Practical Training

Lecturers:  Linda Reijerkerk, Jacques de Waart, Paul Gibson, Lenka Hora Adema, Alessandro Bruni, Willem Meuwissen and Phillipe Billiet

1. Day 1
   • Date : 7th Sept -> Ist half, 9:00 – 13:00
   • Duration of the course: 4 hours
2. Day 2
   • Date : 8th Sept -> II nd half , 14:15 – 18:30
   • Duration of the course: 4.15 hours
3. Day 3
   • Date : 10th Sept -> Ist half, 9:00 – 13:00 and II nd half, 14:15 – 18:30
   • Duration of the course: 8.15 hours
4. Day 4
   • Date : 11th Sept -> Ist half, 9:00 – 13:00 and II nd half , 14:15 – 18:30
   • Duration of the course: 8.15 hours
5. Day 5
   • Date : 12th Sept -> II nd half, 14:15 – 18:30
   • Duration of the course: 4.15 hours
6. Day 6
   • Date : 13th Sept -> II nd half , 14:15 – 18:30
   • Duration of the course: 4.15 hours
7. Day 7
   • Date : 14th Sept -> Ist half, 9:00 – 13:00 and II nd half, 14:15 – 18:30
   • Duration of the course: 8.15 hours

Overall topics to be covered in Practical Training

• Role of the mediator
• The place for mediation in business disputes and organizational disputes
• Elements of mediation
• Introduction to essential skills and demonstration with class involvement
• The paradox of mediation practice
• Managing the mediation process
• Stages of the mediation process
• Exercise – skills development and preparation for getting people to the table and opening meeting
• Skills for exploring the needs and interests of parties
• Private meeting exercise/practice
• Reasons and emotions in the role of decision making
• The third party dynamic
• What is successful negotiation? Mediator’s role in negotiation
• Negotiation: skills and practice
• Skills for managing clients and development for pace and momentum
• Self-Managing/ managing others, managing case reviews, assessment guidance

Theoretical Discussion and Analysis

1. Conflict theory and mediation
2. Theory and practice of EU law and mediation Acts
3. Analytical study of conflict resolutions
4. Theory and practice of contract law in Europe
5. EU ethics in mediation
6. Interventions in specific situations
7. The stages in the mediation process (Part 1)
8. The stages in the mediation process (Part 2)
9. The function of party-experts and party counsels in civil and commercial mediation
10. International Mediation

A. Conflict theory and mediation

Lecturer: Frank Fleerackers

• Sub-topics: Sociological aspects of mediation, theories of conflicts, theories of mediation and other forms of ADR, theory of communications, communications between parties in a conflict, place of mediation within ADR.
• Date : 03/09/12, 2nd half, 14.15-18.30
• Duration of the course: 4.15 hours
• Specified content of training/lecture: Because quite many mediators have a legal background, the lecturer analyses what effect mediation training might have on lawyers. Mediation training opens the way to a new approach of meaningful legal analysis as a reflection of human interaction. According to the lecturer, lawyers direct the interaction between conflicting parties by effectively analyzing the effects of dynamic conflict affecters as well as the effects of different interactions on these affecters and the related conflict positions. Hence, lawyers may be educated as paradigmatic negotiators and mediators, as they ideally combine knowledge of the law with a conflict-related attitude and experience. Mediation trainings may provide contemporary legal thinking with a necessary interactive format for legal education and practice, as a means to pursue and uphold legal effectiveness.
• Teaching method: PowerPoint presentation, lecture, short exercises
• Course materials and guidance for self-study: Syllabus will be provided outlining course materials and a guided self-study

B. Theory and practice of EU law and mediation Acts

Lecturer: Johan Billiet

• Sub-topics: Mediation acts in Europe (e.g. differences between voluntary and judicial mediation, recognized and non-recognized mediators, confidentiality, legal aid, ethics, etc.); theory and practice of European national contract laws.
• Date : 06/09/12, 1st half, 9.00-13.00
• Duration of the course: 4 hours
• Specified content of training/lecture: This course will explore global trends in mediation, regional perspectives and recent developments in mediation. It will focus particularly on the EU Commission directive 2008/52/EC and its effects the culture of mediation in Europe.
• Teaching method: PowerPoint presentation, lecture, mini-exercises
• Course materials and guidance for self-study: Syllabus provided outlining course materials and a guided self-study

C. Analytical study of conflict resolutions

Lecturer: Frank Fleerackers

• Sub-topics: Methods of negotiations, conditions for mediation, creativity for conflict management
• Date : 06/09/12, 2nd half, 14.15-18.30
• Duration of the course: 4.15 hours
• Specified content of training/lecture: the lecturer argues against rationalized views of law as communication, by heralding an interactive, case driven and interdisciplinary (ICI) approach to surpass the decadence of contemporary legal thought. He focuses on the affective/effective aspects of law in order to update legal discourse for a changing world of difference, embracing a dynamic concept of legal certainty. At its core, legal theory is legal practice. And legal practice in all its forms is case driven, directed towards an effective coexistence of an increasingly multi-cultural, multi-moral and multi-individual society. Conclusively, the lecturer argues for a legal education that teaches students to master interactive processes and turn these into frames of social cohesion, thus upholding legal discourse through an underlying cogency from within: an interactive, case driven and interdisciplinary (ICI) legal attitude.
• Teaching method: PowerPoint presentation, lecture, exercises
• Course materials and guidance for self-study: Syllabus will be provided outlining course materials and a guided self-study

