Mediating Disputes

June 4-8, 2012

formerly titled Mediation Workshop

Become a skilled mediator

Salvaging relationships. Opening lines of communication. De-escalating conflicts. Reaching workable agreements. The success of any mediation is predicated on the skills of the mediator. In this popular program, you will acquire practical skills and techniques for facilitating negotiations between disputing parties. From family and employment matters to public policy and business disagreements, you will discover effective ways to settle differences and mediate disputes across a variety of contexts.

Whether you wish to add mediation to your law practice, improve your ability to mediate disputes, or become a professional mediator, you will emerge with a toolkit of concepts and ideas you can apply throughout your career.

Learning objectives

During this intensive five-day program, you will:

• Broaden your understanding of ways to resolve disputes
• Become more comfortable in the role of mediator
• Enhance your ability to listen, express empathy, develop options, understand interests, and build agreements
• Examine the ethical dilemmas and policy implications associated with mediation practice
• Learn how to preserve value and relationships through mediation
• Acquire problem-solving negotiation techniques

 

Who should attend?

This program is appropriate for lawyers who are interested in adding mediation to their practice and judges who are interested in setting up court-based mediation programs or becoming professional mediators. We also welcome professionals from all backgrounds, industries, and countries who wish to improve their ability to resolve disputes. Previous participants have included lawyers, judges, teachers, doctors, ministers, managers, directors, executives, and administrators.

To deliver the personalized learning experience for which this program is known, enrollment is strictly limited to 45 participants.

While previous mediation experience is not necessary, participants must demonstrate proficiency in English, as this program is conducted solely in English. Participants should be able to converse fluently in dialogue with the instructor and other students. While a certification of fluency in English is not required, we suggest a TOEFL written exam score of 570 as the minimum proficiency standard.

 

Format

Featuring dynamic lectures, interactive discussions, small group and one-on-one exercises, and mediation simulations, this intensive program is designed to actively engage you in the mediation process. Key to the program is the opportunity to mediate a dispute from beginning to end and receive personal feedback on your mediation technique and skills—both from fellow participants and program faculty.

 

Credits and Certificates

Upon successful completion of this program, you will receive a Certificate of Completion. Certificates are distributed on the final day of the program.
This program has been approved for continuing legal education (CLE) credits in the United States.  The approval often includes ethics hours.

Course Materials:

Dispute Resolution, 5th edition by Goldberg, Sander, Rogers, & Cole (Aspen 2007)

Settling Disputes: Conflict Resolution in Business, Families and the Legal System by Linda Singer (Westview Press, 1994)

Other reading materials will be sent to participants via email prior to the start of the course.

 

Fees and Dates

Dates: June 4-8, 2012

Tuition:

One 5-day workshop: $4,500

Two 5-day workshops: $7,250

Please note that the 2-workshop discounted rate is for one individual taking two courses.

Reduced tuition of $3,500 is available for judges, government officials, full-time teachers, and full-time staff and lawyers at public interest organizations. Applicants requesting reduced tuition are required to submit a letter of employment verification. We do not offer financial aid.

SUMMER PROGRAM FACULTY

Harvard Negotiation Institute (HNI) programs are led by a distinguished team of educators, authors, thought leaders, and practitioners. Acknowledged experts in their fields, HNI faculty draw on the latest thinking and research to deliver practical techniques and real-world strategies for effectively conducting personal and professional negotiations.

Professor Frank E. A. Sander

An expert on dispute settlement, taxation, and family law, Frank Sander A.B., LL.B., is the Bussey Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School. He joined Harvard Law School faculty in 1959 after clerking with Justice Frankfurter and practicing law for several years, including two years with the Department of Justice. In addition to serving as Associate Dean from 1987-2000, he has taught ADR courses and programs on negotiation and mediation. He was invited by Chief Justice Burger to deliver a paper on ADR at the Pound Conference in 1976 and is co-director of the Harvard Law School Program on Dispute Resolution. He has written and lectured extensively on dispute resolution and served for fourteen years on the ABA Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution, including three years as chairman.

Michael K. Lewis

Michael Lewis, Esq. is widely recognized for his extraordinary ability to resolve complex disputes in virtually every area of law. He has successfully mediated and arbitrated hundreds of complex, multi-party, and high profile matters across a wide variety of areas including business/commercial, public policy, employment, environment, and government.

Featured on a television show produced by the American Law Institute and the American Bar Association and on numerous instructional videotapes, Mr. Lewis also has taught negotiation and mediation at the law schools of Georgetown, George Washington, Harvard, American Universities, and the University of New Mexico. Along with fellow faculty member Linda Singer, he was recently awarded the 2012 D’Alemberte-Raven Award by the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution.

Linda R. Singer

A recognized leader in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for more than 30 years, Linda Singer, Esq. is a mediator, arbitrator, lawyer, teacher, and author. She has served as a special master to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, and has been appointed as a mediator by numerous federal and state courts. Ms. Singer helped pioneer the development of mediation as a practice, training fellow mediators and lawyers throughout the world, and has designed ADR processes for private companies, court systems, and government agencies.

Ms. Singer has resolved thousands of matters across all types of civil litigation, including complex commercial, securities fraud, high tech, insurance, bankruptcy, product liability, antitrust, employment, civil rights, international, and environmental litigation. Many of these complex, multi-party, and class action cases have involved aggregate values in the hundreds of millions. Along with fellow faculty member Michael Lewis, she was recently awarded the 2012 D’Alemberte-Raven Award by the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution.

 

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