Mediation Clinic

The Purpose of the Mediation Clinic

The Mediation Clinic is designed to foster mediation skills while orienting students to major issues in the intersection between law and informal dispute resolution and delivery and regulation of dispute resolution services.

Course Description

This course is designed to teach facilitative mediation techniques and related communication, problem-solving and negotiation skills. The course is taught using a series of progressively more difficult simulations exploring negotiation and then placing the student in the role of a neutral/mediator managing a formal mediation, first with unrepresented parties and then with parties represented by lawyers. The training is supported with a video-integrated text.

The course begins with two full days of intensive training held on Thursday, August 21, and Friday, August 22, 2025, at Furman Hall. Students will be expected to attend both full days because the 2-day intensive training accounts for one seminar credit. Following training, the seminar meets once a week for two hours, reinforcing the initial intensive training with classroom simulations. Students are required to mediate and critique their own videotaped mediations and to observe and critique similar mediations by other mediation teams in the class. Course requirements are completed with a final paper on a related topic of the student’s choice. Because the course is based upon an experiential learning model, attendance and participation are essential.

This seminar is open to 16 students. It serves as the co-requisite for students taking the Mediation Clinic fieldwork in Fall 2025 and as one of several possible prerequisites for Mediation Clinic - Advanced: Dispute System Design in Spring 2026. Priority in admission to this seminar is therefore given to students taking both the  Mediation Clinic and Mediation Clinic - Advanced: Dispute System Design.

Fieldwork

Fieldwork mediation, study and practice may take several forms, including case development, co-mediating, coaching and training. Students will contrast facilitative mediation with other dispute resolution processes, including the more evaluative court-imposed settlement process. As part of the guided learning, students will be required to submit journal entries and site reports reflecting upon their observations and experiences in mediation and training.

Mediation: In Fall 2024, clinic work engaged students as practitioners with two primary systems focused on mediation and we expect that we will be working in the same venues for Fall 2025. These were the NYC Small Claims Courts and the Center for Creative Conflict Resolution at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings ("OATH") at 66 John Street in lower Manhattan. Mediations are conducted both virtually and in-person. OATH offers challenging mediation experiences on a more infrequent basis involving workplace conflict; it also offers the opportunity to mediate in the MEND program, a free mediation service for quality-of-life disputes between community residents and neighboring restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Full mediator apprenticeship training requires each fieldwork student to complete a minimum of eight (8) live party mediations under supervision of an experienced mediator. A regular time will be blocked in fieldwork student schedules to ensure each student is available to complete their apprenticeship work.

Learning Outcomes

Students who take the Mediation Clinic will:

• Learn the theory, core principles and structure that define mediation as an ADR (appropriate dispute resolution) process;  
• Understand the intersection between ADR processes like mediation and the legal system and learn how lawyers might more effectively use the mediation process to better serve their clients;
• Enhance their understanding of basic conflict dynamics and different conflict styles and develop a more positive mindset toward conflict as well as a great ease at managing difficult conversations;  
• Understand the difference between positional and interest-based approaches to conflict and be able to identify and separate out issues, interests and positions in any conflict situation;
• Develop some of the key transferable interpersonal skills of a facilitative mediator, including delivering an effective opening statement, engaging in active listening and looping, communicating clearly and understandably, asking effective open-ended questions, developing an agenda, de-escalating heightened emotions, generating movement between the parties, demonstrating empathy, and managing sensitive and difficult conversations while guiding parties toward mutually satisfactory resolutions  
• Learn the ethical guidelines for mediators and be attentive to potential misuse of the process and develop an understanding of the types of conflicts that are not appropriate for mediation and the limitations of the process;  
• Be more attentive to cultural factors that may be involved in conflict and enhance their cultural competence around conflict;
• Become more aware of unconscious biases on the part of the mediator or the parties that may impact the mediation process, as well as be able to recognize where interpersonal or institutional racism may be present in conflict or in the legal system and how it might be addressed.    
• Learn the skills of self-reflective practice and learn from experience, including simulations and from mediating actual small claims court cases and community disputes. 

Qualifications for Applicants

All students are expected to participate in 16 hours of training at the beginning of the semester. The dates and times for the intensive training will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 21 and Friday, August 22, 2025. This training is a necessary qualification to mediate with real parties and ultimately to receive credit for the course.

Application Procedure

Students who wish to apply to the Mediation Clinic should submit via CAMS the standard application, resume and unofficial transcript. There will be no interview. Please contact Ms. Crockett at 212-998-6448 or via email if you have any questions.

The Mediation Clinic also welcomes LL.M. enrollments and regularly admits LL.M. students. Students should carefully consider the impact of the clinic on their other academic choices during their LL.M. year, including consulting the LL.M. Program concerning credit requirements. The deadline is different than for JDs, and is posted on the Clinic Application Timelines page. There is a separate application form for LL.M. students. Please use that form and submit it along with a resume and unofficial transcript on CAMS. There will be no interview.

* 5 credits include 2 clinical/fieldwork credits and 3 academic/seminar credits. Note that all students are expected to participate in 16 hours of training at the beginning of the semester. This training is a necessary qualification to mediate with real parties and ultimately to receive credit for the course.