Irvine – The nonprofit JAMS Foundation announced today that it has selected 12 fellows for the 2013 Weinstein International Fellowship program. The program, named to honor the contributions of JAMS mediator Hon. Daniel Weinstein (Ret.), provides opportunities for ADR professionals from throughout the world to learn more about dispute resolution in the United States. Under the guidance of JAMS and seasoned JAMS panelists, Weinstein Fellows pursue projects of their own design that advance ADR practices in their home countries.
“This year’s fellows make up an excellent class of ADR professionals from around the world,” said Judge Weinstein, a retired San Francisco Superior Court judge and a member of the JAMS Foundation Board of Directors. “It will be an honor getting to know them and working with them to develop ADR programs for when they return to their home countries.”
“The Fellows will play an exciting role as ADR becomes a more global and organized force around the world and we’re thrilled they are a part of the JAMS family,” said Chris Poole, JAMS president and CEO. “We thank Judge Weinstein and our neutrals for their support of, and generosity to, this program.”
“Now in its fifth year, the level of experience and professionalism continues to grow and this class is no exception,” said Jay Folberg, chair of the JAMS Foundation. “We look forward to training and supporting them during their time here in the states, as well as the opportunity to learn from them.”
In the coming months, the 12 fellows will arrive in the U.S. to begin their fellowships, which will last between one month and one year, and each will be based in a JAMS Resolution Center. In addition to their affiliation with JAMS, most fellows will have other commitments, including participation in university-based dispute resolution programs. The following individuals have been selected for the 2013 Weinstein International Fellowship program.
- Ahmed Mostafa Abou Zeid (Egypt) – Mr. Abou Zeid is the director of the Department of International Relations of the Court of Cassation, the highest appellate court in Egypt. While in the United States, he plans to gain experience designing court-ADR programs and drafting ADR laws and regulations. Upon his return, he intends to encourage the judiciary to implement court-connected ADR initiatives as an efficient method for resolving disputes by working with judicial and legislative decision-makers in Egypt.
- Spyros Antonelos (Greece) – Mr. Antonelos is a lawyer, certified mediator and director of the Athens Bar Mediation Training Center. As part of his fellowship, he intends to study mediation models in the U.S. to advance the development of mediation in Greece. He also plans to increase interest and awareness of mediation among Greek legal and commercial communities by continuing to train and educate legal practitioners and entrepreneurs in Greece.
- Lynne Coulson Barr (Australia) – Ms. Coulson Barr is the deputy commissioner of the Office of Disability Services in Melbourne. Following her fellowship, she hopes to advance the resolution of disputes for marginalized groups in Australia by developing approaches that promote the accessibility and effectiveness of mediation for people with disabilities. While in the United States, she will study current ADR approaches and identify ways in which best practices in the U.S. could be adapted in Australia.
- Tatsiana Bialiayeva (Belarus) – Ms. Bialiayeva served as the chief legal analyst for Urspectr LLC and a pro bono mediator for the Dispute Resolution Center in Belarus. As part of her fellowship, she will continue her comparative research on mediation as an alternative method for resolution of economic disputes in the United States and Belarus. She will also study court-connected mediation programs to further the development of similar programs in her home country.
- Primila Edward (Malaysia) – Ms. Edward is a senior legal consultant with the Straits Consulting Group and a mediator with the Kuala Lumpur Regional Center for Arbitration. She plans to open a mediation center to resolve business disputes in Malaysia and neighboring countries. She also intends to promote mediation as an effective means of resolving commercial conflict by engaging corporate counsel in Malaysia via training and promotion of mediation throughout the Asia Pacific region.
- Amos Gabrieli (Israel) – Mr. Gabrieli is an advocate, arbitrator and mediator with Gabrieli, Gabel and Co. Law Office. He plans to further develop his ADR skills to increase cooperation within cities and other municipalities in Israel by introducing ADR in problematic neighborhoods, city councils and multi-cultural districts characterized by a wide variety of daily conflict. He also will promote collaboration among top Israeli mediators and practicing mediators in the U.S.
- Farshad Ghodoosi (Iran) – Mr. Ghodoosi is a doctoral candidate at Yale Law School with a specialization in international arbitration. During his fellowship, he intends to augment his theoretical knowledge of ADR processes with practical experience by observing arbitrations and mediations at JAMS. He hopes to publish and teach domestic and international ADR courses to bring about effective change in ADR practices in the Middle East and specifically, Iran. He also would like to establish an ADR center in Iran and the Middle East region.
- Abdul Hakim Hashmi (Pakistan) – Mr. Hashmi is the senior civil district court judge of the Peshawar High Court and served as an ADR trainer at Pakistan’s Federal Judicial Academy in Islamabad. As part of his fellowship, Mr. Hashmi will conduct an in-depth study of U.S. court-connected and community-based ADR programs in order to design a comprehensive ADR program for the judicial system in Pakistan.
- Teresa Morais Leitão (Portugal) – Ms. Leitão is a lawyer and mediator at More than Lawyers. She hopes to advance the adoption of mandatory commercial mediation in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and establish an ADR center to provide mediation training, education and services. Additionally, she will learn and apply U.S. best practices to promote mediation in Portugal and beyond by establishing a mediation platform for Portuguese-speaking countries.
- Sayed Abdul Ahad Mansoor (Afghanistan) – Mr. Mansoor is a national legal advisor with the Regional Justice Sector Support Program of Afghanistan. He would like to establish an ADR Center in Kabul and advise the government in drafting laws on dispute resolution, mediation and arbitration. Additionally he plans to train and encourage the use of ADR by professionals in Afghanistan.
- Fernando Navarro Sánchez (Mexico) – Mr. Sanchez is an associate with Bufete de la Garza in San Luis Potosí. Following his fellowship, he hopes to make arbitration affordable for small to medium-sized business in regional centers in Mexico by promoting arbitration training for local lawyers, judges and law school faculty. He also envisions designing and implementing an online dispute resolution (ODR) site available for Mexican companies that do not have their own ODR services.
- Aşiyan Süleymanoğlu (Turkey) – Ms. Suleymanoglu is the program coordinator for the Istanbul office of the ABA Rule of Law Initiative, charged with the implementation of legal educational programs in Turkey, Syria and Iran. She plans to promote ADR in Turkey by developing a comprehensive ADR curriculum for Turkish lawyers and law students and by fostering cooperation between legal and business professionals to expand ADR culture in Turkey and the Middle East.
About the JAMS Foundation (www.jamsfoundation.org)
The nonprofit JAMS Foundation is the largest private provider of ADR-related grants in the world. The Foundation was established in 2002 by JAMS, The Resolution Experts, the premier provider of alternative dispute resolution services worldwide, and is funded by JAMS mediators, arbitrators and employee associates who contribute a percentage of their income. The JAMS Foundation has provided more than $4.7 million in grant funding since its inception. Founded in 1979, JAMS and its more than 300 full-time mediators and arbitrators are responsible for resolving thousands of the world’s most important cases.