Irvine – The nonprofit JAMS Foundation announced today that it has selected 11 fellows for the 2015 Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship program.
The Fellowship program, named to honor the contributions of JAMS neutral Hon. Daniel Weinstein (Ret.), provides opportunities for ADR professionals from around the world to learn more about dispute resolution in the United States. Under the guidance of JAMS and seasoned JAMS panelists, Weinstein JAMS Fellows pursue projects of their own design that advance ADR practices in their home countries.
In August 2013, Judge Weinstein renewed his partnership with the JAMS Foundation to provide ongoing financial support for the program over the next 20 years.
“We selected an incredibly skilled class of ADR professionals this year,” said Judge Weinstein, a retired San Francisco Superior Court judge and a member of the JAMS Foundation Board of Directors. “We appreciate the discussion and sharing that comes from such a diverse group of Fellows and look forward to working with them to develop ADR programs for when they return to their homes.”
“We thank Judge Weinstein for his continued generosity for this program and are excited to learn from such a talented and knowledgeable class of Fellows,” said Chris Poole, JAMS president and CEO.
“We are so pleased to be able to continue supporting the development of ADR around the world,” said David Brandon, managing director of the JAMS Foundation. “As international awareness and acceptance of ADR continues to grow, these Fellows will play an integral role, and we’re thrilled to have them as part of the JAMS network.”
In the coming months, the 11 Weinstein JAMS Fellows will arrive in the U.S. to begin their fellowships, which will last between one and three months, and each will be affiliated with a JAMS Resolution Center. In addition, most Fellows will have other commitments, including participation in university-based dispute resolution programs. The following individuals have been selected for the 2015 Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship program.
- Dimitra Gavriil (Greece) – Ms. Gavriil is an attorney, certified mediator and founder of Metaplasis, the first volunteer community dialogue center for dispute resolution in Athens. She also serves as a member of Mediators Beyond Borders International to facilitate public dialogue regarding immigration and school violence. While in the U.S., Ms. Gavriil will focus on exploring community mediation and restorative justice practices to expand dispute resolution services to schools, courts, prisons, and juvenile institutions in Greece.
- Nuria Gonzalez-Martin (Spain) – Ms. Gonzalez-Martin is a certified mediator in family, civil and commercial law as well as a professor and senior researcher at the Law Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. As part of her ongoing comparative research in cross-border child abduction and protection issues, Ms. Gonzalez-Martin intends to expand the use of ADR inaaynesBeach0505sands international family law cases.
- Mohammad Abdul Halim (Bangladesh) – Mr. Halim is Additional District and Sessions Judge at the Jhalokathi District Court. During his fellowship, he will pursue his graduate studies at Loyola Law School with emphasis on court-connected programs and dispute resolution practices. Upon his return, he intends to improve access to justice by implementing court-connected dispute resolution programs throughout the court system. Mr. Halim also hopes to establish a private ADR service center to further promote dispute resolution and community mediation in Bangladesh.
- Elie Jebran (Lebanon) – Mr. Jebran is a judge of the Court of Appeal of the Civil and Commercial Division at Jdeidet-el-Metn and a law professor at the Lebanese University. As part of his fellowship, he will focus on further developing his understanding of court-connected ADR processes to develop dispute resolution programs within the Lebanese judiciary. He also intends to establish a graduate program in ADR at the Lebanese University in 2016.
- Jiang Liping (China) – Ms. Jiang is a mediator at the Shanghai Commercial Mediation Center and former judicial assistant at the Dongguan Municipal No. 2 People’s Court, a national pilot site for the implementation of court-connected ADR programs in China. While in the U.S., Ms. Jiang will focus on further developing her mediation skills by observing mediations and meeting with ADR practitioners. Upon her return from her fellowship, Ms. Jiang intends to promote the establishment of private mediation in China as a complement to existing court- connected ADR programs.
- Harrison Mutabazi (Rwanda) – Mr. Mutabazi is a judge and president of the intermediate court of Gicumbi. In his judicial capacity, he has served as point person to the Chief Justice of the Rwandan Supreme Court regarding the integration of mediation in the Rwandan courts. Following his fellowship, he will continue his work with the judiciary to implement a national ADR system to complement traditional forms of cultural mediation with court-connected dispute resolution programs in Rwanda and throughout the East African community.
- Olabisi Tolu Obamuroh (Nigeria) – Mr. Obamuroh is a lawyer and doctoral candidate at Penn State University Dickinson School of Law, specializing in international arbitration. Upon completion of his doctoral degree in juridical science, he intends to work at the Lagos Court of Arbitration to provide arbitration and mediation services to promote ADR as a stimulant for economic growth. Additionally, Mr. Obamuroh will teach a course on international arbitration and ADR at the University of Lagos-Negotiation and Conflict Management Group (NCMG) College of Negotiation.
- Felicitas Paller (Austria) – Ms. Paller is a judge of the Vienna Commercial Court and founder of its court-annexed mediation program. As part of her fellowship, Ms. Paller will focus on designing a standardized program to facilitate the expansion of court-annexed mediation throughout the court system in Austria. Ms. Paller also intends to continue to develop her skill as a mediator by observing mediations at JAMS.
- Maciej Tański (Poland) – Mr. Tański is the director of Partners for Democratic Change Poland. A mediator, trainer and consultant with more than 20 years of experience, he is a member of the Council on ADR, an advisory board to the Minister of Justice. Upon his return, he intends to provide recommendations to reform the legal framework of mediation and to develop sustainable centers for mediation research, education training and practice in Poland and throughout the Central and Eastern European region.
- Do Thanh Thuy (Vietnam) – Ms. Thuy is an intellectual property lawyer and ADR practitioner. As a pro bono mediator at the Indochina Commercial Arbitration Center, she mediates disputes involving intellectual property and commercial contracts. As part of her fellowship, Ms. Thuy will continue to refine her mediation skills as well as explore ADR processes to facilitate the mediation of disputes involving intellectual property in Vietnam.
- Mayu Watanabe (Japan) – Ms. Watanabe is a doctoral candidate in business law at the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy at Hitotsubashi University, specializing in dispute system design. While in the U.S., she intends to complement her theoretical research with practical experience by observing mediations and other dispute resolution practices with the goal of establishing a private dispute resolution service provider in Japan.
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 $5 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. JAMS is online at www.jamsadr.com.