Keynote Presenters

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Justice Albie Sachs, South Africa

Justice Albie Sachs, appointed by President Mandela to SA's first Constitutional Court, has recently completed his fifteen-year term on the Court. His book The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law [OUP] deals with the workings of the judicial mind in dealing with complex problems like terrorism and torture, truth and reconciliation, the enforcement of social and economic rights, whether the law has a sense of humour, and same-sex marriages. 

On turning six, during World War II, Albie Sachs received a card from his father expressing the wish that he would grow up to be a soldier in the fight for liberation. 

His career in human rights activism started at the age of seventeen, when as a second year law student at the University of Cape Town, he took part in the Defiance of Unjust Laws Campaign. Three years later he attended the Congress of the People at Kliptown where the Freedom Charter was adopted. He started practice as an advocate at the Cape Bar aged 21. The bulk of his work involved defending people charged under racist statutes and repressive security laws. Many faced the death sentence. He himself was raided by the security police, subjected to banning orders restricting his movement and eventually placed in solitary confinement without trial for two prolonged spells of detention. 

In 1966 he went into exile. After spending eleven years studying and teaching law in England he worked for a further eleven years in Mozambique as law professor and legal researcher. In 1988 he was blown up by a bomb placed in his car in Maputo by South African security agents, losing an arm and the sight of an eye. 

During the 1980s working closely with Oliver Tambo, leader of the ANC in exile, he helped draft the organisation's Code of Conduct, as well as its statutes. After recovering from the bomb he devoted himself full-time to preparations for a new democratic Constitution for South Africa. In 1990 he returned home and as a member of the Constitutional Committee and the National Executive of the ANC took an active part in the negotiations, which led to South Africa becoming a constitutional democracy. After the first democratic election in 1994 he was appointed by President Nelson Mandela to serve on the newly established Constitutional Court. 

In addition to his work on the Court, he has travelled to many countries sharing South African experience in healing divided societies. He has also been engaged in the sphere of art and architecture, and played an active role in the development of the Constitutional Court building and its art collection on the site of the Old Fort Prison in Johannesburg. 

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Michael D Lang, J.D. 

Michael Lang has been a mediator, trainer, and conflict management consultant for 30 years in the areas of workplace, organizational, divorce and family, congregational and public policy disputes. He has consulted with and provided conflict management trainings to a range of businesses, government agencies, not-for-profit organizations and university faculties. As well, he designed and helped implement a comprehensive workplace mediation program for the US Department of Veterans Affairs. As an educator for the past 20 years, Michael has developed and presented mediation skills and practice training courses, for beginning and advanced students, for court systems, government agencies, mediation centers, and professional associations. He has been a featured speaker at professional meetings throughout Canada and the U.S. and in the UK, Ireland and Trinidad and Tobago. He has held a number of academic positions in addition to being an active mediator. Michael is the founding Director of the Master of Arts Program in Conflict Resolution at Antioch University; he served as Professor and Special Advisor for Program and Faculty Development in the Master of Science in Dispute Resolution Program at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC; and he co-founded and was a principal instructor in a certificate program in conflict resolution at the University of Southern Maine. In addition to adjunct teaching at Carleton University in Ottawa, Hamline Law School and University of St. Thomas, Michael has been a visiting faculty member at University of the West Indies, Woodbury College, Duquesne University and the Justice Institute of British Columbia. Active in many professional activities, Michael has served on the boards of directors and as an officer of local, regional, state and national professional organizations in the field of conflict resolution. He is a former president of the Academy of Family Mediators and served for five years as a member of its board of directors. Michael served as Editor-in-Chief of Mediation Quarterly (now Conflict Resolution Quarterly) from 1995-2001, and as a member of its editorial board from 1988-2007. Michael has authored numerous articles on mediation practice and is co-author of The Making of a Mediator: Developing Artistry in Practice, published in 2000 by Jossey Bass Publishers.  

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Alain Lempereur Professor, Public and Private Policy Department Negotiation and Mediation Chair, Founder and Professor Chair ESSEC Business School Paris Singapore, France.

Alain Pekar Lempereur is the Negotiation and Mediation Chair Professor at ESSEC Business School - Paris & Singapore, in the Public and Private Policy Department. Member of the Board of Overseers, and of the Faculty Senate, he coordinates the Interdisciplinary Forum "Questioning the Crisis", which includes more than 50 ESSEC faculty. 

