Most mediation training is about developing mediators. This course concentrates on how a practitioner should handle a client in the mediation process.

The court is obliged to encourage Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). It may stay proceedings so that ADR can take place. There are costs penalties for parties who unreasonably refuse to consider ADR.

This course concentrates on mediation as a form of ADR, with particular reference to how to take a client through mediation. Mediation is not something to which lawyers are suited. They are trained to take up positions on behalf of clients and defend them. They are also trained to attack the positions of their opponents or at least look for weaknesses in their opponent’s case. Mediation is about resolving the dispute by concentrating on interests rather than positions. It focuses on solving the problem rather than prolonging it.

The course introduces delegates to the format and procedural rules of a typical mediation. Importantly, it focuses on how a lawyer should plan for and behave in mediation; how to manage a client’s expectations and how to choose the right mediator for the dispute.

The delegates will be given the mediation case study to read in advance of the course.

It is strongly recommended that the delegates have completed the Negotiation for Lawyers course before attending this course.

Objectives

The aim of this course is to enable the delegates either to learn how to, or if they have already learned then to practise their skill in how to:

•          Understand what mediation is, especially from a client’s viewpoint;

•          Appreciate the importance of planning a mediation;

•          Understand how a typical mediation is conducted;

•          Appreciate what is expected of a legal representative at a mediation;

•          Consider how to manage a client’s expectations of a mediation;

•          Recognise the importance of arranging the right facilities for the mediation to be conducted effectively;

•          Choose the most appropriate mediator for the dispute;

•          Understand the role of the mediator; and

•          Apply skilful and effective negotiation techniques to the mediation.