Ken Carlson is a certified mediator who has practiced labor & employment law exclusively since 1993. The majority of his practice now involves serving as a mediator or arbitrator, primarily focusing on various areas of employment law such as discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge, breach of employment contract, FLSA/wage & hour, ERISA/benefits, and trade secret/covenant not to compete issues. As a certified mediator, Ken mediates cases in both federal and state courts throughout North Carolina, and in other states upon request.  He is also fine with mediating in-person, remotely (via Zoom), or through a combination of the two -- whichever the parties prefer.

• Wake Forest University School of Law - J.D., 1990
• Yale Divinity School - Master of Divinity, 1981
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - B.A., English, 1976

• Adjunct Professor, Wake Forest University School of Law
• American Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association
• North Carolina Bar Association
• Fellow, American Bar Foundation
• Winston-Salem Society for Human Resources Management and Board Member
• Former Past Chair and Council Member, Dispute Resolution Section of the NC Bar Association
• Past Editor, NC Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section Newsletter and Labor & Employment Section Newsletter

Mediations - $400/hour, including a one-hour administrative fee, plus expenses such as mileage and other travel-related costs (except meals). I only charge for one-way travel time. Hotel expenses are charged for any mediation conducted over three hours travel time from Winston-Salem in which an overnight stay is involved.  Any significant preparation time (beyond reviewing any pleadings and/or a typical mediation statement or other reasonable amount of material) is also billed to the submitting party at the same rate.  

Arbitrations - $530/hour, which applies to all pre-hearing, hearing and post-hearing time spent in the matter, to be billed in one-tenth of an hour increments, as well as one-way travel time for any travel outside of Winston-Salem, NC.  Approved expenses include any mileage at the then-current IRS rate, moderately priced hotel accommodations and a $60 meal per diem if overnight travel is involved, coach-class air travel fare and taxi/Uber costs as appropriate, any extensive copying or transcript charges, and other reasonable expenses (excluding meals).  I also normally charge a $5,000 - $10,000.00 retainer, to be shared equally by the parties (unless otherwise agreed) and billed against at the above hourly rate, with any balance at the arbitration’s conclusion refunded to the parties.