Kent Law School students Ralph Lara Kasilag, Tereza Koshi, Alfie Marshall, Amin Talukder and Theodora Labinjo secured third place in the UK (ranking first in England) at this year’s hotly contested UK Mediation Student Competition, held at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
Open to those studying Law at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, the competition is designed to help develop mediation skills and techniques and enable students to compete at national level.
Teams of three students are judged over three rounds with each team member performing as a co-mediator twice. In each round, the third team member, not co-mediating, performs the role of a party attending mediation.
This year Edinburgh took the top spot, with Aberdeen coming a close second. Kent’s main team consisting of Amin, Tereza and Alfie, placed third in the UK and first out of all English teams.
Emek Delibas, team coach and Director of Mediation at Kent Law School said: “I am incredibly proud of the KLS team, who, despite being some of the youngest mediators at the competition (and the youngest team in the top three), obtained a phenomenal result this year. The team dedicated over 120 hours to coaching and preparation and thoroughly deserve their success. I am overjoyed to see that the Mediation training delivered at Kent Law School paves the way for student success and encourage all eligible students to partake in the Lawyering Skills Programme we offer here.”
Here’s what the team had to say about their experience:
Theodora: “The national mediation competition was a highly anticipated event for our team, and we approached it with utmost dedication and commitment. We invested countless hours in preparation and training, and our hard work paid off with a remarkable third-place finish. We owe this success, in no small part, to the unwavering support and guidance of our esteemed coach, Emek Delibas. Her expertise in mediation and dispute resolution was instrumental in helping us navigate the complexities of the competition, and her belief in our abilities was a source of inspiration and motivation throughout our journey. The competition has enabled me to hone my skills in mediation and dispute resolution and to look forward to applying these abilities in future endeavours. Our success in the national mediation competition instilled in me a sense of pride and accomplishment, I am excited to see where these newfound capabilities will take me.”
Amin:“I would like to thank KLS for the opportunity and time and efforts they have given us to compete in such competitions. It has provided a great experience and networking opportunities for all of us. The win has given me great ambition to go ahead and pursue mediation further and will definitely be one of my highlights at university.”
Ralph “I would like to say that this competition showed me just how important it is to take every opportunity offered to you in university. Our win shows how good KLS’s lawyering skills programme is and how great the faculty is in imparting their knowledge to the students. Really proud of this accomplishment, I consider it as one of the highlights of my university experience.”
Tereza:“The competition was an incredible and fun experience in being able to practically explore the theory and skills we learned through the KLS Lawyering Skills program. Our win reflects the team’s hard work and I could not be prouder! Yet we would not have achieved this without the dedication and willingness of our coach who gave up her time in imparting her knowledge and guiding us through to our end win.”