In 1995, he founded ESSEC IRÉNÉ (Institute for Research and Education on Negotiation in Europe) that he headed until the end of 2008; he also served as the Academic Director of the ESSEC Executive MBA (1999-2001).  Former Special Fellow of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), he was a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, at the University of Mannheim and the Cyprus International Institute for Management.

His books are devoted  to mediation (Méthode de Médiation with Jacques Salzer & Aurélien Colson; La Médiation: Modes d'emploi with Stephen Bensimon; Modèles de médiateurs et Médiateur-modèle), negotiation (Méthode de négociation and Négociations européennes, with Aurélien Colson, and La Négociation, RFG, with James Sebenius; Callières. De la Manière de négocier), communication (Argumentation, Legal Argument), and leadership (Faciliter la Concertation, with Lawrence Susskind and Yann Duzert ; Leadership responsable). He published articles in international journals, such as the European Review, the Negotiation Journal, the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, International Negotiation, etc. His current research is devoted to responsible leadership, reconciliation and the levels of transformation required in post-conflict situations. His new book is The First Move: A Negotiator’s Companion (with Aurélien Colson, Wiley, 2010). 

He has facilitated programs of research, training and consulting on negotiation, mediation and conflict resolution for government and business leaders all over the world; he advised national and international administrations, including the European Commission and Parliament, the OECD, UNDP, and WHO. He helped develop reconciliation and leadership programs in Africa, namely in Burundi and in D.R. Congo, where he served as a senior facilitator. He has also been a consultant for companies, like the Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey.      

A graduate in Law and Philosophy from the University of Brussels and a Fulbright Fellow, he received his S.J.D. from Harvard Law School. He and his wife, Michele, have three children, Daria, Henri, and Emery.   

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The Honorable Robert McClelland MP, Attorney-General of The Commonwealth of Australia 

Robert McClelland is the Federal Attorney-General and the Member for Barton, an electorate based in the St George area of Sydney. Robert was elected to Parliament in 1996. Before becoming Attorney-General he served on several parliamentary committees, including as Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties and the Joint Select Committee on the Republic Referendum. Before entering Parliament, Robert practised as a lawyer for 14 years, specialising in industrial and sports law. Robert was born on Australia Day in 1958. His interests include Australian history, surfing and rugby league.

Featured Presenters

Maureen Abbott

Maureen is an Aboriginal woman, born on the banks of the Finke River at (Ntaria), Hermannsburg mission. Her family connections are the Western Aranda & Western Luritja clan groups in Central Australia. Maureen is a local person raised in Alice Springs with strong working links in the community and involvement in Aboriginal affairs. Her employment history varies from family law (as an Indigenous Family Consultant) with the Family Court of Australia and in the employment sector as staff development officer. Maureen has been involved in Interpreting and Translating in the community for many service providers as well as the acting Cultural Broker / Mediator for the Family Relationship Centre in Alice Springs. Maureen was involved in delivering the Nationally Accredited Ponki mediation training workshop at Nguiu at Bathurst Island with the "Ponki" mediation group in 2009. She is currently employed to project manage and set up the Family Group Conferencing project as a convener/mediator for the CJC in Alice Springs.

The Honourable Jennifer Acton, Senior Deputy President of Fair Work Australia

The Honourable Jennifer Acton is a Senior Deputy President of Fair Work Australia (FWA), formerly the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. She is currently Head of the Termination of Employment Panel at FWA and recently introduced major change to the case management of unfair dismissal claims through a telephone conciliation service. She has been professionally involved in Alternative Dispute Resolution for over 30 years, and for more than half of that time as a tribunal member. She is also an Advisory Board member of the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law at the University of Melbourne and an Editorial Committee member of the Australian Journal of Labour Law.

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Associate Professor Dale Bagshaw, PhD, Australia

Associate Professor Dale Bagshaw, PhD, is the inaugural President of the Asia Pacific Mediation Forum (2000-ongoing), a past President of the World Mediation Forum, the inaugural Chairperson of SADRA (1988-1998), and the Convenor of the 1st National Mediation Conference (1993) and the 2nd International Mediation Conference (1996). In 1993 she established post-graduate courses in Mediation and Conflict Resolution at the University of South Australia and was the Program Director until she retired in July 2009. She was also the Director of the Centre for Peace Conflict and Mediation (CPCM) and its precedents at UniSA (1995-2009). Dale has published widely, conducted mediation training programs in 8 different countries and has recently co-edited a book – Bagshaw, D & Porter, E (2009). Mediation in the Asia Pacific Region. Transforming Conflicts and Building Peace. Routledge: London and New York.

