for credentialing with the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association. She has been certified in Early Dispute Resolution.
credentials & associations
Judge Kerrigan has been on the Commercial, Energy and Employment Roster of Arbitrators and Mediators with The American Arbitration Association (AAA) since 2017 and has often been selected as an arbitrator in employment arbitrations with Judicial Workplace Arbitrations (JWA) and has also served as an arbitrator with the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR). She has served by request of counsel in independent arbitrations and by request of counsel approved by court order as a Special Judge under Rule 151 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. She has served as an arbitrator in over 120 cases and as a mediator in over 270 cases.
Because Judge Kerrigan has always respected and been interested in science, she was delighted and honored in 2015 to be invited to participate in the National Courts and Science Institute – Los Alamos Judicial Science Program and also in The Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource Judge Fellow Program. She was also honored to be named Trial Judge of the Year by the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists and also by the Houston Press. She is currently a Senior District Court Judge (Retired) and still sits as a Civil Court Judge by appointment.
During her 25 years as a trial lawyer (who loved trying cases) she was honored to be invited to become a member of The American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) where she has remained active, serving as President of the local chapter, Chair of the local Diversity Committee and currently as a Director on the ABOTA National Board of Directors. She was the first woman President of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel and of the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys and was active for many years in the Defense Research Institute, serving as a Board Member and Treasurer. The Plaintiffs’ Bar recognized her neutrality as a Judge and supported her re-election campaigns and still often select her for ADR. She has served on numerous Texas State Bar committees, including as Chair of Volume 1 of the Pattern Jury Charge Committee and is a Fellow of the Houston and Texas Bar Foundations. In her trial practice, she served as National Coordinating Counsel on product lines for a major manufacturer and on the National Litigation Team for a manufacturer of children’s products and on the National Trial Team for a medical device manufacturer. Judge Kerrigan is a member of the American Leadership Forum Class of XVIII.
Education, Employment and More
Judge Kerrigan graduated from Boston University and then received her JD from the University of Houston Law Center where she served as Chief Justice of the Advocates, the law school’s moot court organization. After graduation, she worked at Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, now Norton Rose Fulbright, where she became a partner in 1992. In 1997, she co-founded Werner, Kerrigan & Ayers LLP, where she remained until appointed as Judge of the 190th District Court in Harris County, Texas in 2007.
Prior to law school, Judge Kerrigan was an RN working in various hospitals and medical services in the Boston area before moving to Texas.
Her hobbies include hiking, skiing, art and music – she sang with the Writ Kickers, a country and western band, and currently sings with the St. Andrew Choir.
organizations
Judge Kerrigan graduated from Boston University (BSN) and after receiving her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center, she worked at Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, now Norton Rose Fulbright, where she became a partner in 1992. In 1997 she formed Werner, Kerrigan & Ayers LLP where she remained until appointed as Judge of the 190th District Court in Harris County, Texas in 2007. During her 25 years as a trial lawyer (who loved trying cases) she was invited to become a member of The American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) in which she has remained active, serving as President of the local chapter, as a representative to the ABOTA’s National Board of Directors (2021) and Chair of the local Tex-ABOTA Diversity Committee(2020). She was the first woman President of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel and of the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys. She has served on numerous Texas State Bar committees including as Chair of Volume 1 of the Pattern Jury Charge Committee and is a Fellow of the Houston and Texas Bar Foundations. In her trial practice she developed and tried tort and commercial litigation cases and served as National Coordinating Counsel on product lines for a major manufacturer and on the National Litigation Team for a manufacturer of children’s products and on the National Trial Team for a medical device manufacturer. Judge Kerrigan is a member of the American Leadership Forum Class of XVIII.
Her hobbies include hiking, skiing, art and music – she sang with the Writ Kickers, a country and western band, and currently sings with the St Andrew Choir.