Mediation Advocacy

This course prepares students for the role of the lawyer advocate in the mediation process. Throughout the semester we will explore the different phases of a professional mediation including pre-mediation meetings with the mediator, client preparation, bargaining and value claiming, impasse breaking techniques, and gaining durable commitment. This course includes a capstone exercise in which the students, in attorney client pairs, mediate with professional mediators. The course will include some lecture, analysis of videos of professional mediators and attorneys, class discussion, and role play and debrief. Students are strongly encouraged to take Negotiation prior to enrolling in Mediation Advocacy. Those who have not taken Negotiation will be expected to do some self-directed study in negotiation theory