Tim Clarke | Louise Fielden

About Collaborative Solutions

An incorporated law firm, doing law differently

Working Collaboratively

Working collaboratively is a dynamic process that reaches beyond settlement and compromise to achieve new learning, insight and understandings.

Over 30 years of experience has taught me that facilitated collaborative discussions are the best way to constructively identify and clarify issues, find solutions and reach agreements to produce better than expected outcomes.

Mediation and facilitation are often perceived as informal extensions of the adversarial process or as acceptance of the need for some inevitable form of unwelcome compromise to achieve settlement. However, skillful intervention by an independent facilitator and mediator has the potential to be and achieve much, much more.

As a Fellow and Advanced Mediator of the Resolution Institute, a member of the AMINZ panel of mediators, and a qualified Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) practitioner in excess of 80% of my full-time occupation is spent in mediation and facilitation each year. My areas of experience and practice grow with each engagement however as a guide please see a description of the type of work I undertake, projects I have been involved in and some of the clients I have worked with who are able to be named.

About Tim

Mediator and Lawyer | LLb ° BSocSci. | Master of Peace and Conflict Studies (Otago).

Family (three wonderful children, plus grandchildren), rowing, bikram yoga, and making a positive difference in the world…

Employment History

  • Director. Collaborative Solutions. 7 July 2015 to present...
  • Lecturer. School of Law, University of Waikato – Mediation, Facilitation and Conferencing 2003.
  • Lecturer. School of Law, University of Waikato – Dispute Resolution. 1996 and 1997.
  • Barrister Sole. Sept. 1996 – July 2015.
  • Disputes Tribunal Referee. 1995 – 1999.
  • Director. Waikato Mediation Services Ltd. Dec. 1994 – 1999.
  • Probation Officer. Hamilton Community Corrections. Oct. 1986 – Oct. 1995.
  • Boat Builder. Stamfli. Zurich, Switzerland. Dec. 1985 – Mar. 1986.
  • Sales Co-ordinator. Portacom NZ Ltd. Hamilton. Nov. 1982 – Nov. 1984.
  • Social Worker / Supervisor. Anchorage Trust (Mental Health/Drug and Alcohol). 1978 – 1982.

Work Experience

In addition to a multitude of individual business, environmental and private clients, organisations we have worked with include:

  • Waikato University // WINTEC
  • Environmental Protection Authority (Tauhara II Hau a uru ma raki Wind Farm, Chatham Rise Phosphate, Basin Bridge)
  • Contact Energy
  • Fonterra
  • Newmont Waihi Gold / Oceana Gold NZ
  • Tuakau Proteins Ltd
  • Auckland Council, Hamilton and Tauranga City Councils
  • Waikato, BOP, ECB, and Otago Regional Councils
  • Waikato, Waipa, Taupo, Hauraki, Matamata Piako, South Waikato, Thames Coromandel and Opotiki, Otorohanga District Councils
  • National sports bodies
  • Ministry of Justice
  • MBIE
  • Maori Land Court
  • Iwi and Hapu based tikanga Maori organisations.
  • Families, parents, estates.

Education History

  • 1975 – 1979. Hamilton Boys High School. School Certificate, UE, Higher School Certificate, B Bursary.
  • 1983 – Waikato University. Bachelor of Social Science.
  • 1996 – (April). Waikato University. Bachelor of Laws.
  • 1996 – (June). Waikato University. Professional Legal Studies.
  • 1996 – LEADR Mediation Training.
  • 2016 – New Zealand Law Society Solicitor Training.
  • 2023 – Master of Peace and Conflict Studies (Distinction). Dissertation “Facilitating Locally-Led Peacebuilding”.

Board Roles

  • Chairperson Restorative Justice Aotearoa 2006 to 2009
  • Chairperson Waikato Regional Rowing Performance Centre 2019, 2020 (current)
  • Chairperson Mangakino Water Sports Camp Incorporated 2020 (current)
  • Committee Waikato Rowing Club Incorporated.

Training Provision and Professional Presentations

  • Mediation for Probation Officers
  • Public Training in Mediation
  • Disputes Tribunal Referee Training
  • Lecturing University of Waikato Mediation, Facilitation, Conferencing (3 years)
  • Organisational Communication and Problem-Solving
  • Negotiation for Managers
  • Community Consultation and Dispute Resolution for DoC
  • Restorative Justice for Community Corrections
  • Youth Justice Conferencing for CYFS
  • Restorative Justice for provider groups in Waikato - Ministry of Justice
  • Restorative Justice for Ngati Hine - Ministry of Justice
  • Maori Land Court Mediation Faculty Programme
  • Institute of Judicial Studies – Presenter: Judges’ Education for Dealing with Self-Represented Litigants 2010-2014 (inclusive).

Conferences and Speaking Engagements

  • New Zealand Disputes Tribunal Conference
  • New Zealand Resource Consent Compliance Conference
  • AMINZ Conference
  • LEADR Conference, Sydney
  • ABC Conference, Auckland
  • Australian Minerals Council, Melbourne
  • Australian Minerals Council, Alice Springs
  • Various training in Restorative Justice for Ministry of Justice from 2005 onwards.
  • NZLS CLE Limited – Focus on Mental Health in the Courts 2017. Presenter: Cross Examination of Expert Witnesses (Auckland and Wellington).