Geoff Sharp is a commercial mediator based in New Zealand, working primarily in NZ but also throughout the Asia Pacific region and more recently in the Middle East.
In early 2013 Geoff was invited to be a Door Tenant of Temple’s Brick Court Chambers joining full time mediators Tony Willis, Bill Wood QC, Stephen Ruttle QC and others in one of the leading sets of barristers’ chambers in London. While remaining very much in New Zealand , Geoff will use Brick Court as a base for offshore work and is delighted to be associated with some of Europe’s busiest and most recognised mediators.
In late 2012 Geoff was voted New Zealand Mediator of the Year at the NZ Law Awards and is the 3rd Australasian mediator to be honoured as a LEADR Fellow and was the 1st to be elected to the International Academy of Mediators (USA).
Known as a mediator who can connect with parties in conflict, Geoff has been engaged by many of New Zealand’s leading law firms dealing with contentious matters at one time or another as well as many corporates and government agencies. Click here for a selection of the types of disputes that Geoff has been involved as mediator.
Acknowledged as one of the pioneers of New Zealand mediation, Geoff was invited to join the visiting faculty of California’s Pepperdine University Law School in 2008 as part of its Annual Summer Professional Skills Programme for Mediators and is a faculty judge and mediator at the annual ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition, the only moot devoted exclusively to international commercial mediation and held in Paris every year. Geoff is a member of the ICC Competition Rules Working Group and in 2012 he was honoured to mediate the competition final (video here).
Geoff is included in a list of 188 commercial mediators from across the globe in The International Who’s Who of Commercial Mediation 2011/2012 – an invitation only publication focused on ‘those who act as mediators in commercial proceedings across a range of different industries and should be considered the leading experts in their jurisdictions’.
Combining commercial practice with academic life, Geoff has also participated in Bond University’s Distinguished Practitioner in Residence program and is a Vice-Chair of the Independent Standards Commission of the International Mediation Institute in the Hague currently setting global mediator credentialing standards.
Geoff has a particular connection with Singapore and is on the Advisory Board of Singapore Management University’s Centre for Dispute Resolution located in its School of Law in downtown Singapore. He has recently been invited to join the Singapore Mediation Centre’s International Panel of Mediators and also to become a member of the Dispute Resolution and Compensation Panel of the National Electricity Market of Singapore. Geoff is also a member of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre’s panel of accredited mediators.
Geoff is a barrister admitted in New Zealand and Australia having a law degree from Victoria University and a Diploma in Business Studies (Dispute Resolution) from Massey University. He is an accredited mediator in Australia under the Australian National Mediator Standards and in New Zealand he is a member of the advanced mediation panels of both LEADR and the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand.
Geoff has trained mediators and lawyers in New Zealand, Australia, USA, Europe, Malaysia and Thailand and has consulted widely to the New Zealand Government on aspects of public sector mediation, including being engaged by government to establish the Weathertight Mediation Panel for the Department of Building and Housing in response to NZ’s leaky building crisis.
Prior to committing to a full-time mediation practice a decade ago, Geoff was a litigation partner at Bell Gully, one of New Zealand’s largest national commercial law firms, where he spent 15 enjoyable years. Before that his early career was at Mallesons (Melbourne) where he is admitted to the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court and Federal Court of Australia.
Updated March 2013
