Mark Copeland of Mark Copeland Lawyers, IR Global’s Commercial and Real Estate Member in New Zealand, recently attended the PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games in South Korea. Mark is the Chairman of the Legal and Ethics Committee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and is responsible for dealing with all formal ethics matters within Paralympic sport as well as chairing the Appeals Adjudication Panel for athlete impairment classifications. Mark is shown here with the Mascot for the Paralympic Games (Mark has the glasses!) and also with Andrew Parsons, the IPC President. According to Mark these Winter Paralympic Games were the best to-date: more nations won winter Paralympic Medals than ever before, more nations won a gold medal than ever before and more athletes competed in each sport than ever before. I have seen a lot of Paralympic sport, but to see leg and arm amputees snowboarding at a world class level, … Read More
Overcoming barriers to win-win: No 8 Wire Business
Which techniques are typically used by international counterparties in New Zealand to overcome what appears to be an insurmountable obstacle? It’s common for New Zealand negotiators to ‘park’ or at least slow discussions down when seemingly intractable issues arise. Stepping back further consider the issue from differing angles is considered prudent to business practice. Kiwis pride themselves on the nation’s ‘No 8 Wire’ mentality, which essentially means that there is a solution to everything. In this vein New Zealanders are very good at thinking outside of the box, and offering alternative commercial options or solutions. But this can take time, and normally a transaction will not be signed off until ALL material commercial issues are in fact resolved. ‘Agreements to agree’ at a later date are anathema to New Zealand corporate advisors. If alternative solutions are not immediately achievable, Kiwi companies – particularly larger corporates – may agree to resolve … Read More