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JAMS Foundation Announces Ninth Class of Weinstein JAMS International Fellows

JAMS Foundation hosts 14 new Weinstein fellows for the Weinstein International Fellowship Program

JAMS Foundation News

Irvine – The nonprofit JAMS Foundation announced today that 14 fellows make up the 2017 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. 

We’re thrilled to see the talent pool grow deeper and more competitive as ADR becomes more widespread and utilized throughout the world. It’s exciting and fulfilling to work with so many accomplished people as they advance their careers in ADR.

-Hon. Daniel Weinstein (Ret.), JAMS Neutral and member of JAMS Foundation Board of Directors

Our Weinstein JAMS Fellows come with very unique and impressive experience and it’s always an honor to work alongside and learn from them. We thank Judge Weinstein and all of our neutrals for their continued generosity and support for this program.

-Chris Poole, JAMS President and CEO

I believe the Weinstein JAMS Fellows offer a real source of hope in these challenging times. Together, they are building a vibrant international community committed to resolving conflict peacefully in their home countries and around the world.

-David Brandon, Managing Director of the JAMS Foundation

In the coming months, the 14 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 2017 Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship program.

Tuba Bilecik (Turkey) – Ms. Bilecik is an accredited mediator with dispute resolution experience in Turkey and abroad.  She is also a corporate attorney with expertise across numerous industries, including IT and construction, often representing clients in cases involving complex claims.  She served as the project coordinator and mediator for a community mediation center, where she provided pro bono mediation services.  As a member of the working group on mediation legislation, Ms. Bilecik provided recommendations for amendments to the Turkish mediation law for review by the Ministry of Justice. As part of her fellowship, Ms. Bilecik intends to enhance her understanding of mediation to help raise corporate awareness and assist companies in rethinking dispute resolution systems in Turkey.

Maryan Hassan (Somalia/UK) – Ms. Hassan is Chief Legal Advisor to the Office of the Prime Minister and Chief Negotiator for Somalia’s Accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). She previously served as counsel and chief arbitration advisor to the Ministry of Justice and a former advisor to the Somali delegation at the U.N.  Ms. Hassan is also a member of the advisory board of the Somali National University, where she teaches international arbitration law. During her fellowship, Ms. Hassan will further develop 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 expand the reach of ADR and enable students and local professionals to resolve land and housing disputes throughout the country.

K. Kannan (India) – K. Kannan is a former justice of the High Courts of Madras, Punjab and Haryana. Justice Kannan currently serves as Chairman of the Railway Claims Tribunal at its principal bench in New Delhi. A trained mediator, Justice Kannan has been actively involved in more than 50 court-annexed mediations. He also introduced mediation techniques through the High Court Mediation Committee to faculty and law students at local universities during his eight years on the bench.  As part of his fellowship, Justice Kannan intends to hone his mediation skills and deepen his conflict resolution experience by attending dispute resolution training courses and observing mediations. He also hopes to undertake specialized training in mediating ethno-religious disputes to establish best practices for resolution of such conflicts in India.

Tat Lim (Singapore) – Mr. Lim is the Managing Partner and Mediator at Aequitas Law LLP in Singapore. An accredited mediator and trainer at the Singapore Mediation Center, Mr. Lim has experience mediating complex multi-party and international disputes and has delivered dispute resolution trainings for judges, lawyers, business executives and other professionals in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, China, Fiji and Qatar. During his fellowship, Mr. Lim intends to explore and research the professional practice of mediation in the U.S. by undertaking academic research and meeting with professional mediators. When he returns, Mr. Lim intends to spur the development of mediation in Singapore and encourage its use in other Asian countries.

Etiene Coelho Martins (Brazil) – Mr. Martins is a federal district judge and coordinator of the Federal Mediation Center.  As coordinator of the FMC, he oversees the design and implementation of comprehensive dispute resolution procedures to assist the courts, including online dispute resolution initiatives. A former major and legal director of the Rio de Janeiro state military police, he teaches strategic non-violent action and community policing as faculty of the D. João VI Police Academy. While in the U.S., Judge Martins will study court-annexed ADR programs to enhance the use of mediation in the São Paulo district courts. To support his work with the police academy, he intends to explore innovative initiatives that build trust between the community and law enforcement and empower police officers to resolve conflict with dispute resolution skills. 

Ruslan Mirzayev (Azerbaijan) – Mr. Mirzayev is the General Counsel of DemirBank, managing partner at the Tengrinvest Law Firm in Baku and teaches dispute resolution at the Baku State University and the Judicial Academy of the Ministry of Justice. Additionally, Mr. Mirzayev is in the process of establishing a commercial ADR center in Azerbaijan.  During his fellowship, Mr. Mirzayev hopes to augment his theoretical understanding by obtaining practical experience by observing mediation at JAMS and other ADR service providers. He also hopes to learn more about court-connected programs to assist the judiciary in providing effective and appropriate dispute resolution alternatives to litigation.

