Attorney and Certified Texas Mediator
Mediation that respects the process and the people in it.
Frank McElroy leads structured, neutral mediation for parties on two tracks — family law, and personal injury and civil litigation. The same discipline in either room: a session built to settle the case, not to escalate it.
Fee schedule
Simple fees. Flexible formats. Always virtual.
Book the length the case actually needs. Most family matters resolve in a half or extended half day; contested injury and commercial cases more often want a full day. The rate is the same in either practice area.
Every tier includes a Zoom session with private breakout rooms. Fees are due in full at the time of scheduling — the date is reserved once payment is received. Need special accommodations, additional breakouts, or multi-party coordination? Say so and it will be arranged.
Pay online
In the Reference field, enter the party’s name and the mediation date — for example, Smith · October 14. Card and digital-wallet payments are processed securely through LawPay. Checks are also accepted.
Live availability
Book a session
Sessions start at 9:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m. Only dates that are genuinely open appear below.
How a session runs
The shape of a session
The same structure every time, so counsel can tell a client exactly what the day will look like.
Submissions in advance
Each side sends a confidential submission beforehand — positions, numbers, and what has already been offered. Nothing in it reaches the other side without permission. Pre-mediation calls on request.
Opening, then separate rooms
The parties decide whether to hold a joint opening or to skip it. Either way, the mediator covers confidentiality, his role, and the good-faith pledge before everyone moves to private Zoom breakout rooms with their own counsel.
Caucus and reality-testing
The mediator moves between rooms, carrying offers and testing each side’s evidence, exposure, and expectations. Sessions can be segmented — custody first, property second; liability first, damages second.
Agreement drafted the same day
Terms reached are drafted and signed before anyone leaves, in family and civil matters alike. A properly executed family MSA is binding and not subject to revocation; a civil one is enforceable as any other written contract.
The mediator
Frank M. McElroy
“My job isn’t to take over your case. It’s to create the space where your client can resolve it.”
Frank is not a passive go-between. He is a seasoned family law litigator with the emotional intelligence, neutrality, and control to mediate tense, high-stakes cases with grace and structure.
He mediates as a neutral through McElroy Mediation and Conflict Resolution, taking referrals from courts under Chapter 154 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code as well as direct engagements from counsel. He is a Certified Mediator, a Certified Family Mediator, and a Certified Child Protective Services Mediator, trained through the mediator certificate programs at the University of Texas at San Antonio and in trauma-informed mediation approaches.
He is a founding partner of Volk & McElroy, L.L.P. in San Antonio, with more than twenty years in family law practice. He has also served as a court-appointed Special Prosecutor for Bexar, Medina, and Frio Counties and taught criminal procedure and courts as an adjunct professor for the University of Phoenix.
He also volunteers as a mediator with the Bexar County and Central Texas Dispute Resolution Centers.
Track one · Family law
Family matters counsel bring us
Certified as a family mediator and a child protective services mediator, with more than twenty years litigating these cases before mediating them.
Divorce
Contested and uncontested, including characterization of property, assets, and debt.
Custody and parenting time
Conservatorship, possession schedules, and relocation disputes.
Child support
Support calculations, net resources, and arrearages.
Property division
Community and separate property, retirement accounts, and the family home.
Modification
Conservatorship, possession, or support orders that stopped matching how the family actually lives.
SAPCRs and conservatorship
Suits affecting the parent–child relationship, including CPS and permanency matters.
Whether your client is cooperative or combative, the session creates space to move forward — with dignity and direction.
Emotionally intense case?
We’ve been there
Family mediation manages the tone, the pacing, and the conversation — keeping clients grounded, respectful, and moving forward, without erasing your strategy or your control of the case.
Family mediation often comes with
- Anxious clients
- Parents struggling to communicate
- Clients experiencing trauma or volatility
- Lingering distrust from litigation
Track two · Personal injury & civil litigation
Civil matters counsel bring us
The same neutral, attorney-led session, set for a docket where the argument is liability and damages rather than custody and property. Plaintiff and defense counsel are handled alike, and carrier representatives are welcome in the room.
Auto and trucking collisions
Liability and damages disputes arising from motor vehicle and commercial vehicle crashes.
Premises liability
Slip and fall, negligent security, and property-condition claims.
Negligence and wrongful death
Catastrophic injury, survival claims, and disputes over apportionment among beneficiaries.
Insurance coverage
First-party claims, uninsured and underinsured motorist disputes, and coverage disagreements.
Breach of contract
Commercial agreements, service contracts, warranties, and payment disputes.
Business and partnership disputes
Owner and partner disagreements, buyouts, accountings, and dissolution.
How a civil session is set
- Pre-suit or post-filing, at whatever stage the case is actually ripe
- Multi-party and carrier–counsel–client configurations
- Adjusters and claims representatives attending by Zoom
- Segmented sessions separating liability from damages
- Mediated settlement agreement drafted and signed the same day
- Last-minute settings when the docket moves, subject to availability
For Texas counsel
Questions counsel ask
Do you offer pre-mediation calls?
Yes, available on request. Frank is glad to understand tone, dynamics, or strategy in advance.
Can we structure mediation into segments?
Absolutely — custody first and property second, or liability before damages. The flow, breaks, and structure are flexible. Let us know what you need up front.
Do you accommodate trauma-informed or high-conflict parties?
Yes. Sessions are run with experience in clients under distress or reactivity, and the approach adjusts accordingly.
Will you push settlement?
Only when it is productive. The mediator is neutral, not passive, but will not force a closure that does not hold.
What if a party becomes combative or shuts down?
The session adapts — structured breakouts, pauses, and shifts in tone keep the mediation intact where possible.
Can an adjuster or carrier representative attend remotely?
Yes. Carrier and claims representatives join by Zoom as a matter of course, and the room is arranged so counsel, client, and adjuster can caucus privately without leaving the session.
Ready to resolve your case?
Let’s make it simple
Neutral, efficient, and entirely focused on progress. You handle your client — we’ll handle the room.
- Telephone
- (210) 377-1414
- frank@volkandmcelroy.com
- Office
- Volk & McElroy Law Center3003 NW Loop 410, Ste. 100
San Antonio, Texas 78230 - Sessions
- By Zoom, statewide
Two ways to set a date
Pick an open session on the booking calendar, or send a request with the case details and two or three workable dates if the setting still has to be cleared with the other side.
Book on the calendar Send a scheduling requestA scheduling request does not create a mediation setting or an attorney–client relationship. Materials are prepared for represented parties and their counsel.