Irvine, Calif. – The JAMS Foundation is pleased to announce the Fellows who have been named to the 2020 class of the Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship Program. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 12 Fellows began their training virtually in September 2020 and then will arrive in the United States in September 2021 for in-person training.
Founded in 2008, the Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship Program is named to honor the leadership and multi-million dollar contribution to the JAMS Foundation 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. and to assist them in their ability to advance dispute resolution in their home countries. Since its inception, the Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship Program has trained 128 Fellows from 79 countries.
When I reflect on how this program has grown over the years, I could not be more proud. This program is a testament to the JAMS Foundation’s commitment to supporting dispute resolution globally and helping an increasing number of highly deserving individuals advance their skills.
- Hon. Daniel Weinstein (Ret.), JAMS Neutral
Due to health and safety risks presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the arrival of the international Fellows has been deferred to the fall of 2021. The Fellowship Bridge Program, which has been uniquely designed by the JAMS Foundation Board, will provide specialized online training and education as well as virtual networking events to bridge the time between September 2020 and September 2021.
Each year, we are fortunate to take part in supporting the careers of extremely talented and successful legal professionals across the world. Despite the hurdles of the pandemic, we are pleased to have adapted our program in a way that prioritizes the safety of our Fellows while still allowing them access to opportunities that we hope enrich their ability to resolve disputes in their home countries.
- Chris Poole, JAMS President and CEO
In advance of their arrival in September 2021, the Fellows will take part in a series of virtual workshops and networking events to help advance their skill sets across a variety of areas, including cross-cultural conflicts, international commercial arbitration and mediation for the future.
Dispute resolution is grounded in adaptive and creative thinking, and we created this virtual program with those virtues in mind. This program will not only support the Fellows’ in-person training on dispute resolution, but also help train the Fellows on the skills that have become so crucial in our current environment.
- Ellen Bass, Director of the Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship Program
Listed below are the 12 Fellows selected for the 2020 Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship Program.
Natalia Alenkina (Kyrgyzstan) – Ms. Alenkina is a senior lawyer with experience representing the interests of the Kyrgyz government in international arbitration regarding commercial and investment disputes. She further serves as the deputy chairman of the scholarly advisory board at the International Court of Arbitration and is an associate professor at the American University of Central Asia. Upon completion of her Fellowship in the U.S., she hopes to contribute to systemic changes in arbitration processes by creating a favorable legal environment for the development of international commercial arbitration in Kyrgyzstan.
Victor Baba Emmanuel Aligo (South Sudan/Kenya) – Mr. Aligo is a lawyer and accredited mediator. Originally from South Sudan, he resides in Kenya as a refugee, where in addition to his legal and mediation practice, he leads the Men’s Ministry at the Reconciliation Centre in Nairobi. Mr. Aligo is a certified speaker, trainer, teacher and coach. As part of his Fellowship, he intends to expand his knowledge and understanding of ADR for the benefit of people in the South Sudan and sub-Saharan Africa through ADR advocacy in schools, communities and faith-based institutions throughout the region.
Gidey Belay Assefa (Ethiopia) – Mr. Assefa is a senior associate attorney at the Addis Law Group LLP and Zee Law Office. He has served as a lecturer at Addis Ababa University and Aksum University, and received his LL.M. in commercial law from Hawassa University. While acting as director of the Aksum University legal aid center, he worked to resolve domestic cases through mediation in and out of court. During his Fellowship, he seeks to equip himself with the necessary dispute resolution knowledge and skills to establish a dispute resolution training center in Ethiopia.
Hicham Kantar (Lebanon) – Mr. Kantar has served as a judge in Beirut for over 15 years and is currently a prosecutor in the financial prosecution office of Lebanon. He recently completed a second LL.M. at Columbia Law School, where, in recognition of his superior academic achievement, he was named a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar. As part of his Fellowship, he intends to develop a decentralized mediation and restorative justice program for rural areas throughout Lebanon, where courts are understaffed and have considerable case backlogs but the tradition of resolving disputes through dialogue processes still exists.
