Changing the Court System
Eminent author, mediator and attorney, J. Anderson Little to visit New Zealand

In a time when New Zealand is looking for ways in which to free up our pressured court time, save money and increase access to justice, J Anderson Little is a fascinating voice as to the possibilities of how this can be achieved and the benefits that can be attained.

On 3 July 2009 the Minister for Justice Hon Simon Power and the Minister for Courts Hon Georgina te Heu Heu announced that the High Court in Auckland would run a pilot programme for non judge led mediation in that court. If successful it the pilot could be rolled out nationally.

J. Anderson (Andy) Little led North Carolina’s efforts to incorporate mediation into its courts. (North Carolina is now recognised as a leader in the United States for using mediation in the court system).

Mr Little chaired the legislative and rule-drafting projects for the mediation programmes in civil trial courts, family courts, and clerks of courts (probate and guardianship cases). The model used in those programme has been implemented in workers’ compensation cases, appeals in the Office of Administrative Hearings, and in the Middle and western Districts of the U.S. District Courts of North Carolina.

After its creation in 1995, Mr Little served two terms on the Dispute Resolution Commission, the agency charged with certifying and regulating mediators for court programmes. By appointment of the chief justice, he served as the chair for three years.

Mr Little contributed to the Standards of Conduct for mediators and their recent revisions and led efforts to revise the procedures for disciplinary action that the commission now uses.

As a trained and certified civil trial court and family mediator, Andy Little has a fulltime practice, over 15 years of experience in mediation and has mediated in excess of 4,000 cases. Prior to setting up his mediation practice, Andy Little had 17 years experience as a trial lawyer in commercial, personal injury, domestic and criminal cases. Andy's practice is now devoted exclusively to conducting mediations and the teaching of mediation skills and techniques.

Mr Little is the author of the highly acclaimed book ’Making Money Talk: How to Mediate Insured Claims and Other Monetary Disputes’, published by the American Bar Association. The book explains how to better negotiate by understanding the language of numbers.

Whilst in New Zealand Mr Little will be the keynote speaker at the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand annual conference.

About The Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand

The Institute is the centre of excellence in dispute resolution and is the largest professional institute in New Zealand for people working in the area of dispute resolution. Its members include arbitrators, mediators, adjudicators, conciliators, facilitators, investigators and expert witnesses who come from a variety of sectors.

The Institute is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting high quality dispute resolution services by its members to the public. It provides referrals and information to members of the public and organisations in the public and private sectors. It is a major coordinator of dispute resolution education and its professional qualifications are recognised internationally. It has close ties with many similar organisations overseas.
The annual conference of the Institute will be held in Wellington 6 – 8 August with over 45 presenters including J. Anderson Little and The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG.

ENDS

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