Irvine – The nonprofit JAMS Foundation announced today that 10 fellows will be participating as the 2016 class of the 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.
It’s incredible to see the pool of ADR specialists from around the world grow deeper and more talented each year. We’re honored to assist so many talented people to further their careers in ADR.
- Judge Daniel Weinstein, retired San Francisco Superior Court judge and a member of the JAMS Foundation Board of Directors
These Weinstein JAMS Fellows will play a leading role in advancing the effective use of ADR worldwide and it will be a tremendous opportunity for all of us to learn from one another. We thank Judge Weinstein for his continued generosity and support for this program.
- Chris Poole, JAMS President and CEO
This class of Fellows includes a broad group of nationalities and experience. We appreciate the level of discussion and sharing that results from such a diverse group of people and look forward to working together to advance our mutual goals and bring ADR to the forefront.
- David Brandon, Managing Director of the JAMS Foundation
In the coming months, the 10 Weinstein JAMS Fellows will arrive in the U.S. to begin their fellowships, which will last between one and four months, and each will be affiliated with a JAMS Resolution Center. In addition, Fellows will have other commitments, including participation in university-based dispute resolution training programs. The following individuals have been selected to participate in the 2016 Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship program.
- Derek Auchie (Scotland) – Mr. Auchie is a mediator and senior fellow at the law school of the University of Aberdeen where he teaches undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in dispute resolution. He also serves as Convener of the Mental Health and Additional Support Needs Tribunals, established to protect against unfair treatment in Scotland. While in the U.S., Mr. Auchie seeks to deepen his knowledge and understanding of mediation and restorative justice to implement dispute resolution reforms in the Scottish justice system, including court-annexed mediation and restorative justice for juvenile and criminal matters.
- Katherine Clerides (Cyprus) – Ms. Clerides is a lawyer and President of the Board of Directors of the Glafcos Clerides Institute. She has been actively involved in conflict resolution initiatives to promote peace between Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities throughout her career as a promoter of ADR skills and processes. As part of her fellowship, Ms. Clerides intends to further develop her understanding of ADR techniques by focusing on the concepts of forgiveness and dignity in the mediation of political conflicts to address long-standing interethnic disputes in Cyprus.
- Mariana Freitas de Souza (Brazil) – Ms. Freitas de Souza is a lawyer in the litigation department of a leading business law firm in Brazil and volunteer mediator with the bar association and state court of Rio de Janeiro. She serves on the board of directors of the Brazilian Center for Mediation and Arbitration, where she provides training to promote the practice of commercial mediation. In addition, Ms. Freitas de Souza teaches dispute resolution at several law schools throughout the region. While pursuing her fellowship project in the U.S., Ms. Freitas de Souza intends to study dispute resolution system design with particular focus on the use of ODR to resolve consumer disputes in Brazil.
- Maryan Hassan (Somalia) – Ms. Hassan is counsel and chief arbitration advisor to the Ministry of Justice and a former advisor to the Somali delegation at the U.N. She serves on the advisory board of the Somali National University, where she teaches international arbitration law. As part of her fellowship in the U.S., Ms. Hassan will focus on further developing her knowledge of conflict resolution, investment law, and human rights in post-conflict states to advance the resolution of disputes in Somalia. Upon her return, she intends to establish the first arbitration and ADR training center in Mogadishu. Through her work at the Somali National University, she aims to extend the reach of ADR to enable students and local professionals to resolve land and housing disputes throughout the country.
- Sherzodbek Masadikov (Uzbekistan) – Mr. Masadikov is a lawyer and post-doctoral researcher specializing in international commercial arbitration and mediation at Tashkent State University of Law. He also serves as Director of the Education Center of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan. He has published numerous articles on ADR, including his doctoral dissertation, the first scholarly research on mediation in Uzbekistan. During his fellowship, Mr. Masadikov will pursue a LL.M. degree in dispute resolution at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine School of Law. He intends to apply research completed during his fellowship to establish an ADR center to provide dispute resolution training and services to citizens and business communities in Uzbekistan.
- Mahmoud Kamal Mohamed Mourad (Egypt) – Mr. Mourad is a judge of the Technical Bureau of the Court of Cassation in Cairo. In his judicial capacity, he further serves on the Higher Commission of Legislative Reform, where he works to improve the conditions for mediation in Egypt. Following his fellowship, he will implement training workshops for family court personnel to enhance their use of mediation, with the aim of establishing a comprehensive court-based ADR delivery system. As part of his ongoing work on legislative reform, he intends to submit a report and recommendation regarding the use of mediation to the Egyptian judiciary.
- Adolphe Mushizi Mwendambali (Democratic Republic of the Congo) – Mr. Mushizi is a lawyer and member of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As part of this mission, he is working to create a culture of dispute resolution through a pilot project in the North and South Kivu provinces that introduces students at selected Congolese universities and high schools to conflict resolution techniques. During his fellowship, Mr. Mushizi intends to strengthen his skills and understanding of organizational conflict and dispute resolution system design to apply to a wide range of institutional and communal contexts in the promotion of peace, collaboration and dialogue throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Giorgi Tsertsvadze (Georgia) – Mr. Tsertsvadze is the managing partner of J&T Consulting, LLC and an associate professor of law at Tbilisi State University. A mediation scholar and practitioner, he also serves as Chairman of the Board of the Georgian Association of Mediators, recently charged with drafting mediation legislation for Georgia. During his fellowship project in the U.S., Mr. Tsertsvadze intends to gain additional knowledge and experience regarding best ADR practices in the U.S. to advance the further development of mediation and dispute resolution processes in Georgia. He hopes to contribute to the transformation of Georgian legal education and practice through the development of ADR in Georgia.
- Bernadette Uwicyeza (Rwanda) – Ms. Uwicyeza is a lawyer, certified mediator, and Senior Technical Advisor to the Kigali International Arbitration Center (KIAC). Formerly Secretary General of KIAC, she led the Center’s strategic development in establishing and expanding the use of arbitration and other collaborative forms of dispute resolution. As Senior Technical Advisor, her efforts now focus on establishing the use of community mediation in commercial matters and contributing to legislative reform to improve the practice of mediation throughout Rwanda. While in the U.S., Ms. Uwicyeza plans to study various forms of mediation, including community and court-connected programs, to further develop a culture of mediation in Rwanda.
- Farjana Yesmin (Bangladesh) – Ms. Yesmin is a Joint District and Sessions Judge and the first woman to have been appointed Deputy Registrar in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. As part of her current responsibilities as Deputy Registrar, she facilitates coordination between the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice, and other key stakeholders regarding the implementation of judicial initiatives. Upon completion of her fellowship, she intends to continue her work at the court, designing and developing ADR procedures with particular focus on family matters to promote dispute resolution mechanisms to advance empowerment of women in Bangladesh.
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 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 $6 million in grant funding since its inception. Founded in 1979, JAMS and its nearly 350 full-time mediators and arbitrators are responsible for resolving thousands of the world’s most important cases. JAMS is online at www.jamsadr.com.