Our Work - Assignments Undertaken

Early Work (1983 - 2003)

Initially, most of our work comprised referrals of legal disputes from lawyers, institutes and professional organisations.

Business and family law disputes came from advertising and word of mouth recommendations, while workplace disputes came from everywhere!

Through active participation on professional and institutional bodies, we were appointed to various government and institutional panels of dispute resolvers.

As the work increased, we established a network of trusted dispute resolvers with strengths in key areas, including: contract & commercial; small/medium business & partnership; family and de facto law; wills & probate; workplace grievances.

We also established a panel of retired senior judges for: private judging, neutral evaluations and case appraisals.

We began conflict management systems consulting to a number of major organisations including: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Financial Planning Association of Australia, Victorian Department of Justice and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.

We were appointed to the ACCC’s drafting committee to produce the Commission’s official guideline for resolving small vs. large business disputes.  We were later appointed to Standards Australia’s drafting committee to produce the Australian Standard for Dispute Resolution (AS 4608).

When Family Business Australia was established to address the unique issues confronting family businesses, of all types and sizes, we developed new diagnostic, consultative and mediation processes that have made us Australia’s leading Family Business dispute resolver.  Resolving Family Business conflicts and problems and consulting to family business generally are now major parts of our business.

We began to receive more referrals from professional advisers, mainly lawyers and accountants, who recognized that some clients had special needs that called for different advice and action.  We worked closely with these advisers to produce great results for their clients, thereby enhancing the underlying adviser:client relationship.

We started facilitating critical commercial negotiations between two or more parties.  We feel this makes some of the “highest and best” use of our strategic analysis, problem solving and mediation skills and this has also become a growing part of the business.  To give an idea of the range of this activity, some of these assignments were between:

• A software developer and their largest commercial customer – a major financial institution.
• A financial services conglomerate and its agent group.
• A trade association and a professional institution.
• Members of the medical profession and their Defence Association.

Current Scope of Work

A selection of assignments undertaken in 2002/3:

• Resolving disputes and conflicts of most types, from intense, two-person matters (personal, matrimonial, workplace and commercial) to some very large commercial disputes - mainly using arbitration and mediation.
• Resolving professional partnership and shareholder disputes.
• Resolving Family Business disputes and challenges, including:   inter and intra-generational conflict, leadership transition and succession planning, company restructuring.
• Developing Family Business constitutions and managing retreats.
• Facilitating Visioning, Strategic Planning and Business Planning for individuals, businesses, Family Businesses and organisations of all sizes.
• Conflict management consulting, complaint handling systems design and related training for the medial profession in Victoria.
• Developing programs to accredit Conflict Managed Organisations.
• Facilitating several complex commercial negotiations.
• Developing tailored training programs in Negotiation, Complaint Handling, Dispute Resolution and Complaint Handling Systems.
• Mentoring and executive coaching for upcoming Family Business members.
• Facilitating business meetings and corporatisation change generally.

Plans for the Future

We intend to expand our activities in most of the above areas.  We expect our major focus in 2004 to be on:

• Dispute Resolution.
• Conflict Management Systems Consulting.
• Training - problem solving, effective communication, negotiation, complaint handling (including managing systems) and dispute resolution.
• Dispute Facilitation, including process management and the provision of meeting facilities.
• Family Business strategies - conflict management and strategic planning.