Where does continuity create value?
Projects, key supplier relationships, family enterprise, founder-investor governance, boards, alliances or other long-duration relationships.
STANDING PROGRAMME
Use cases.
Panel / discovery.
Engagement.
Familiarisation.
Activation.
Review.
BEFORE ISSUE
APPOINT
BETWEEN ISSUES
STAY FAMILIAR
WHEN NEEDED
ACTIVATE ROLE
PERIODICALLY
RE-CLEAR + REVIEW
APPOINTMENT / STANDING NEUTRAL PROGRAMME
Turn standing capability into a governed programme rather than a collection of retainers.
A Standing Neutral Programme is the enterprise or institutional system for recurring independent capability across long relationships. It defines eligible use cases, professional discovery or panel approach, appointment terms, retainer scope, familiarisation rhythm, activation roles, fees, continuing conflicts, renewal, replacement and programme review. The programme should reduce appointment delay without making a preferred professional automatic for every issue.
PROGRAMME LAYERS
A standing programme should govern both the quiet periods and the activated work.
How are Standing Neutrals discovered?
Panel, open search or hybrid approach should preserve matter-specific fit and avoid false exclusivity.
What does the standing fee cover?
Availability reservation, familiarisation, routine briefings and conflicts monitoring should be distinguished from activated work.
Which roles can be triggered?
Evaluation, facilitation, mediation, chairing or another role should be separately confirmed at each activation.
How are conflicts refreshed?
Long relationships create new affiliates, counsel, counterparties and commercial relationships that one initial check cannot cover forever.
How does the programme remain healthy?
Term, availability, use, cost, effectiveness, conflicts and replacement should be reviewed periodically.
THE PROGRAMME EXISTS BETWEEN THE ISSUES
Standing capability is valuable because context, availability and trust do not have to be rebuilt from zero each time.
That continuity still needs governance so familiarity does not become dependence, hidden management responsibility or automatic appointment.
STANDING PROGRAMME DESIGNER
Assess the institutional components needed before the programme launches.
Discovery / panel rule
Does the programme allow matter-specific search beyond any standing panel?
Standing engagement template
Are term, retainer, familiarisation, activation and replacement defined?
Continuing conflicts process
Does the programme refresh actor sets and material relationships?
Activation protocol
Does each use identify the role before substantive work begins?
Programme review
Are use, cost, conflicts, quality and replacement reviewed periodically?
PROGRAMME FAILURE TESTS
Continuity becomes a weakness when programme convenience begins to override professional fit.
The same Standing Neutral is automatically activated for every issue.
Confirm role, conflicts, expertise and whether prior confidential information makes the next function unsuitable.
The annual retainer creates an expectation that the Neutral monitors the relationship continuously.
Define the retainer precisely. Familiarisation and availability do not automatically create a duty to detect or manage every emerging risk.
The panel stops evolving.
Review diversity of role, sector, jurisdiction and availability evidence. Standing programmes need renewal at the professional-pool level as well as individual level.
Programme success is measured only by disputes avoided.
Use broader measures such as activation speed, process clarity, issue resolution, stakeholder confidence and whether matters reached the right professional role earlier.
STANDING PROGRAMME MINIMUM
Six controls should exist before calling the system a programme.
USE CASE
Continuity need is defined.
DISCOVERY
Professional pool remains evidence-led and non-exclusive where appropriate.
ENGAGEMENT
Standing terms define routine and activated work.
ACTIVATION
Each role is confirmed separately.
CONFLICTS
Independence is refreshed over time.
REVIEW
Programme and professional fit are periodically reassessed.
PROFESSIONAL DISCOVERY
Current public professional records
Only currently published professional records are shown.
