|
International ADR tournament attracts 23 teams to ChicagoLaw school teams from outside the United States fared well when the International Academy of Dispute Resolution conducted its seventh annual mediation tournament March 27 to 29 in Chicago. Of the 23 teams that participated, two were from Canada, one from England and one from Germany. The Loyola University School of Law fielded the only Illinois team that placed, coming in third in the Attorney/Client Division of the competition. Crystal Lake attorney H. Case Ellis, president of the IADR and member of the ISBA Alternative Dispute Resolution, opened the tournament by welcoming nearly a hundred law students and coaches. Ellis, a former member of the ISBA Board of Governors, stressed that while legal systems around the world vary, mediation is universally applied. Goals of the tournament were to introduce law students to mediation skills, to representation and advocating for a client in mediation, and to the need to spread the word throughout the world. The first day was devoted to mediator training. ISBA past president Fred Lane, a founder of the IADR, conducted these sessions with Dick Calkins of Des Moines, a founder and dean of the IADR. Lane also conducted attorney/client advocacy training on Friday morning, along with Nick Critelli of Des Moines. Three-member teams – a mediator, attorney and client - participated in three preliminary rounds. The top four entered the finals. The winning teams were: Attorney/Client Division – Chapman University School of Law, Orange, Calif. Mediation Division – University of Cali-fornia-Hastings College of Law. International Division – Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, Toronto. Osgoode Hall also placed third in Mediation. Other international teams included the University of Windsor Law School, Ontario, second in Attorney/Client and third in International. The Munich University School of Law from Germany was second in International. Judges in the final competition included Fred Lane and Richard I. Bass of Chicago. About 60 lawyers and mediators served as volunteer judges in preliminary rounds. Among them were Case Ellis, Richard J. Krakowski of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Council, and retired Cook County judge Benjamin Mackoff, IADR vice president. |
