What We Do
Students in the Mediation Clinic get real world experience in assisting parties to reach resolution, if possible, in a wide variety of disputes. The civil cases in which students serve as third party facilitators include disputed matters as diverse as:
- landlord-tenant
- contract
- employment
- consumer disputes
- school truancy
Why We Selected This Clinic
Through this clinical experience students are able to develop and refine a variety of interpersonal skills that are important to effective problem solving and practical lawyering. As they learn by doing, students also explore the rapidly developing field of alternative dispute resolution and contemporary law practice with its emphasis on settlement.
While most law school clinical experiences have students perform the role of advocate or representative, in this setting students act as neutral third-parties. In their role as mediators, students help disputants to reach a resolution to the conflict that the parties themselves design. The student-mediator assists the parties in that process by conducting a facilitated negotiation.
