Guided by Professor Shields, a Rule 31 Listed Mediator and Tennessee Supreme Court Approved Rule 31 Trainer, students in the Mediation Clinic will study mediation from the inside-out, analyzing in detail the communicative, strategic, and ethical dimensions of specific interventions that mediators make in the context of particular cases.  The Clinic will primarily focus on the students as the mediators, but the students will also be asked to consider the issues from other points of view: as the disputant, as an attorney representing a client in mediation, and in the capacity of advising an organizational client about dispute resolution options. The Clinic will have four primary components: (1) the training that is required by Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 before one may become listed as a Rule 31 Mediator; (2) ongoing student observation of mediations conducted by Rule 31 Mediators in General Sessions Court cases, Federal Court cases, and EEOC administrative proceedings; (3) student participation as co-mediator with Rule 31 Mediators in Shelby County General Sessions Court cases; and (4) weekly classroom seminar and case rounds designed to give students further training and feedback throughout the course of the semester.

Faculty: Stephen Shields, Adjunct Professor of Law