G2: Beyond "Alternative Dispute Resolution"

Topics

• Beyond "Alternative Dispute Resolution": Managing Conflict with External Partners Before and After the Contract is Signed
   

Event Details

Contract disputes among collaboration/business partners can create tremendous business, financial and legal risks for academic, industry and other participants. It is critical that disputes be expected and planned for as a normal part of any business relationship. Adequate time needs to be devoted to these subjects before and after a contract is executed, and the full range of tools available to address collaboration conflict should be understood by all the players. The discussion of this topic will encourage licensing professionals to strive to negotiate agreements emphasizing real world implementation over the long term and to work internally and externally to establish a start-to-finish, systematic approach to conflict management, using internal resources or external neutral resources as appropriate. The session will explore a variety of techniques that can aid collaboration participants in preventing disputes from arising or spinning out of control once they do, including a survey of past company conflicts and dispute resolution techniques/clauses, negotiation and partnering techniques and a sophisticated understanding of the full range of dispute minimization, escalation and resolution mechanisms that can be used to bridge gaps. The session will discuss (a) the most significant sources of conflicts in collaborations (with facilitated audience participation on this point) and techniques for avoiding these common pitfalls, (b) protocols for minimizing and quickly resolving disputes after the ink has dried on the contract, and (c) protocols for sensibly dealing with litigation should it (unfortunately) arise.