MEDIATION ADVOCACY
About the course
Objectives
In order to effectively represent a client in mediation, lawyers need to be able to:
- evaluate the appropriateness of interests-based dispute resolution for meeting client goals;
- be familiar with the mediation process and the alternatives offered by variations in mediation practice;
- effectively prepare the client for mediation (including working with the client between sessions in a multi-session mediation);
- develop appropriate communication and advocacy skills for the mediation process;
- brief the client comprehensively before she/he selects any settlement option.
A note about using the course resources
You will be asked to read a set of class notes for each stage of the course. These are accessible via the course topics that you will work in as you move through the course (see the complete list in the Table of Contents). In addition to the class notes, you will also be asked to read excerpts from leading texts which are provided for you in the Course Manual, and some other short readings from other sources.
In addition, you will be able to listen to short lectures and commentary from two guest contributors : Michael Silver, fomerly mediator with the ADR Centre (Ontario General Division) and now a mediator in private practice in Toronto, and Janine Higgins, a mediation practitioner and trainer in London, Ontario. You will be advised when to incorporate listening to this taped input as you work your way through the course.
This course has been designed and written by Professor Julie Macfarlane of the University of Windsor Faculty of Law. Professor Macfarlane is an experienced ADR educator and an active mediator, and has written and published widely in this area. Your comments on the course contents and structure would be appreciated and can be passed on in the formal course evaluation or informally to the instructor
A note about pacing yourself through the materials
The Table of Contents sets out all the course topics that you will be participating in as you work your way through this course. The total duration of the course is four weeks. You may participate when you wish and in your own time. However, the timing set out against each topic as it appears in the Table of Contents will give you a structure within which to work. Discussions on topic areas can continue beyond the days specified with further dialogue between participants, but the instructor will have moved on to the next topic and discussion room.