Mediation
Professor Ian Dunn is a Melbourne lawyer who practised for nearly 30 years at Wisewoulds Lawyers. He was President of the Law Institute in 1987-8 and later served as CEO of the Institute from 1996-2002
He first qualified as a mediator in 1993 and re qualified in 2009. He has handled over 900 mediations , both court appointed and by private appointment . In addition he has been a member of the VCAT Mediation panel and is presently a member of the panel appointed by the Victorian Small Business Commission.
As an Adjunct Professor in Law at La Trobe University he has taught ( amongst other subjects ) mediation and negotiation both at La Trobe and the College of Laws.
In his mediation practice the most common dispute areas have been in professional negligence ( lawyers, doctors, dentists , accountants) partnership disputes, farming issues ( farm debt and ownership succession) wills and estates and a wide variety of commercial litigation . Over 80 percent of mediations have resulted in settlement including quite a few apparently intransigent disputes.
When Covid hit in 2020 almost all work was handled online , and often involved multiple parties . ( On line mediations have produced an extremely high rate of success ) As conditions have returned to some degree of normality some mediations have been face to face, and some parties have continued to prefer online.
Professor Dunn has access to sets of rooms in Melbourne , very suitable for mediation.
Consultancy
Professor Dunn also continues to handle consultancy and advisory work, often as to issues in major litigation or professional issues involving regulators . A recent matter involved a review of a major trade union’s disciplinary procedures