Mugeni Siwale Mulenga (Zambia) – Ms. Mulenga is a Constitutional Court Justice and serves as a member of the advisory committee on mediation, which was established to further develop court-annexed mediation to reduce the high number of cases pending in the courts. During her previous five years on the High Court, Justice Mulenga served as member of the committee on court operations and administration and the committee on gender. While in the U.S., she intends to study the design and implementation of court-connected dispute resolution programs. She further intends to meet with ADR experts to learn the latest dispute resolution research and policy relevant to the application of best practices in Zambia.

Chitra Narayan (India) – Ms. Narayan is a lawyer, accredited mediator and founding trustee of the private dispute resolution service provider, the Foundation for Comprehensive Dispute Resolution in Chennai.  She has also served for 10 years as a mediator of the Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Center at the Madras High Court. In partnership with leading mediators and experts around the country, Ms. Narayan is currently drafting proposed legislation regarding mediation initiatives in India. During her fellowship, she will focus on strengthening both her theoretical and practical understanding of dispute resolution practices while gaining exposure to building a mediation practice promoting the effectiveness of mediated agreements as alternatives to litigation.

Ivana Ninčić (Serbia) – Ms. Ninčić is a lawyer, accredited mediator, and consultant to the Ministry of Justice for the reform of the legal profession. She is also a deputy member of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice representing the Republic of Serbia. As part of her fellowship, she intends to study ADR practices in the U.S. and court-connected mediation programs. Following her fellowship, she will continue her work on legislative and judicial reforms to strengthen mediation practices. She intends to further serve as an advocate for the introduction of a comprehensive ADR policy to enhance access to justice and judicial efficiency in Serbia.

Ivan Ormachea-Choque (Peru) – Mr. Ormachea is the president of ProDiálogo, a nonprofit organization providing conflict prevention and resolution services, training and facilitation. He also serves as a mediator of workplace disputes as part of the Latin American mediation program for the World Bank. As a leading writer, trainer and practitioner of mediation with significant experience in conflict resolution in Peru and Latin America, Mr. Ormachea frequently mediates complex disputes relating to civil, family, labor and environmental conflicts, often involving indigenous communities in the region. While in the U.S., Mr. Ormachea seeks to improve his skills in mediating large multi-party disputes with emphasis on learning innovative new conflict resolution practices and methods.

Patricio Cury Pastene (Chile) – Mr. Cury is a lawyer and mediator with extensive experience in resolving family and health care disputes.  In addition, he teaches at the law school of the University of Viña del Mar where he established the first graduate diploma in family mediation in the region, involving an interdisciplinary team of lawyers, psychologists, social workers and physicians. He is currently developing a mediation center to serve the community in Viña del Mar in connection with the courts. As part of his fellowship, Mr. Cury will focus on learning new methods of resolving environmental, neighborhood and small claims disputes while studying dispute systems design to further promote and expand the use of ADR in Chile.

Chaudhry Ehsan Sadiq (Pakistan) – Mr. Sadiq is the Deputy Inspector General of Police of the Punjab province in Pakistan. He has served in various command positions throughout the country, focusing on security, law enforcement and human rights, with particular emphasis on community policing and gender equality. Mr. Sadiq holds a doctorate from Quaid-e-Azam University for his study of police culture and has extensive experience implementing dispute resolution mechanisms during his lengthy career in law enforcement. While in the U.S., Mr. Sadiq will further study the integration of dispute resolution and police reforms to promote community-based conflict resolution systems as part of an effective comprehensive ADR system for law enforcement in the Punjab and throughout Pakistan.

Pirita Virtanen (Finland) Ms. Virtanen is a dispute resolution lawyer who has represented clients in a large damages trial in Finland and clerked at the Court of Justice of the European Union. She has also worked pro bono at Crisis Management Initiative, a nonprofit organization that develops mediation methods and tools for resolution of disputes around the world. She also recently completed a second LLM degree in the U.S. where she focused on dispute systems design, negotiation, mediation and facilitation. She intends to further develop her mediation and negotiation skills as part of her fellowship project. Upon her return to Finland, she hopes to serve as a mediator to promote peace through CMI and other nonprofit organizations while working to assist Finnish companies to resolve their disputes more efficiently.

Lei Zhao (China) – Ms. Zhao is an associate professor at South China Agricultural University.  She also serves as the leading scholar for the Judicial Reform Group of the Office of the Supreme People’s Court, where she provides key research regarding the role of the judiciary in the development of ADR and court-annexed mediation programs in China. During her fellowship, Professor Zhao hopes to deepen her understanding of dispute systems design, conflict management and mediation training. Upon her return, she intends to further develop mediation as part of a unified judicial dispute resolution policy throughout China.

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.

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