The International Commercial Mediation Competition is a moot competition in mediation organized by the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. This highly anticipated event allows for carefully selected participants to interact with renowned mediators and practice and evaluate mediation techniques.
Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). It is a mean for disagreeing parties to come to an agreement without, or parallel to, litigation. When used correctly, mediation allows for consideration and advancement of varying interests. Avoiding litigation can be useful even if your client has a strong legal case, for instance when you have to weigh in other interests such as your client’s need to avoid bad press, to keep the costs of dispute resolution low or to protect their business and personal relationships.
During mock mediation sessions, the participants will act as either the CEO of a company or as their legal counsel and negotiate with the other team in order to possibly reach an agreement that will end a fictive commercial dispute case. The participants will be evaluated on their ability to recognize and clearly state their interests according to the general and confidential information they are given, on collaborating within the team and with their opponents, on their use of strategic tools such as caucuses and breaks, on gathering relevant information during the session, on their creative problem-solving thinking and overall on their ability to advance their business and other interests. Each mediation session lasts about 2h in total.
The competition will be prepared as follows: Frist, the participants will get comfortable with the concept and terminology of mediation. Then, the team will get a short theoretical introduction to mediation and negotiation by studying essential literature. Furthermore, there will be exercise sessions based on previous competition cases to apply what the participants have learned. There is the possibility of obtaining feedback by a professional mediator based in Geneva. The participants also have the unique opportunity of participating in Prof. Beyeler’s seminar titled “Négociation et médiation: mise en pratique!”, which is otherwise fully booked. Finally, the participants will prepare and discuss the actual competition cases with their coach. The culminating point of the competition takes place in Paris.
Combining competition, learning and networking, this unique event gives participants a golden opportunity to take part in moot mediations, to explore cultural differences in international commercial mediation and to enjoy numerous social activities.