Publish time: Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 CST 2012 Contributor:Wang Ze
On June 22, 2012, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution of the School of Law of Pepperdine University in the U.S. held its 25th Anniversity Ceremony. General Secretary Wang Hongsong, Division Chief Chen Fuyong and Secretary Xu Jie attended the ceremony on invitation. At the ceremony, Professor Thomas Stipanowich, Academic Chief of the Institute introduced BAC to the attendees and highly praised the active role played by BAC in promoting diversified dispute resolution. Representing BAC, General Secretary Wang Hongsong, extended the most sincere gratitude to Professor Thomas for the yearly substantial support and assistance of his colleagues and him to BAC.
(The 25th Anniversary Ceremony of Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution)
Since 2007, BAC and Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution have established cooperative relationships and cooperated with each other in the training and promotion of diversified dispute resolution. General Secretary Wang Hongsong was engaged as one of the 52 members of the Senior Consulting Committee of the Institute, which are composed of the presidents of American Arbitration Association, some well known American arbitration institutes such as JAMS and CPR, senior judges, professors, scholars, the chief legal consultants of government departments and large companies as well as the partners of internationally recognized law firms. The committee holds meetings every year to communicate on the problems and experiences in the training and teaching of diversified dispute resolution, and explore its orientation and goal in the future. Before or after each meeting, the Institute will arrange related academic meetings and training programs and invite the members of the Consulting Committee to attend such meetings. With the assistance of the Institute, BAC has successfully conducted three sessions of training programs for mediators, the contents and effects of which were highly praised by the trainees, and with the assistance of BAC, the institute has also successfully conducted trainings and fieldwork for students in China, disseminating its ideas, knowledge, skills and experience in dispute resolution.
The dispute resolution course of the School of Law of Pepperdine University has ranked number one consecutively for a number of years in U.S. Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, taking the advantage of its abundant research resources and the faculty of high caliber, has designed and carried out multi-type training programs of dispute resolution, and continuously innovated in its training programs to accomodate the development and meet the needs of the society. The current mediation training program constitutes 15 short term training courses of three days. One of the courses of “Advanced Mediation” was lectured by Bruce Edwards, the founding partner of JAMS, an American arbitration institution, and Nina Meierding, a senior lawyer and mediator. The two lecturers, centered on the ideas of modern commercial mediation, delivered more lectures on a systematic practical mediation mode and based on yearly practices, demonstrated the necessary skills , do’s and don’t’s in the procedures of systematic mediation to the trainees. The course of “Mediation in Construction Work” was lectured by George Calkins, a senior expert of the JAMS and Victoria Chaney, a justice of Second Ciruit of the United States Court of Appeals. The two lecturers, based on their rich experience in representation and trials, and by presenting many real mediation cases in construction work, lectured on the state of disputes in American construction work, and demonstrated the mediation method for complicated construction work disputes. All the trainees of the course were people with rich practical experience who engaged in the practices of law, politics and commerce all around the world. An interactive teaching methodology was employed for the course. The superb teaching skills of lecturers and the passion of the trainees created an excellent interactive class atmosphere.
(A Group Photo with the Lecturer Bruce Edwards)
Since the establishment of its mediation center in last August, BAC has focused more on the training of its personnels. During the visit, all the members of the delegation attended all the sessions of the courses of “Advanced Mediation” and “Mediation in Construction Work”, and gained a deep understanding of their contents and teaching methodology. The delegation was deeply impressed by the exquisite design of the courses, the fascinating teaching contents, the superb teaching skills and the passionate feedbacks of the trainees. BAC acquired a deep understanding of the frontier commercial mediation method in America through the observation and study, and it would help BAC improve its training for mediators in the future.