The Power of Wellbeing

Managing Conflict in an Unsettled Post-Pandemic World

Thursday 24th August | 3.50 pm
Speakers: Clive Elliott KC

Session Objectives:

  • Delegates who attend the session will be provided with details of the book The Power of Wellbeing, along with an explanation of the book’s major themes and how they impact those involved in the alternative dispute area. Clive will examine how ADR specifically, and dispute resolution generally, is a key part of the fabric of civil society, helping to hold us together, by resolving conflicts and disputes before they tear us apart, or worse result in violence and mayhem. The session will also look at how practitioners can participate in ensuring the general wellbeing of society and why this is so important, especially in this pivotal moment in our history. That is, as we experience unprecedented change fatigue, accompanied by growing uncertainty, disenchantment, and intolerance of anything we disagree with or don’t happen to like.

  • Delegates will be given practical examples of how individuals, communities and humanity as a whole can flourish and thrive in the post pandemic environment and how practitioners can develop strategies to deal with the disputes they will be tasked with solving.

  • Understand the range of forces that are challenging the social contract that has long regulated our affairs and bound us together.

  • The session will identify some of the key concerns and articulate strategies to deal with them, so attendees are better equipped to grapple with these issues and achieve the excellence they seek.

Overview:

The Power of Wellbeing

Dispute resolution professionals are passionate about their work and are highly skilled in executing their duties. However, we sometimes lose sight of the wider impact our decisions might have on individuals. We need to be mindful of the huge social change that humanity is going through at the moment, so we remain ahead of the curve and provide genuine thought leadership and advocate for positive change.

The Power of Wellbeing is about the critical importance of good governance and the institutions that hold society together and maintain the high levels of trust we are fortunate to enjoy in Aotearora New Zealand. However, the pandemic, especially since Omni arrived, has shown that there is a real risk that society could divide into two hostile camps, those who believe in sound science, are vaccinated and support the status quo and those who feel disenfranchised, shut out and angry. As conflict resolution specialists we all have a responsibility to get involved, to roll up our sleeves and help mediate between these two increasingly polarised and hostile camps and work to reduce the tensions between them.

The principles I discuss are broad-based and go beyond the strategies, skillsets and experience that we traditionally rely on, hopefully generating a better understanding, and a more creative and collaborative approach to problem-solving. I plan to present a plan that creates outcomes that are of benefit to not just disputants but also wider society, which looks to professionals like us, to engineer thoughtful and tailored solutions. As Professor Paul Moon, history professor from AUT, put it: “the book is an important work for a number of reasons, but particularly at this moment in our history, because it has put potential to serve as an antidote to the forces that are dragging society apart”. The session is designed to help empower dispute resolution professionals to create a more positive and inclusive post-pandemic world by making society whole again, dispute by dispute, and case by case.

Clive Elliott KC

Clive Elliott AMINZ Conference 2023

Clive Elliott KC–Barrister and AMINZ FellowClive is a barrister, patent attorney and arbitrator. He is ranked by Chambers and Partners as "one of New Zealand's leading IP silks" with a "particular flare when it comes to handling especially complex matters". Clive is a fellow of the Arbitrators and Mediators Institute of New Zealand and a panel member of the Institute’s IP list. He has been a member of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO’s) domain name panel from the outset and has been an expert on the U.S.-based National Arbitration Forum’s domain name panels since 2002.

Clive is a former President of the New Zealand Bar Association. He is a past council member of the Legal Practice Division of the International Bar Association (IBA), a past chair of theIntellectual Property and Entertainment LawCommittee of the IBA and a past president of theIntellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ). He was also convenor of the Intellectual Property Committee of the New Zealand Law Society for a period of 10 years and remains a member of the Intellectual Property Committee.

He is a co-author of the Lexis Nexis loose-leaf texts: Copyright and Design; and Patents and Trade Marks. He is a frequent writer and commentator on IP and information technology issues and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Intellectual Property Forum. He is named in the International Who's Who of Patent Lawyers, the International Who's Who of Internet & E-Commerce Lawyers and the World Trademark Review's World's Leading TrademarkProfessionals.

Speaker Session: The Power of Wellbeing - Managing Conflict in an Unsettled Post-pandemic World