Irvine, Calif. – The JAMS Foundation announces the 12 fellows who have been selected for the 2019 Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship Program.
Founded in 2008, the Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship Program is named to honor the contributions of JAMS neutral Hon. Daniel Weinstein (Ret.). The program is designed to provide opportunities for qualified individuals outside of the United States to study alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes and practices in the U.S., to assist them in their efforts of advancing the resolution of disputes in their home countries. The Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship Program has produced over 100 Fellows in more than 70 countries.
Now in its 11th year, the program includes an incredible network of legal professionals throughout the world who are dedicated to advancing ADR. We are so pleased with its success and are continually looking for ways to improve and build on its momentum.
- Hon. Daniel Weinstein (Ret.)
In late 2018, Judge Weinstein announced that he was launching the Weinstein International Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making mediation available globally. This organization provides alumni Weinstein JAMS Fellows—who “graduate” to become Senior Fellows—with resources to promote mediation and dispute resolution worldwide.
This is an evolving opportunity for the Weinstein JAMS Fellowship Program in that it advances the dispute resolution initiatives that the Fellows are putting into place. It harnesses the energy of the JAMS Foundation and takes it a step further with additional funds, resources and regular meetings around the globe that help the Fellows collaborate and build even more connections.
- Ellen Bass, Director of the Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship Program
We are grateful to Judge Weinstein for his continued generosity and commitment to the development and support of the Fellows. This program continues to flourish and make an impact in so many countries.
- Chris Poole, JAMS President and CEO
The 12 Weinstein JAMS Fellows have been arriving in the U.S. over the last few months 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. Fellows will have an opportunity to shadow mediators and implement the knowledge from their Fellowship to resolve disputes back in their home countries. Listed below are the 12 Fellows selected for the 2019 Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship Program.
Zeeshan Ali (Pakistan) – Mr. Ali is the team leader for the Asia Foundation’s Rule of Law Program in Pakistan, managing three project teams to strengthen access to justice, protect the rights of minorities and women to ensure affordable legal assistance, and advance legal reform initiatives with the judiciary. He works with the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Lahore High Court and the Punjab and Sindh judicial academies to develop ADR training programs for judges working as mediators at court-annexed mediation centers throughout Pakistan. During his Fellowship in the United States, Mr. Ali will study dispute resolution programs in connection with the courts to advance the national judicial reform agenda and conduct advanced-level training programs at judicial academies in Pakistan. He further hopes to better understand the legislative frameworks necessary to mainstream ADR and enable equitable access to justice in Pakistan.
Nuha AlMuhanna (Kuwait) – Ms. AlMuhanna is an international law scholar at Kuwait University. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at George Washington University School of Law, specializing in international law, negotiation, arbitration and conflict management. During her Fellowship, she hopes to obtain necessary practical experience in the field of ADR to complement her academic studies. Upon her return to Kuwait, she intends to provide interactive and practice-based teaching methods to prepare law students for their legal careers. Additionally, she plans to transfer the knowledge obtained during her Fellowship to improve judicial performance and rules to encourage litigants to apply ADR in the resolution of their disputes. She further seeks to prove the success, competency and dedication that women in the legal field in the Middle East possess.
Ugochinyelu Anidi (Nigeria) – Ms. Anidi is a lecturer in law at the University of Nigeria and serves as a mediator affiliated with the Enugu State Multi-Door Courthouse. As part of her Fellowship, she plans to conduct a study of academic clinical mediation courses at law schools in the United States to enhance the quality of dispute resolution education and training available in Nigeria. Upon completion of her Fellowship, she intends to apply the knowledge gained in the United States to establish clinical mediation programs with Nigerian law faculties and develop the first center for mediation at the University of Nigeria. By increasing the growth of mediation in Nigeria through improved instruction, Ms. Anidi hopes to support ADR institutions such as the multi-door courthouses by providing well-trained staff while ensuring the availability of mediation services for indigent members of local communities.
Merita Bala (Albania) – Ms. Bala is the program manager for the Albanian Foundation for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation of Disputes (AFCR), a national non-governmental organization focused on mediation and ADR development in Albania. An accredited mediator, Ms. Bala also serves as a lecturer in a newly established postgraduate course on conflict resolution at the University of Tirana and provides mediation and restorative justice training at the AFCR. While in the United States, Ms. Bala intends to research court-connected mediation models to assist in the establishment of court-connected mediation centers in Albania, sharing the expertise she will gain in the United States to benefit the AFCR’s program to strengthen mediation systems in Albania. She also plans to attend advanced mediation training programs to further develop her mediation skills while learning from academic programs on mediation in the United States to apply to the development of conflict resolution education and training in Albania.
Eleni Charalambidou (Cyprus) – Ms. Charalambidou is the founder/CEO of EnConsensus Solutions, an ADR company providing mediation, negotiation and dispute resolution services in Cyprus. An accredited mediator, Ms. Charalambidou also mediates in collaboration with the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry and serves as a trainer for the Athens Mediation Training Institute and ADR Center Global. During her Fellowship in the United States, Ms. Charalambidou intends to attend advanced mediation training programs and observe mediations to further refine her mediation skills while focusing on how to promote the development of mediation in Cyprus. She also plans to study best practices in the administration and management of U.S. commercial mediation providers applicable to establishing a mediation and negotiation center with an international presence in Cyprus.
Constantin-Adi Gavrilă (Romania) – Mr. Gavrilă is an accredited mediator and mediation expert, providing mediation, training and consultancy services throughout Romania and internationally. He has served as the president of the National Union of Mediation Centers, vice-president of the Romanian Mediation Council and general manager of the Craiova Mediation Center. Since 2009, Mr. Gavrilă has been involved in the practice of mediation for domestic and international cases, assisting beneficiaries from Romania and other countries to build their capacity to provide mediation services in their jurisdictions. He also serves as co-chair of the Independent Standards Commission of the International Mediation Institute . While in the United States, he intends to attend academic mediation programs to improve the quality of his mediation services while learning the best practices of private mediation providers to create a culture of mediation through establishment of a national provider of mediation services in Romania.
