Mark Kelly

• LLB (Hons) BA - University of Auckland, 1993

Mark is a leading commercial mediator, with a reputation for skill, determination, commerciality, and relatability. He mediates full time, throughout New Zealand.

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He won the Mediator of the Year Award at the 2019 and 2022 New Zealand Law Awards. He was the winner of the 2022 Lexology Client Choice Award, for mediation in New Zealand. Mark was also recognised as one of the most influential lawyers in New Zealand by NZ Lawyer Magazine in 2023 and 2024.

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He is a past president of the Arbitrators' and Mediators' Institute of New Zealand.

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Background

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From 1994-2004, Mark was a civil litigator at leading law firms in New Zealand and Ireland. He has been a barrister since 2005.

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As counsel, Mark litigated a wide variety of civil disputes. He has appeared in the New Zealand High and District Courts many times, and in the Court of Appeal. He also has experience in the Employment Court, the Employment Authority, the Weathertight Homes Tribunal, the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, and the Coroners Court. He acted in numerous arbitrations.

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Mark appeared many times as counsel in commercial mediations, experience which led to him becoming a commercial mediator.

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His commercial mediation practice grew rapidly, and has has been a full-time mediator for some years.

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‍Commercial Mediation

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Mark completed the Mediating Disputes course at Harvard Law School. He is also Resolution Institute trained. He is a Fellow of AMINZ. He is also a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators.

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Mark was an AMINZ Councillor from 2015-2022. He was president from 2020 to 2022.

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Mark is on mediation panels for AMINZ, the Health and Disability Commission, the New Zealand Claims Resolution Service, the New Zealand Law Society Lawyers Complaints Service, Sports New Zealand's Sport and Recreation Complaints and Mediation Service, and the Weathertight Homes Tribunal.

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He is on the AMINZ Rural List. As an experienced rural mediator, he was involved in submissions to Parliament on, and training others about, the Farm Debt Mediation Act 2019. He is an accredited, and experienced, FDMA Mediator.

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He is an appointee on the World Intellectual Property Organisation Center’s List of Mediators. He is also on the AMINZ Intellectual Property List.

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Mark has extensive experience successfully mediating disputes involving: general commercial issues (company, contract, debt, education, employment, finance, negligence, partnership, property, relationship property (family businesses)), construction, insurance, intellectual property, trusts and estates, rural and farm debt, earthquake, weather tightness, international and sports issues.

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He has worked with international parties, and mediated cross-border issues. He is comfotable working in-person, online and in hybrird formats.

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Mark was the winner of the Resolution Institute's 2015 award for contribution to dispute resolution by an emerging practitioner. In 2016 he was awarded the AMINZ Ann Edge Memorial Award for Excellence in Fellowship Mediation and the Fellowship Mediation Prize.

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Pro bono

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Mark maintained a pro bono commitment to the Otara Citizens' Advice Bureau from the mid-90s to 2022. He spent seven years as a trustee (with responsibility for finance) on the board of a decile one school in East Tamaki. He spent two years as a selector for Gymsports New Zealand (selecting athletes for Commonwealth Games and World Championships).

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He mediates for the New Zealand Law Society Lawyers Complaints Service without charge, and undertakes other pro bono mediations.

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Mark was an AMINZ Councillor from 2015 to 2022, and President from 2020 to 2022. He championed various diversity, educational, and collegial support initiatives in these roles. He continues to supervise the AMINZ Scholarship Programme.

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He was an advocate for the greater use of mediation to resolve Canterbury Earthquakes disputes, and for a mediation scheme to be created in advance of future natural disasters. He undertook research, speaking engagements and advisory work in this regard.

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More recently, he has been heavily involved in research, and advocacy, on the access to justice oppourtunites that can be achieved by improving the New Zealand senior courts' powers to encourage, or order, mediation.

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He has been involved in various other charitable and pro bono work.

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‍Teaching

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Mark has written and presented extensively, locally and internationally, on mediation, and other legal topics. He has guest-lectured, and provided mediation skills coaching, at the Auckland University Law School.

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