Mediation Clinic

L02.2523/2524 Professor Sarah E. Burns Professor Ray Kramer Open to 3L and 2L students Maximum of 16 students		Fall semester 5 Credits* Pre- or Co-requisite: Some facilitative mediation experience is preferred.

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 mediation skills to be exercised as part of problem solving in legal institutions. Because the course is based upon an experiential learning model, attendance and participation are essential. Initial training takes place in a four full days training held early in the Fall semester. Students will be expected to attend each full day of training.

The Fall course is focused upon training students in mediation skills, which will be applied in the context of mediating residence hall disputes among NYU students and employment disputes at the NYC Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings Mediation Center.

A Spring advanced course will also be offered but it will only be open to students who have taken the Fall course in 2007 or 2008. The advanced course is designed primarily to give students experience working with a variety of organizations that offer mediation services in the New York City region. Students interested in advanced mediation should refer to the description for Mediation Clinic - Advanced. 

The Seminar
The Fall seminar meets once a week for two hours; the training accounts for the remaining seminar time. The initial intensive training is reinforced with classroom simulations and mediation articles and texts. Students also read articles on key mediation issues. Students are required to mediate and critique one videotaped mediation and to observe and critique mediations by others in the class. Students also participate in review of weekly in-class simulations.

In final satisfaction of the Fall seminar requirements, students complete two short (5-10 pages) or one long (10-20 pages) individual research paper(s) on an issue in mediation or a detailed analysis of one or more mediation session(s). Students may propose paper topics to satisfy the substantial writing credit, which work may be completed with the professors’ approval as Directed Research.   

As part of the guided learning, students will be required to submit weekly journal entries reflecting upon their observations and experiences in mediation and training.

Fall fieldwork mediation study will take place primarily on the NYU Campus mediating residence hall disputes and at the Center for Mediation Services, a subunit of the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings ("OATH") located at 40 Rector Street in lower Manhattan. The Center’s practice involves facilitative mediation of employment disputes arising at New York City agencies. After students participate in the initial intensive meditation training, they team with Administrative Law Judges and other Center mediators first to observe facilitative mediations and then to co-mediate. Students will contrast facilitative mediation with evaluative mediation of the court-imposed settlement process. Students may also have an opportunity to observe mediation in other contexts, such as family and housing court, in the City. 

Application Procedure
Students who wish to apply to the Mediation Clinic should submit via CAMS the standard application, résumé and unofficial transcript. Applicants will be contacted by Ray Ivey for an interview with Professor Burns. These interviews will be held throughout the clinic application period and are a prerequisite to admission to the clinic. Please contact Mr. Ivey at 212-998-6474 or ray.ivey@nyu.edu if you have any questions.

Student Contacts
Interested students might wish to contact current or former Clinic students, including:

Mediation - Fall 2007               Bobbie Andelson               Stephen Dana Argeris               Liron Brish               Carl Duffield               Kelly Giddens               Ron Hagiz               Catherine Hammack               Sarah Catherine Harris               Jillian Haynal               Jessica Lau               Adam Mendelowitz               Michael Joseph. S. Moran               Jessica Rosen               Rachel Rosenbaum               Sarah Stoller               Josh Warren               Eva Wheeler

Advanced Mediation - Spring 2008 Bobbie Andelson Liron Brish Carl Duffield Ron Hagiz Catherine Hammack Michael Joseph S. Moran Alexander Rea Nadya Salcedo

* 5 credits includes 3 clinical (fieldwork) credits and 2 academic credits in Fall 2008.