Prachi Mehta (India) – Ms. Mehta is a lawyer and mediator affiliated with the courts in New Delhi for court-referred matters who also conducts private commercial and pro bono mediations. She has experience in mediating complex, multi-party, high-value business disputes as well as employment and family matters. She also serves as advisor to the Delhi Dispute Resolution Society, a government-funded community mediation initiative dedicated to the successful and efficient resolution of disputes out of court. Having founded and served as CEO of an entrepreneurial venture in the education market in India, Ms. Mehta combines her legal experience with a commercial business background. As part of her Fellowship, she intends to obtain the knowledge necessary to establish a successful private ADR center while realizing her vision of building an organization that will be the foremost choice for private mediations in India.
Carolina Núñez Barrera (Spain) – Ms. Núñez is a recent LL.M. graduate of Columbia Law School and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. With over 10 years’ experience working as general and legal counsel to a multinational group of companies with projects throughout Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, Ms. Núñez managed all dispute resolution proceedings involving the group of companies in local courts, arbitration and mediation. Representative matters include public and private projects involving infrastructure, finance, general corporate and M&A. As part of her Fellowship, she hopes to establish an international conflict resolution center in Andalusia to provide ADR training programs and pre-dispute negotiation and mediation services, contributing to the internationalization and growth of Andalusia’s economy through the resolution of complex business disputes in the region.
Kennedy Owuor Odhiambo (Kenya) – Mr. Odhiambo serves as senior principal state counsel at the Office of the Attorney General and is an accredited mediator of the High Court of Kenya’s court-annexed mediation pilot project. He is also a panel member of Strathmore University’s Dispute Resolution Centre in Nairobi. During his Fellowship in the United States, Mr. Odhiambo will pursue an LL.M. at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine School of Law, focusing on strengthening his skills in mediation and arbitration, with an emphasis on court-connected programs and commercial dispute resolution. Upon his return to Kenya, he will contribute to the ongoing transformation of the legal landscape by increasing access to justice through the reduction of the case backlog in the courts and the expansion of the court-annexed mediation pilot program to include all county courts throughout the country.
Katarzyna Przyluska-Ciszewska (Poland) – Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska is a lawyer and mediator with experience in civil, criminal, administrative and community disputes. She served as founder and president of the National Bar Association’s Mediation Center organization from 2011 through 2019. As president, she promoted the use of mediation in Poland through training and education, and participates in the legislative process involving mediation regulation in Parliament. Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska was also appointed by the Ministry of Economy to an advisory team focused on the amicable resolution of commercial disputes. During her Fellowship, she intends to further develop her mediation skills and advance her understanding of how to expand the culture of mediation and dispute resolution to decrease the escalation of conflict in Poland.
Jody Sin (Hong Kong) – Ms. Sin is a lawyer, mediator and director of Resolution Mediation Consultants Ltd. She has substantial experience in commercial litigation, building management disputes, property litigation, arbitration, insurance, personal injury and health and safety litigation. She is a distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators and a member of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and Hong Kong Law Society. Her Fellowship project focuses on advancing the incorporation of mediation in dispute resolution processes within enterprises and organizations. As a result, she hopes that a collaborative interest-based culture will take root in Hong Kong’s commercial sector, incorporating the values of mediation in organizational relations and serving as a model for the Greater Bay Area and other Asian countries.
Pranjal Sinha (India) – Mr. Sinha is a mediator and co-founder/CEO of SAMA (formerly ODRways), a startup E-ADR institution operating in over 20 cities across India that has handled more than 2,000 cases ranging in value from $30 to $65 million. Winner of the E-ADR Challenge 2019, ODRways competed with 72 ADR centers around the world, obtaining the official contract to develop an online dispute resolution platform for banking disputes for the largest private bank in India. ODRways was recognized in India by the Ministry of Law and Justice as one of the top 12 ADR centers and by Google as the “Socially Most Innovative Platform in 2015.” While managing the growth of SAMA/ ODRways, Mr. Sinha recently graduated as a lawyer in 2019 from West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences. During his Fellowship, he intends to study the dispute resolution culture prevalent in the United States through observation of mediations and meetings with senior mediators. He also plans to attend academic training in social entrepreneurship and leadership to assist him in the further development of his online dispute resolution platform.
The nonprofit JAMS Foundation was established in 2002 by JAMS, the largest private provider of alternative dispute resolution services worldwide. The mission of the JAMS Foundation is to provide financial assistance for conflict resolution initiatives with national and international impact and to share its dispute resolution expertise for the benefit of the public interest.
The Foundation is funded entirely by contributions from JAMS neutrals, executives and associates, and by a substantial annual donation from JAMS itself. To uphold the company’s core value of neutrality, the Foundation accepts no donations outside of JAMS. The Foundation currently boasts 290 principal benefactors and has provided more than $9 million in grant funding since its inception.
About JAMS – Local Solutions. Global Reach.
Founded in 1979, JAMS is the largest private provider of alternative dispute resolution services worldwide. With 28 locations, JAMS and its nearly 400 panelists are responsible for resolving thousands of the world’s important cases every year.
JAMS successfully resolves and manages business and legal disputes by providing efficient, cost-effective and impartial ways to overcome barriers at any stage of conflict. JAMS offers customized dispute resolution services locally and globally through a combination of industry-specific experience, first-class client service, top-notch facilities and highly trained panelists.
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