D. Theory and practice of contract law in Europe

Lecturer: Andrew Colvin

• Sub-topics: Place of mediation, status and importance of mediation agreements, status of interim and final reports in mediations, status of a determination agreement.
• Date : 05/09/12, 1st half, 9.00-13.00
• Duration of the course: 4 hours
• Specified content of training/lecture: This course looks at contract law in the EU how to write proper mediation clauses that are enforceable. Students will learn which agreements have to be written, what kind of content has to be included in the mediation agreement, who writes the settlement agreement, and their respective consequences on the mediation.
• Teaching method: PowerPoint presentation, lecture, mini exercises
• Course materials and guidance for self-study: Syllabus will be provided outlining course materials and a guided self-study

E. EU ethics in mediation

Lecturer: Arthur Trossen

• Sub-topics: EU voluntary Code of Conduct for Mediators, neutrality and impartiality, rules and codes of conduct of the recognized mediation centers, general mediation principles (ethics and philosophies), development of a basis behavior (respect, trust, reliability, interest for people and their problems, passion for process support, tolerance, ambiguity, and neutrality).
• Date : 05/09/12, 2nd half, 14.15-18.30
• Duration of the course: 4.15 hours
• Specified content of training/lecture: This course will examine the European Code of Conduct for Mediators in detail and the ethical rules in European mediation.
• Teaching method: PowerPoint presentation, lecture
• Course materials and guidance for self-study: Syllabus provided outlining course materials and a guided self-study

F. Interventions in specific situations

Lecturer: Philipp Howell-Richardson

• Sub-topics: The mediation procedure, functions of the mediator
• Date : 04/09/12, 1st half, 9.00-13.00 and 2nd half, 14.15-18.30
• Duration of the course: 8.15 hours
• Specified content of training/lecture: Students will learn the negotiation styles of different types of people, including themselves, such as those driven to fight, ignore, escape, and solve a problem. They will also look at distributional, oppositional, and hard negotiations and how to apply them. They will learn the eye-for-eye technique and explore the Harvard negotiation model. The four aspects of communication: content, expressive, relational, and appellative. Verbal, nonverbal, and meta-communications will be examined and their uses during different kinds of conflicts. Students will learn how to determine the causes and sources of conflict and identify the psychological escalation mechanism.
• Teaching method: PowerPoint presentation, lecture, exercises
• Course materials and guidance for self-study: Syllabus will be provided outlining course materials and a guided self-study

G. The stages in the mediation process (Part 1)

Lecturer: Jacques de Waart & Alessandro Bruni

• Sub-topics: The mediation procedure, functions of the mediator
• Date : 07/09/12, 2nd half, 14.15-18.30
• Duration of the course: 4.15 hours
• Specified content of training/lecture: This course will distinguish the several steps employed in mediation. It will also discuss caucusing and the use of shuttle diplomacy. Dilemmas in the first and second mediation phases, ethics in mediation. The attitude and ‘’language’’ of the mediator.
• Teaching method: PowerPoint presentation, lecture, interactive, role play, film
• Course materials and guidance for self-study: Syllabus will be provided outlining course materials and a guided self-study

H. The stages in the mediation process (Part 2)

Lecturer: Lenka Hora Adema & Philippe Billiet

• Sub-topics: The mediation procedure, functions of the mediator, writing of the report
• Date : 08/09/12, 1st half, 9.00-13.00
• Duration of the course: 4 hours
• Specified content of training/lecture: specific interventions for the 2nd phase, turning, negotiation and closing phases.
• Teaching method: PowerPoint presentation, lecture, interactive, role play, film
• Course materials and guidance for self-study: Syllabus will be provided outlining course materials and a guided self-study

I. The function of party-experts and party counsels in civil and commercial mediation

Lecturer: Willem Meuwissen

• Sub-topics: Power and influencing, external advisors
• Date : 12/09/12, 1st half, 9.00-13.00
• Duration of the course: 4 hours
• Specified content of training/lecture: This course examines ethical and strategic issues involving the role of counsel and experts in mediation. The subjects considered include the duty of counsel to advise clients regarding their mediation options, reconciling the roles of advocate and negotiator, the extent to which lawyers as opposed to their clients should take the lead role, how much of one’s case to reveal in mediation (including whether to bring experts and other witnesses), experts’ duties to the court versus their duties to the parties, ensuring that negotiators have sufficient authority, representing clients who do not wish to settle on principle, lying in negotiations, and maintaining confidentiality.
• Teaching method: PowerPoint presentation, lecture, role play
• Course materials and guidance for self-study: Syllabus will be provided outlining course materials and a guided self-study

J. International Mediation

Lecturer: Eugene Becker & Paul R Gibson

• Sub-topics: Cultural impasses, empathy, different styles of conducting business, Western vs. Communitarian views of mediation
• Date : 13/09/12, 1st half, 9.00-13.00
• Duration of the course: 4 hours
• Specified content of training/lecture: This course will look at the specificities of intercultural mediation, from cultural impasse to the visible and invisible aspects of culture and prejudice.
• Teaching method: PowerPoint presentation, lecture
• Course materials and guidance for self-study: Syllabus will be provided outlining course materials and a guided self-study