Launch of landmark global conference series on the future of dispute resolution

Herbert Smith Freehills is pleased to announce the launch of The Global Pound Conference (GPC) Series 2016-17.

The aim of this ambitious worldwide conference series is to build a global conversation about the current landscape of civil and commercial dispute resolution and how dispute resolution tools and institutions should respond to the needs of 21st century business.  In particular, it aims to gather standardised and actionable data on what users of dispute resolution mechanisms need and want and whether those needs are being met.

Over 25 countries worldwide have already committed to holding a GPC event, with more being added. The launch will take place at a two-day conference in Singapore on 17-18 March 2016 and the last event is scheduled to be held in London in July 2017.  Other cities will include Hong Kong, Paris, Dubai, Madrid, Sydney, New York and Frankfurt/Berlin.

The Series, which is being led by the International Mediation Institute (IMI), is being sponsored by Herbert Smith Freehills as well as other global partners: Shell,  AkzoNobel, the Beijing Arbitration Commission (BAC),  JAMS, and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR).

Pivotal to Herbert Smith Freehills' pre-eminent disputes practice is a deep understanding of the importance of working with our clients to assess how they can best make use of the various dispute resolution mechanisms available to them.  We have therefore long been at the forefront of efforts to explore what corporates and other organisations actually need from dispute resolution processs and how the existing mechanisms can be improved to meet those needs.  In particular, our award-winning alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practice has undertaken extensive client research studies into how corporates develop strategies for using ADR and we were the lead sponsors of the pilot event for the GPC series, held in London last year. 

We are therefore proud to be the Global Platinum Sponsor of the GPC series.   Alexander Oddy, Partner and member of the GPC Central Organising Group said:

 "The GPC Series is a really exciting and unique opportunity for all stakeholders in the dispute resolution community to shape the way we do things in the 21st Century. It is a chance to understand what corporates and other organisations really need, to share ideas and learning and develop new processes that are fit for purpose.

"What we have today is a relatively developed set of dispute resolution processes but we need to understand how we can use those more effectively in combination and in culturally sensitive ways in the future."

Why the 'Pound Conference' Series?

The original Pound Conference, held in the USA in 1976 (and named in honour of Roscoe Pound, the reforming Dean of Harvard Law School in the 1920s and 30s), was the event widely credited as the stimulus for the development of the range of ADR processes used today. The new Global Pound Conference series is intended to be as ground-breaking and important for corporate dispute resolution as the 1976 conference was.  

Who will attend the GPC events?

Major stakeholders in dispute resolution will attend the GPC Series including businesses, lawyers, chambers of commerce, academics, judges, arbitrators, mediators, policy makers, government officials and others. They will collaborate at each of the conferences around the world to discuss how existing tools and techniques available in dispute resolution are working in practice. They will also stimulate new ideas and generate actionable data on the dispute resolution needs of corporates and other organisations, both domestically and internationally.

How will the GPC gather data? 

The events worldwide will share a common technology platform to enable all participants to vote on standardised core questions about the current and future dispute resolution landscape. The results of the voting for each question will be available immediately to delegates at each event, for analysis and discussion.

What will be the output of the GPC? 

The GPC Series will culminate in a report at the end of 2017, interpreting the data gathered globally to help shape how dispute resolution will be conducted for years to come. The resulting data from all of the events will be publicly available to anyone wishing to research stakeholder views on dispute resolution.  The data collected at individual conferences will be published following each event and we will be providing periodic updates on this blog throughout the 18 month period.

How can I get involved in the GPC?

The GPC gives all those interested in civil and commercial dispute resolution a say in how dispute resolution should evolve. We invite you to participate in this exciting project by attending a GPC event near you over the next 18 months.   The dedicated website www.globalpoundconference.org contains full information about the GPC, the planned events and how to get involved.

Click here​ to watch a brief video explaining the benefits of attend​ing the GPC Series.