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Laurence Boulle, Director, Mandela Institute for Global Economic Law University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Laurence Boulle is currently Director of the Mandela Institute for Global Economic Law and Issy Wolfson Professor in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He is also Professor of Law in Bond University, Queensland. He is a former chair of Nadrac and member (part-time) of the National Native Title Tribunal. He has practiced and published in mediation and ADR for 20 years, his most recent publication being Mediator Skills and Techniques: Triangle of Influence (with M Nesic, Bloomsbury Professional, London, 2010). He has brought a dispute resolution perspective to international trade and investment law in The Law of Globalisation (Kluwer Law International, The Netherlands, 2009.) He is currently focusing on dispute resolution in the World Trade Organisation and in cross-border investment disputes.

The Hon. Chief Justice Diana Bryant, Family Court of Australia 

Born in Perth Chief Justice Bryant is a third-generation lawyer who graduated with a Bachelor of Law from Melbourne University. Chief Justice Bryant is widely recognised for the important role she played in establishing the Federal Magistrates Court, having "guided the emergence and growth" of the Court as inaugural Chief Federal Magistrate from 2000-2004. When appointed Chief Justice of the Family Court, she became the second woman in Australia's history to lead a federal court.

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Pat Cavanagh Adjunct Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Bond University 

Director, Dispute Resolution Centre, Bond University (1990-current) teaching over 350 programs on negotiation, mediation and arbitration skills in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore , Indonesia and India. • Adjunct Associate Professor of Law, Bond University (2002-current) teaching Advanced Commercial Negotiation and Mediation. • Senior Case Manager / Senior Mediator with Jakarta Initiative Task Force (JITF) based in Jakarta Indonesia (2001-2003). This was a USAID/World Bank program that mediated debt restructuring issues between domestic borrowers and syndicated foreign banking lenders. The program assisted with disputes that had a minimum outstanding debt of US$10 million. The average amount in dispute was US250 million .The JITF successfully mediated the resolution of US$21 billion of outstanding loans. In addition to acting as mediator my responsibilities included training and certification of mediators both internally and in the wider public/private corporate area. • Senior Advisor to National Mediation Centre (PMN) Jakarta Indonesia (2003-2004). This is the first commercial mediation organization established in Indonesia. Assumed responsibility for the drafting and implementation of mandatory civil court annexed mediation programmes together with associated judicial training and certification and accreditation schemes for commercial and court appointed mediators. • Appointed as specialist mediation advisor to Government of Indonesia to assist resolution of US$1.5 billion telecommunications dispute

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Melissa H. Conley Tyler

Melissa H. Conley Tyler is the National Executive Director of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and a Senior Fellow of Melbourne Law School. She was previously Program Manager at the University of Melbourne’s International Conflict Resolution Centre. Melissa is a lawyer who has worked in negotiation, mediation and peace education for more than 15 years, including serving on the United Nations Expert Working Group on Online Dispute Resolution and the Editorial Board of Conflict Resolution Quarterly. Melissa has convened a United Nations Forum on Online Dispute Resolution and a Fulbright Symposium on Peace & Human Rights Education. In 2008 Melissa was selected to participate in the Prime Minister’s Australia 2020 Summit. Melissa has been involved in a number of second track dialogue events through the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

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Jennifer McIntosh, Ph.D Adjunct Associate Professor, La Trobe University, Melbourne Clinical Child Psychologist, Family Therapist, Research Consultant. Family Transitions , Australia

Jennifer McIntosh (better known as Jenn) is a clinical and developmental psychologist, family therapist, and researcher based in Melbourne. She is Director of Family Transitions, a research and clinical practice devoted to the study and treatment of family trauma and transition, and Adjunct Associate Professor at La Trobe University, Melbourne (School of Public Health). Jenn's academic posts include Consultant & Practice Editor of the Journal of Family Studies, and the Editorial Board of the Family Court Review. Jenn is well regarded for her advocacy on the rights of children to psychological safety, particularly in the face of family trauma and change. Her interests as a researcher and educator in childhood trauma arise from studies and work in Australia, the UK and the USA, focussing on the experiences of children subject to family trauma and loss, particularly examining the effects of parental deprivation and conflict in early childhood. Jenn's research over the past fifteen years has focused on children in high conflict divorce. She has pioneered the development of a Child Informed approach to Family Dispute Resolution, and continues to deepen clinical practice in this arena in response to longitudinal research outcomes. She trains, supervises and teaches internationally about this approach to Child Inclusive Mediation, and is involved in replication studies with Indiana University and the UK Children First program. Current research includes studies into the impacts on infant and child development of post separation parenting and care arrangements, and the study of attachment issues in Family Law.

