Company Announcement - UCT Law@work, a self-funded unit within the UCT Faculty of Law, is pleased to present a series of five-day training courses for professionals who aspire to become mediators and use mediation to resolve disputes in their preferred areas of practice.

COURSE DATES AS FOLLOWS:

• 21 to 25 January 2015 
• 8 to 12 April 2015
• 1 to 5 July 2015
• 23 to 27 September 2015

Space is limited to 21 delegates per course.

About The Course
This five-day course lays the groundwork for you to become an effective mediator in South Africa. It also aims to improve your general and inter-cultural communication and negotiation skills. You will learn to use mediation skills more effectively in your profession, business, or workplace. The Department of Justice’s court-aligned mediation programme forms part of your learning experience.

The civil justice system has priced itself out reach of many South Africans, and mediation is becoming more and more popular to resolve disputes in diverse fields and industries. Mediation reframes a dispute as a joint problem rather than a battle over who is going to prevail. King III on Good Corporate Governance, and 44 pieces of legislation passed by Parliament since 1994, have prepared the way for mediation to become mainstream in South Africa.  

Who Will Benefit From This Course?
- Entrepreneurs
- Lawyers
- Legal advisors
- In-house counsel
- Senior management in private and public organisations
- Members of the judiciary
- Health professionals
- Director-generals of government departments
- Chartered accountants
- Persons with an aptitude or desire to facilitate the resolution of disputes

Why Will They Benefit?
- They will have covered the groundwork to become effective mediators in their preferred areas of practice or expertise.
- They will have improved their general and inter-cultural communication and negotiation skills, which are essential leadership qualities in South Africa.
- They will have acquired practical mediation skills training from experienced practitioners. This will enhance their existing competencies as problem solvers in their preferred industries and fields.
- They will have discovered the potential of mediation as a flexible and creative process which encourages creativity and innovation in business, labour and in the various professions active in South Africa.
- They will have been introduced to court-aligned mediation and civil procedure in general.

Course Outline
At the end of this five-day course delegates will have covered, and have a good understanding, of the following:

- The South African mediation landscape, including court-aligned mediation
- Relevant mediation practices, including what is known as commercial, family and workplace mediation
- Different styles of mediation
- Key concepts and different stages of the mediation process
- Mediation skills and techniques, including perspectives on neuroscience and game theory
- Ways of helping parties to communicate better during mediation
- Positional versus interest-based negotiations during mediation
- The use of mediation when power imbalances occur (i.e. employee v. large corporation)
- The use of intercultural competencies and leadership qualities to make mediations more accessible, effective and fair
- Uses for mediation in complex multi-party disputes, especially the leadership role a mediator may play during the process, without determining the outcome on behalf of the parties
- The role of the law and civil procedure in mediation – a comparative look at how mediation is commonly practised in the US, UK and SA
- How to build a mediation practice
- Mediation advocacy – how to assist disputing parties in a mediation

A training methodology will be used that has a strong emphasis on multi-media and practical examples, illustrations and role-play, with the emphasis on South African case studies. Final role-plays will be filmed for evaluation and peer-learning purposes.

Comments From Past Delegates

“Thank you to UCT Law@work for an intense, challenging, exhausting, paradigm-changing and stimulating mediation course.”

“This was an eye opener and many more of this type of course needs to be organised for the future.”

“Really felt motivated and confident. Feedback and mentoring very positive.”

“The coaching sessions were great, I had an opportunity to be coached and receive feedback; it was great indeed.”

“This course contains some quite difficult concepts to introduce and embed. Requires good trainers with an in-depth understanding of the subject matter. I was very happy with the teaching and the understanding that I have gained on the subject matter.”

“Great experience, definitely worthwhile … It has added value to me personally and I believe to my practice as well.”

MAIN COURSE PRESENTERS
The programme is presented by advocates <strong>Jacques Joubert and Alan Nelson (SC)

Jacques is an ADR Group-accredited commercial mediator with more than 20 years of legal experience, which includes practising as an arbitrator and mediator. He is a former member of the Cape Bar and has practised law in Canada. Jacques has trained mediators for UCT, the Department of Justice and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). As an independent mediation analyst he regularly publishes articles on the status and prospects of mediation in South Africa. He publishes a blog under the name of Woza Mediation South Africa.       www.jacques-joubert.co.za

Alan is a co-founder of the Nelson Mediation, Arbitration and Peace Centre. After spending 35 years as a highly successful high court advocate and trial lawyer, Alan resigned from the Cape Bar in 2006 and currently offers his expertise in all facets of civil and commercial law as a CEDR qualified and accredited mediator. He serves as an elected member of the ADR Forum of the Western Cape Government. Alan frequently addresses audiences on mediation and has been a part of the UCT Mediation Training Team since its inception.  

The main presenters will be joined, when required, by a variety of experienced mediators and trainers to assist them, amongst others:

Associate Professor Mohamed Paleker BA LLB LLM (UCT) is an attorney of the High Court and a lecturer in UCT’s Department of Private Law. He serves as a member of the Task Team for the Re-Engineering of Small Claims Courts in South Africa, an advisory Member of the South African Law Reform Commission, and a member of the Rules Board for Courts of Law.

Grant Gunston has been a practising attorney since 1995, with all round experience in criminal and civil litigation, family law, commercial law, conveyancing and the administration of estates. Realising that litigation did not always give the outcomes that clients need, Grant obtained training and has been accredited as both a commercial and family mediator, by ADR Group and FAMAC respectively. He is on various mediation panels, including those of Equillore, FAMAC and the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. Grant has a keen interest in mediation training and recently trained mediators for the Department of Justice.

Wahida Parker, former CEO of Equillore, qualified as an ADR Group-accredited commercial mediator in 2006. She has been involved in alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, for over 12 years and is presently a General Manager of a well known hotel group. She is also an executive coach and trainer with more than five years of relevant professional mediation experience. Wahida believes that mediation skills are essential for effective leadership at the workplace and beyond.
 
Francois Botha is a practising mediator and expert in workplace mediation in culturally diverse and complex environments. He has more than 16 years’ experience of interactive training, including the training of workplace mediators for UCT and peer mediators for the Africa Centre of Dispute Settlement (ACDS). Francois, a former magistrate, is the Director of UCT’s Discrimination and Harassment Office and has a passion for leadership development. He has been instrumental in developing a successful community of practice for UCT workplace mediators.
                                     
REGISTRATION DETAILS
Programme and venue information:
Signing in will commence at 9:00 unless otherwise advised and each day will end at approximately 17:00. Instructions regarding the programme and directions to the venue will be sent to you electronically a week prior to the event. 

Course fee:   
R15,000 per delegate
         
Award of certificate:
A certificate of completion from UCT will be awarded to those who attend the full five days of the contact session and successfully pass the assessments. Please ensure that you sign the attendance register each day.

Accreditation
A set of norms and standards has been promulgated by the Department of Justice for the training of court-aligned mediators. UCT Law@work’s course complies with these norms and standards and therefore qualifies you to become accredited as a court-aligned mediator. The training is also recognised and accredited by DiSAC, the Dispute Settlement Accreditation Council of South Africa.

Closing date for registration:
One week prior to the course.

Registration and enquiries:                      
To book a place on our course or for more information, please visit our website www.lawatwork.uct.ac.za or email andrea.blaauw@uct.ac.za