A team of Kent Law School student mediators has scooped two awards at an international mediation competition in Athens.
Final-year law students Margo Sabbah, Nadia Mauro and India Hughes were one of 52 teams competing in the 18th International Law School Mediation Tournament, sponsored by the InterNational Academy of Dispute Resolution (INADR).
Together, the team won an award for 4th best International Client Team and individually, Margo won an award for being the 7th best International Mediator.
The team was accompanied to Greece by Kent Law School Lecturer in ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Janie Clement-Walker.
Janie, an Accredited Mediator and Advanced Negotiator, convenes an extra-curricular module in Mediation. The module introduces mediation and the skills required to resolve legal disputes without recourse to litigation. It includes practical workshops to develop skills and participation in an internal mediation competition. Winners of the in-house competitions are invited to represent Kent at national and international levels. Last year, a team of student mediators from Kent won the Lex Infinitum Negotiation/Mediation Competition in Goa. Students have competed regularly in the National Mediation Competition with teams travelling to Jersey, Glasgow and London. Student mediators from Kent have also competed at an international level in INADR competitions held in Ireland, France, Greece and America.
The INADR competition aims to provide law students with a practical understanding of mediation and the role it plays in the practice of law. It also provides two days of training during which competitors learn various forms and techniques used in mediation. Students compete as both mediators and advocates and are judged on their ability to work together in addition to their listening skills, their ability to help advocates and clients see the strengths and weaknesses of their cases, their ability to stay positive and professional, and their ability to help guide the parties to a resolution of the dispute that brought them to mediation.
Mediation is one of three ADR options open to students at Kent Law School. The second is a module in Negotiation and the third is Client Interviewing. Students can also develop practical legal skills through participation in the work of Kent Law Clinic and the School’s active mooting programme.
Discover more about how opportunities at Kent Law School help prepare students for successful careers within and beyond the legal profession in our video about developing employability.