Course Title: International Commercial Mediation (Intensive)

MASTER OF LAWS

Course Code: LAW 618

Course Title: International Commercial Mediation (Intensive)

Instructor: Danny McFadden

Email:

Date Submitted: 25 January 2012

Pre-requisite/CO-REQUISITE/MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE cOURSE(S)

NA

COURSE specialisation

Dispute Resolution

Grading BaSIS

Graded

Course UNIT

1 CU

FIRST offering term

Academic Year: AY2013/2014

Academic Term: Term 2 (October 2013)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• have had fun learning about a fascinating topic which at its heart is simply about helping people resolve their differences
• appreciate the background of modern mediation practice drawing on the rich historical tradition of mediation as practiced globally
• confidently practice the skills and process through role play and exercises.
• develop an understanding of the nature of conflict – causes and effects
• identify in practice and discussion the process and principles underpinning the different models of mediation
• develop an understanding of negotiation styles and how it impacts mediation
• appreciate and discuss how culture may impact on international mediation practice
• relate their acquired knowledge to the experiential
• use their acquired mediation and communication skills in real world situations
• develop an awareness of the underlying issues in mediating in different scenarios; ethical issues; power issues; safety issues; professional relationships
• appreciate and discuss how emotions interact on parties in dispute and learn some of the skills required to listen to and handle emotion in conflict situations
• consider and discuss the “ Western mediation model” and its appropriateness in other cultures, in particular Asian countries

Pre-requisite/ CO-REQUISITE/ MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE cOURSE(S)

NA

Recommended Text and Readings

Fisher, R & Ury, W (1997), Getting to Yes Arrow (ISBN 0099248425)

Mackie, K, Miles, D, Marsh, W & Allen T (3rd Ed, 2007), The ADR Practice Guide: Commercial Dispute Resolution, Butterworths

Important Reading

Beardsley, K, The Mediation Dilemma, Cornell University Press, ISBN (978080145037)

Boulle, L & Nesic, M (2010) Mediation: Principles, Process and Practice, Butterworths ISBN: 9781847661449

Carroll, Eileen & Mackie, Karl (2006, Second Edition) International Mediation - the art of business diplomacy Tottel Publishing and Kluwer Law International (ISBN 1-84592-346-4)

Chern, C, International Commercial Mediation, (Informa, London, 2008)

Covey, S (1999) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Simon & Schuster (ISBN 0684858398)

Goleman, D (1999), Working With Emotional Intelligence Bloomsbury (ISBN 0747543844)

Goleman, D (2006) Emotional Intelligence Bantam Books (ISBN 139780553383713)

Goodman, Andrew. Mediation Advocacy, St. Albans, UK: xpl, c2010, 2nd ed. (ISBN 9781858117058)

Liebmann, M (Ed) (2000), Mediation in Context, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (ISBN 1853026182)

Moore, C W, The Mediation Process, (2nd Ed, Jossey-Bass, 1996)

Stone, D, Patton, B, & Heen, S (2000), Difficult Conversations Penguin (ISBN 014027782X)

Ury, William Getting Past No: Negotiating with difficult people, (1992), (ISBN 0712655239)

Articles

International Lawyer,International Commercial Mediation, Sep 01, 2011; Vol.45,No 1, p111-123

Students are expected to keep abreast of current developments in the mediation field by checking relevant periodicals in the LKS electronic journal resource

Internet

There is a lot of excellent material available on the Internet, either directly through institutional web sites or in the form of journal articles. The LKS Library has electronic access to relevant journals in the field and many Internet-based professional resources, such as are also available

Additional readings will be assigned and Hand-outs will be a common feature of this course

Assessment Method

Journal: 15%

Class Participation: 25%

Essay (3000 words): 30%

Class Oral Presentation: 10%

Group & collective project: 20%

There is no final examination for this course.

INSTRUCTIONAL MethodS AND EXPECTATIONS

This course will be highly interactive and it will be expected that all students participate in practising the skills and process through role play and exercises.

For that reason, your attendance at class sessions and at all other agreed andscheduled times is required. If for some reason you are likely to be absent from any session, pleasenotify me in advance. If your absence means that you will be unable to complete a scheduled practicesession, please let me know by email or phone and try to notify the other participants in that session.

Either in class or ahead of time, you will receive separate and confidential instructions for each mediation session – you will be expected to have read and prepared for the scenario or role play as if you were preparing for any important meeting or going to court. You will need to bethoroughly prepared for each session. Please print any instructions you receive and do not rely onhaving soft copy on your laptop screen: referring to a computer screen during a simulation session isnot good practice and it does not happen at real life mediation sessions or negotiations. If you read your confidential instructions off your laptop during a role play session, Iwill close the laptop!

In addition to these simulations, classes will involve a mix of discussion and review of the exercisesand – in most classes – a plenary session covering of some aspect of mediation or negotiation theory and practice.We will be linking relevant instruction to the skills to the examination of the phases of mediation.

There will be assigned readings but the class will not always involve a review of those readings.

Rather, it will be assumed that you have done the reading and are familiar with the key elements of mediation theory and practice as we move through the course. Your familiarity with the readingswill be exemplified by your participation in the discussions, by your demonstration of relevantknowledge or skills in the practice sessions, and by your use of those resources in the writtencomponents of the course assessment.

(Class Participation (25%): Everyone is expected to read the given case or articles assigned for class room discussions. Creative thinking and peer learning is expected through open sharing from real work situations.

Grading criteria is not solely based on the frequency of participation but quality of meaningful inputs in the discussions.)

Important: Academic Integrity

All acts of academic dishonesty (including, but not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, facilitation of acts of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized possession of exam questions, or tampering with the academic work of other students) are serious offences.

All work (whether oral or written) submitted for purposes of assessment must be the student’s own work. Penalties for violation of the policy range from zero marks for the component assessment to expulsion, depending on the nature of the offence.

When in doubt, students should consult the instructors of the course. Details onthe SMU Code of Academic Integrity may be accessed at

COURSE SCHEDULE

Phases of Mediation – Using facilitative mediation model

Mediator and Lawyers Roles in the process

Communication skills Listening and Questioning – Handling emotion

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