Helping individuals, businesses and organisations to resolve disputes by alternative means rather than litigation is at the forefront of a lot of the work that Jeffrey Elkinson does.

And the partner and director of Conyers Dill and Pearman Ltd. has just been elected to be president of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators — the world's leading body for promoting dispute resolution through arbitration, mediation and other methods.

Mr. Elkinson, who is a partner in Conyers' litigation department, was elected by the members' representatives at their Congress held in Heidelberg, Germany on October 20 and will serve as deputy president in 2011 prior to assuming the presidency the following year.

In his new role, he will be responsible for representing and promoting the Chartered Institute globally, liaising between its various bodies, and representing the Institute through interaction with other bodies and organisations, including governments, and working towards a shared objective to promote alternative means to dispute resolution.

The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, which is based in London and founded in 1915, comprises more than 12,000 private dispute resolution lawyers in 33 branches worldwide and has a Royal Charter seal of approval. As a charitable body its primary objective is to train individuals and organisations in alternative dispute resolution (ADR).

"It is up to each president to set their own goals," said Mr. Elkinson. "But mine would be to re-establish the Institute as the leading body for training and to establish a much better working relationship with other arbitration and dispute resolution bodies and organisations throughout the world."

Mr. Elkinson, who is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute, explained that there were a number of options available to parties seeking to resolve a dispute — namely through mediation using a third party to get them to find a solution, arbitration where they elect someone to make the decision for them, or adjudication with an expert being called in to determine the outcome, such as in construction disputes over the value of work done.

And he is keen to promote the Bermuda branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, of which he is the founder and chairman since which was established in 1995 and has a membership of 50.

Additionally, Mr. Elkinson has been a keen proponent of setting up an international arbitration centre on the Island, an idea which most recently came to light in the Bermuda First report.

Having forged a successful career in litigation, starting out with being admitted to the Bar of Ireland in 1978, and subsequently those of England & Wales, Hong Kong, New South Wales, New York, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and Bermuda, as well as practising in a number of countries, Mr. Elkinson became a member of the Institute in 1994 and developed mediation and arbitration as part of his practice.

"I think one of the advantages that I have is that I am very much international and accepted as being so in various countries around the world," he said.

As the only Chartered Arbitrator in Bermuda and a counsel in domestic and international disputes, in addition to being a mediator and Justice of the Peace, Mr. Elkinson has dealt with everything from local construction issues to disputes over company sales in the US and, in one case, services provided to an African country which were left unpaid.

He was even involved in the famous IPOC case representing LVFG from its start in the British Virgin Islands in 2004 through to its appearance in the Bermuda courts in 2006 and ultimately enforcing the arbitration awards made in Zurich and Geneva in favour of his client.