My experience of Mediation so far... a future trainee's perspective

Cristina Antonacci is a First Class LLB Graduate and future trainee of Shepherd + Wedderburn LLP

In my personal experience, mediation as a form of alternative dispute resolution is touched upon rarely at undergraduate level on the LLB degree.  Everything I have learned about mediation has been derived from my own personal learning and research, it wasn’t until I started working in a law firm that I became more familiar with the concept of mediation and how these concepts are used widely by practicing solicitors.

My experience is that undergraduate law honours courses focus on developing a deeper understanding of core legal subjects that have been taught in the first and second year. At undergraduate level, there is still very much a focus on ‘Mooting’ (a form of oral adversarial advocacy) which is used by Universities as a form of assessment for students. The ability to develop and critique legal argument is, of course, an important skill for prospective young lawyers to develop. However, it is also possible to see that undergraduate law students would benefit from learning the   negotiation skills which are core to the concept of mediation.

At post-graduate level, students can adopt a more practical approach to their further legal learning. It is during the legal diploma that students have the option to select mediation as an elective.

I feel that mediation encourages students to become better communicators. It allows students to listen actively and problem solve, in a way which facilitates a more comfortable negotiation for a client.  Rather than the focus being placed on legal arguments, attention is paid to understanding what is driving the dispute for a client. By exploring the underlying causes of the dispute, law students obtain a greater understanding of their client’s position and interests and are better placed to guide their client towards a possible solution.

The skill set developed through the process of mediation is therefore invaluable to prospective lawyers, where communication and problem solving is central to the role. Those in undergraduate law school would, in my view, benefit from being taught the value of mediation as a form of alternative dispute resolution at an earlier stage in their law course.