17/02/2022 Deborah Clapshaw named as a leading NZ mediator in Whos Who Legal Mediation 2021 & 2022

Who's Who Legal names leading mediators who excel at resolving complicated disputes across a broad range of industries. The 2022 article described Deborah as "a highly esteemed mediator who is regularly sought after by contractors, franchisees, insurers, tech companies and healthcare providers." The 2021 article noted "Deborah Ann Clapshaw ...

04/06/2019 Deborah Clapshaw named in Lawfuel’s top 10 Mediators for 2019

Deborah makes LawFuel's 'Power List' of mediators, again!   "Having over 1700 mediations completed, Deborah Clapshaw’s experience and mediation success is unquestioned. Her mediation career, commenced in 1994 and she has handled mediations ranging from domestic and relationship issues to commercial and civil disputes. She is on a range of statutory panels including those dealing with leaky buildings, health and disability issues, domain names."   Lawfuel's Mediator Power List article says professional Mediation is a growing field "Just as the wheels of justice grind slowly – and expensively – the growth of mediation as a fast and less expensive method of obtaining satisfaction for disputes has grown rapidly. Even at...

26/01/2017 Reflecting on: Tammy Lemski- Weaving the narrative of a conflict.

Tammy Lenski is one of my favourite mediation bloggers and this is a wonderful reflection of hers on conflict narratives and how they are constructed. She talks about conflict taking root in the space between our narrative about what happened and the other person's narrative. The article talks about Elizabeth Gilbert's book tour of Eat, Pray, Love and an experience with a fan. One way of understanding conflict resolution is the act of weaving a new joint narrative, one that includes the most valuable threads in each story. Read the article here. ...

03/09/2010 Using your emotional intelligence to advantage in mediation

Sandy Hollis and Deborah Clapshaw Peter Adler1 uses a metaphor about surfing to demonstrate how the more we know, the more aware we become of how little we know and how much more we need to know. He describes four stages of skill development‐ unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence and unconscious competence and applies it to the challenge of riding waves. As he notes, the metaphor and the pathway to mastery apply to most things in life. Lawyers have crossed the great divide from courtroom advocacy to mediation advocacy with enthusiasm and in some cases real sensitivity to the demands of the new forum. There is however a further...

03/09/2008 Lawyers in Negotiation – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

For a mediator, a day in mediation is an enriching experience. It is a privilege to watch parties move from what at first blush, appeared to be an intractable dispute attended by a high level of conflict, to resolution at the mediation table. Everyday in mediation we witness a shift in parties’ understanding of a dispute and in consequence their approach to it. We get to understand a little more about the complexities of the human psyche, what moves and shakes people, what pushes buttons and what has profound impact. Granted some of this may be less than obvious in a more tradtional negotiation about “the money”, but...

03/06/2006 Reflections from the International Academy of Mediators Conference at Harvard University

I am not usually a name dropper. I often wonder why people do it in conversation with other intelligent people. But on my return from the IAM Conference at Harvard University I feel compelled to share the line up of speakers we were engaged, challenged and enriched by. They are the authors of the books in the ADR section of your office library shelves. So I am going to break a rule and name drop and share with you a take away or two from each speaker. First up we heard from Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone authors of “Difficult Conversations” who asked us to reflect...

03/07/2005 Mediator insights from the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Conference on “The Golden State of ADR”.. not rocket science but a re-injection

There is nothing like being immersed in a melting pot of ideas (which is what a good conference is all about) to give your practice a charge. What I learnt at the conference was not rocket science but a timely reminder of some essential truths about mediation. I am now armed and ready to experiment, to push out the boundaries and try new ideas. I hope that by sharing some of my insights and observations with others there may be a similar recharge, or at least a ripple effect, in your practices, either as mediators or lawyers acting as counsel in mediations. Key Insights Redefining mediation Mediation is a continuum...

03/06/2003 Family Mediation: Under the Spotlight – Law Talk

By Deborah Clapshaw and Susan Freeman-Green The Hon Margaret Wilson has announced that mediation may be used to cope with a surging caseload for the courts caused by the Property (Relationships) Act which came into force on 1 February 2002. This announcement is yet another illustration of the government's recognition of the value of mediation as a dispute resolution tool. This time in the context of its particular appropriateness for family disputes. The spotlight is also being placed on mediation in the Law Commission's review on Family Court Dispute Resolution, where it is calling for submissions on a discussion paper considering possible systemic changes that would facilitate...

03/02/2003 A Mediation Act: Do we need one?- AMINZ Conference Paper

Deborah Clapshaw & Susan Freeman-Greene A. INTRODUCTION 1. DO WE NEED MEDIATION LEGISLATION? This is a good topical question – but not an easy one. At first blush, as mediators, there seems a simple answer. We want mediation to flourish. Surely a law that facilitates, supports and regulates a dispute resolution process which has grown exponentially in use in the last decade could only consolidate further growth. However, a closer look suggests that mediation legislation might hamper the development of mediation. In the United States, Benjamin1 questions whether the recent Uniform Mediation Act 2001 is a Trojan Horse carrying within its belly notions that are likely to significantly alter the original...