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL RECORD / Zagreb, Croatia
Dino Gliha
Arbitrator & Mediator
mediationarbitrationBanking and FinanceEducationReal Estate and Property Disputes
Published record: Dino works in the area of corporate, commercial law and company law, civil law, competition law, intellectual property, insolvency and pre-insolvency law and immigration law. Dino’s professional and academic specialisation…
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL RECORD / Mumbai, India
Amarendra Nath Misra
Arbitrator & Mediator
mediationarbitrationBanking and Finance
Published record: SEPTEMBER 1995 – MARCH 1999, GENERAL MANAGER (LAW) & CHIEF RECOVERY OFFICER, CEAT FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED, MUMBAI. (RPG Group) RESPONSIBILITIES Included filing & expediting recovery cases, drafting and filing winding…
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL RECORD / Zurich, Switzerland
Dr. Jodok Wicki
Arbitrator & Mediator
mediationarbitrationBanking and FinanceEducationHealthcare Disputes Practice Group
Published record: Jodok Wicki is involved in international arbitration matters as counsel and arbitrator throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. He was involved more than 20 complex international arbitration proceedings,…
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL RECORD / Arlington, United States
Dr. Ralph Steele
Arbitrator & Mediator
mediationarbitrationBanking and Finance
Published record: I worked for 20 years a an Arbitrator and Mediator at Mediation Worlds, and Professor of Mediation at Univ Texas Arlington. I mediate various cases employment, religious, family, International cases,…
STANDING PROGRAMME ROUTES
Move from programme policy into contract, engagement and live appointment.
CONTINUITY
The programme creates readiness before the relationship is under pressure.
ACTIVATE
Every activation should confirm the role instead of relying on standing status alone.
REVIEW
Long programmes need continuing professional and institutional review.
STANDING CAPABILITY
Standing capability needs clearer boundaries precisely because the relationship continues.
A strong system carries the original requirement forward while separating public evidence, conflicts, authority and matter administration.
USE CASE
Where does recurring independent availability create value?
Long-duration projects, joint ventures, boards or complex relationships may benefit when context does not have to be rebuilt from zero each time.
PANEL
How are Standing Neutrals discovered and refreshed?
A programme should preserve evidence-led selection and avoid freezing one panel merely because it is convenient.
RETAINER
What does standing status actually purchase?
Availability, familiarisation, scheduled reviews or other quiet-period services should be written clearly rather than assumed.
ACTIVATION
Which functions can be triggered?
Mediation, evaluation, chairing or another live role may require fresh acceptance, conflicts review and authority design even inside a standing relationship.
REVIEW
How does the programme remain healthy?
Conflicts, panel diversity, use patterns, role clarity, fees and institutional learning should be reviewed periodically.
ACTIVATION PATH
Separate quiet-period familiarity from formal activation and authority.
Each stage should create the minimum information the next stage needs and preserve why the appointment advanced.
APPOINTMENT PATH
Govern the quiet period and the activated work separately.
Standing capability is valuable because context and availability can persist, but continuity should never become automatic suitability for every new issue.
01
Define programme purpose and eligible situations
State where standing availability is intended to add value and which matters remain outside the programme.
02
Discover and appoint from public evidence
Build the panel from relevant professional fields, then complete individual conflicts, terms and acceptance.
03
Write the standing retainer precisely
Separate availability, familiarisation, review meetings and any other quiet-period service from future activated functions.
04
Refresh conflicts and professional fit at activation
A new issue, party or role can create new independence questions and should not be treated as pre-cleared.
05
Issue an activation note or mandate
Define the exact live function, authority, evidence, output and fees for the activated matter.
06
Review programme performance without hidden outcome claims
Assess process quality, timeliness, use, learning and professional fit rather than claiming every avoided dispute as programme success.
CONTINUITY BOUNDARY
Continuity should reduce friction without creating automatic appointment.
The system should make it harder to confuse discovery, clearance, standing and authority with one another.
THE APPOINTMENT SYSTEM SHOULD
Create continuity without automatic appointment.
- Maintain familiarisation and availability where useful.
- Refresh conflicts when facts change.
- Use live activation notes for specific roles.
- Review panel composition periodically.
- Keep standing status separate from certification grade or institutional ranking.
THE APPOINTMENT SYSTEM SHOULD NOT
Turn convenience into permanent suitability.
- Do not activate the same Neutral automatically for every issue.
- Do not imply constant monitoring unless expressly retained.
- Do not let an annual retainer create undisclosed authority.
- Do not stop testing professional fit.
- Do not measure success only by disputes that never became formal.
CURRENT PROFESSIONAL EVIDENCE
Standing status never replaces current evidence, conflicts or mandate acceptance.
Standing Neutral should be discovered from published practice evidence and then tested for the specific programme. Directory visibility is not a programme appointment.
STANDING PROGRAMME PRINCIPLE