Anh Tuan Nguyen (Vietnam) – Mr. Nguyen is the founder and director of the Vietnam Commercial Effective Mediation Center (VEMC). He is also managing partner at ANT Lawyers, which has offices in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. During his Fellowship, he hopes to obtain theoretical and practical knowledge of ADR, including innovations in online dispute resolution, to assist in ensuring that ADR legislation meets international standards in Vietnam given the country’s rapidly developing economy.
Akira Ninomiya Júnior (Brazil) – Mr. Ninomiya Júnior is a lawyer, mediator and founder of RePacificar, an organization dedicated to the transformation of conflict in the state of Goiás and throughout Brazil. He further serves as a state government crisis and conflict resolution consultant. Upon completion of his Fellowship, he intends to continue his work to provide dispute resolution training in schools and within communities to prepare a new generation of conflict resolvers to expand the use of ADR in Brazil. Additionally, he is working to create an online dispute resolution initiative for the commercial and industrial sectors in Goiás in response to business disruption conflicts caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Nominchimeg Odsuren (Mongolia) – Ms. Odsuren is the managing partner at Nomin & Advocates LLP and an adjunct lecturer at the National University of Mongolia School of Law. She further serves as an arbitrator at the Mongolian International Arbitration Center (MIAC). As part of her Fellowship, she plans to learn mediation theory and practice in application to the resolution of disputes and how private dispute resolution centers operate. In addition, she plans to develop the first negotiation training course for law students in Mongolia.
Ljubomir Petruljeskov (Serbia) – Mr. Petruljeskov is the program lead of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), which is headquartered in Rome, where he works to stimulate the creation of community practice and build institutional capacity by providing in-house training on mediation for the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region (EECA). He hopes to create a regional mediation platform while transferring the knowledge and expertise gained during his Fellowship to different countries and IDLO projects.
Khadeeja Shabeen (Republic of Maldives) – Ms. Shabeen is the deputy attorney general for the Republic of Maldives, where she oversees, in particular, the legal affairs division and ADR section of the Office of the Attorney General. While participating in the Fellowship Program, she hopes to gain a deeper understanding of arbitration and mediation to promote the advancement of ADR in Maldives, enabling her to work as counsel and arbitrator at arbitrations instituted at the recently established Maldives International Arbitration Center and to contribute to the introduction of mediation legislation following Maldives’ signing of the Singapore Convention.
Monika Włodarczyk (Poland) – Ms. Włodarczyk is a civil judge at the district court in Chrzanów with particular interest in civil litigation, mediation and conflict management. She is also the current president and founder of the Polish section of GEMME (European Association of Judges for Mediation). During her Fellowship, she intends to study best practices in court-connected ADR programs in the U.S. to implement and expand court-connected mediation pilot projects and promote the use of mediation through training for the judiciary in Poland.
Lilit Yeremyan (Armenia) – Ms. Yeremyan is assistant to the President of the Republic of Armenia for legal affairs and presidential initiatives as well as a senior lecturer in public international law at Russian-Armenian University. She further serves as a strategic researcher on an ad hoc basis at Davit & Partners. While participating in the Fellowship program, she hopes to gain new knowledge and a deeper understanding of dispute resolution processes and practices in the U.S., including the latest innovations in ADR, to provide a road map for the promotion of ADR in Armenia.
Miglė Žukauskaitė-Tatorė (Lithuania) – Ms. Žukauskaitė-Tatorė is a lawyer, mediator and mediation trainer. She recently submitted her doctoral dissertation on the relationship between mandatory mediation and access to justice at Vilnius University. She previously served as a scientific expert to the working group on mediation at the Council of Europe European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) and is a vice-president of education, international with the International Academy of Dispute Resolution (INADR). As part of her Fellowship, she hopes to further develop her skills as a mediator, mediation trainer and educator.
About the JAMS Foundation
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 is currently comprised of 300 principal benefactors and has provided more than $10 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. 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.
With a roster of over 400 neutrals and 29 locations, JAMS resolves thousands of the world’s important cases every year. JAMS also offers remote dispute resolution through videoconferencing and other platforms. JAMS neutrals are adept at managing the resolution process whether they are conducting in-person or virtual hearings.
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