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The Honourable Justice Murray Kellam AO 

The Honourable Justice Murray Kellam is the Chair of NADRAC and former Justice of the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of Victoria. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2007, resigning in 2009. He was appointed Adjunct Professor in the Department of Business Law and Taxation at at Monash University in July 2009. Justice Kellam has been a Justice of the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria, President of the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration and President of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). He has been a strong supporter of ADR within the court and tribunal system and led the development of a broad-ranging and innovative ADR program within VCAT. He has undertaken mediation training at Harvard University and has been involved in the delivery of mediation training to the judiciary in Papua-New Guinea and a number of Pacific Island Countries.

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Susan Summers Raines, Ph.D. Director, Master of Science in Conflict Management Program, Kennesaw State University, Georgia USA 

While Susan's primary fields of interest include international, environmental and public policy conflicts Professor Raines is interested in conflict management at all levels. She regularly mediates commercial and domestic relations court-connected cases, facilitates public meetings, facilitates long-term governmental decision-making processes, and designs conflict management interventions for corporate enterprises. In 2007 she was appointed Editor-in Chief of Conflict Resolution Quarterly. Professor Raines frequently presents her work at both national and international conferences and in a variety of academic and practitioner journals. In addition to her academic pursuits, she has designed ADR programs for numerous state agencies in Indiana, has evaluated Florida's mediation training requirements, and has participated in the evaluation of the United States Postal Service's REDRESS Program. Currently, she is writing two books: One on "Conflict Management for Managers" and one related to "Benchmarking Mediation" (with Jean Poitras). She can be reached at sraines@kennesaw.edu

Nerida Wallace

Nerida Wallace is a Victorian solicitor and legal consultant with over 30 years in courts, government policy, law reform, & private dispute resolution schemes. Nerida is the principal of Transformation Management Services and provides strategic advice, issues management and systems analysis & evaluation to various private and public sector clients. She is co author of Banker Customer – Resolving Banking Disputes, (1992 Longman) and an author the 2000 Guide to Resolving Native Titles Disputes used in Cape York and across Australia. She has also authored a range of privately commissioned research reports with her partner Michael Hall and some of these are available on her website www.tansformation.com.au She has been a private and institutional mediator at various times during her career and has conducted mediation training course for the Law Institute of Victoria. She was nominated for a President’s Award for General Excellence last year by that Institute. She is a current member of the Dispute Resolution Committee of the Magistrates Court of Victoria in her own capacity as an advisor to the Court.

Stephen Walsh QC

Stephen Walsh was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1973 and appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1991. He commenced as an independent barrister in Edmund Barton Chambers in Adelaide in 1992 practicing in civil law particularly in areas of commercial, insurance, administrative, local government and planning, licensing law, common law and equity, professional liability and building construction. He has been a past president of the Law Society of South Australia and the Institute of Justice studies South Australia. He has practiced as a grade 1 arbitrator and mediator since 1993 conducting in excess of 1,000 mediations during this period forming approximately 50% of his practice. He currently practices from Edmund Barton Chambers in Adelaide, Edmund Barton Chambers in Sydney and is a visiting Counsel to William Forster Chambers in Darwin.

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Barbara Wilson PhD, MSc, CQSW, MCM (UK), United Kingdom 

Barbara Wilson has been a family mediator since 1990 and became a full-time independent practitioner and consultant in 1999. She worked originally in the family, civil and criminal courts and subsequently as a therapeutic social worker. She has conducted over 1,800 family mediations, including multi-party cases. She receives referrals from LSC mediation franchises (http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/), as well as directly from legal practitioners and private individuals. Barbara holds a Doctor of Philosophy by Publication Degree from the University of Portsmouth, a Master of Science Degree in Advanced Professional Development in Clinical and Health Science, a Certificate of Qualification in Social Work and a Diploma in Social Work. Barbara is particularly interested in theory-to-practice issues and writes for a number of professional journals. She teaches various modules of Graduate Certificate and MSc Conflict Resolution courses run by the Institute of Family Therapy, (under the aegis of the University of London), and provides post-qualifying workshops for experienced mediators. Barbara is also registered with Ofsted (http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/) as an Independent Adoption Support Agency, and works with birth parents and others affected by adoption.