Barrister-at-law

Chartered Arbitrator

Nationally Accredited Mediator

Derek Minus is a dispute resolution specialist. He is:

• A barrister, practising for 20 years in commercial, trade practices and personal injury matters as a member of the NSW and Victorian Bars.

• An  advanced and Nationally Accredited Mediator, who has conducted over 1,000 mediations and conciliations for government panels and privately since 1992.

• A Chartered Arbitrator since 2000 appointed to both NSW courts and government tribunals to determine disputes.

• A consultant to corporate clients developing conflict management strategies and teaching employees the skills of collaborative dispute resolution.

Derek has been approved by the NSW Bar Association as an Arbitrator, appointed by the Chief Judge to the list of District Court arbitrators for 2011/12, by the Chief Magistrate to the list of Local Court arbitrators for 2010/11, approved as an Expert Determiner, re-accredited as a Mediator and appointed to the NSW Supreme Court list and the District Court list of mediators for 2011/12.

Derek is also qualified as an Advanced mediator by the Victorian Bar and Nationally Accredited as a mediator under the Federal government’s National Mediator Accreditation Scheme, simultaneously by the NSW Bar, the Victorian Bar and The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Australia).

He is the former President of Australian Branch of the Chartered Institute, and is internationally qualified as a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators both by arbitration and mediation. He holds Panel Appointment Certificates as a Chartered Arbitrator and mediator. He is also certified by the Australian Institute of Family Law (AIFLAM) as an Arbitrator.

He has practised as an arbitrator since 2000, as a part-time member of the New South Wales Local Court, District Court, Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal and Workers Compensation Commission continuously for over ten years, conducting thousands of hearings and delivered hundreds of written awards. He is also engaged as an Expert. He conducts the binding determination of disputes, where parties (especially the Government of New South Wales) have agreed that the resolution of any dispute that arises in a contractual relationship will be privately determined by an independent expert.

Derek was an early adopter of dispute resolution strategies from the time he was called to the Bar. He began mediating with the NSW Settlement Week programme after completing the Conflict Resolution Professional Skills workshop at Macquarie University in 1991, the Conflict Resolution Network Skills course in 1991 and a the LEADR Mediator Accreditation course in early 1992. Now an advanced and Nationally Accredited Mediator he has conducted well over 1,000 mediations and conciliations for government panels and private matters involving contractual, workers compensation, building, franchising, family relationship, patent and property disputes.

There are no types of matters that he has not mediated. Derek is particularly skilful in dealing with conflicts that are seemingly intractable or where the parties relationship has broken down and high emotions are involved. He is one of the few people in Australia who has been trained in Transformative Mediation Practice, directly by its developers, Joseph Folger and Baruch Bush.

With over eight years experience as a Member of the NSW Workers Compensation Tribunal, Derek is an expert in conducting combined conciliation/mediation/arbitration processes now available under the Commercial Arbitration Act 2010. His aim is to use collaborative strategies to help people achieve not just the settlement of their dispute but the transformation of their conflict.

SPECIALISATION

BUSINESS EXPERIENCE

He is active as a lecturer and trainer conducting corporate seminars on Unconscionable Conduct and the Franchising Code, Misrepresentation and Misleading and Deceptive Conduct in business transactions and interpersonal dispute resolution and conflict management techniques for a number of corporations, including: AMP, Byvan, Stocklands, Chestertons, Knight Frank, Harvey Norman, the Business Brokers Association, the Australian Property Institute, the Property Council of Australia, the Federal Attorney Generals Department and others.

He has a special interest and expertise in technology law, having worked as a senior executive in the business management of service oriented businesses in the information technology industry and computer industry for sixteen years prior to being called to the Bar. As a corporate executive he was responsible for general management, marketing, strategic planning and financial management of Australian and U.S. multinationals companies with business operations in computer systems, database design, mobile phones, call centre management and emergency response planning entailing intelligent building design.

Unlike many lawyers, he is technologically adept and highly numerate, having majored in mathematics and statistics in his Science degree. He has also completed the Diploma course of the Securities Institute of Australia.

MEDIATION

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

• LLM (with distinction) Major in Dispute Resolution, University of Technology, Sydney, 1998;
• Relationships Australia, Mediator training course in family breakdown, 1995;
• Advanced Mediator Training NSW Law Society, 1993;
• Lawyers Engaged in Alternative Dispute Resolution (LEADR), Mediator Training and Accreditation Program, 1992;
• Conflict Resolution Workshop Macquarie University, Centre for Conflict Resolution, 1992;
• Professional Skills Course Conflict Resolution Network, 1991.

EXPERIENCE

Conducted over 1,000 mediations and conciliations for different agencies (and hundreds of informal conciliations) involving contractual and financial disputes, workers compensation, franchising, de facto relationship disputes (particularly those involving complex property arrangements).

Appointed to the following mediation panels (at various times):

• Inaugural New South Wales Law Society Settlement Week panels in 1992 and 1993;
• Chartered Institute of Arbitrators international and Australian mediation panel;
• NSW Bar Association mediation panel;
• Supreme Court of NSW, since 1995;
• Land & Environment Court, since 1995;
• Relationships Australia, since 1994;
• NSW Rural Assistance Authority, since 1995;
• Franchising Advisor Panel;
• Health Conciliation Registry, since 1997;
• Family and Child private mediator under the Family Law Act,
• Workers Compensation Commission of NSW.

ARBITRATION

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

• International Commercial Arbitration University of Technology, Sydney;
• Completed Associate and Fellowship training programmes.
• The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London): Appointed a Chartered Arbitrator and member of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ arbitration panel.

EXPERIENCE

• Arbitrator for District and Local Courts in New South Wales;
• WIPO arbitrator for domain name disputes;
• Appointed by The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators as an adjudicator for auDA (Australian Domain Administration group) dispute resolution scheme;
• Member, New South Wales Workers Compensation Tribunal (personal injury jurisdiction);
• Previously a part-time Member of the New South Wales Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (responsible for consumer, property and fair trading legislation);