Center on Negotiation and Mediation

Click above for the Director's Welcome

The Center on Negotiation and Mediation is designed to teach students effective negotiation and mediation theory and skills through a series of courses and workshops.

These programs begin with the Lawyers as Problem Solvers workshops, which introduce first-year and LLM students to the basic knowledge and skills which they will use while practicing law.

In the Negotiations Course, students are taught the skills and theories that are needed to become successful negotiators. Working in teams or one-on-one, students cover a wide range of situations, including the purchase of real estate, the settlement of lawsuits, structuring a record contract, neighborhood and labor disputes, and working in a cross-cultural setting on a business expansion project. Students receive feedback from each other, teaching assistants, and professors.

In the Mediation and Advocacy course, the Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR) conducts a portion of the skills training in the workshops. Students who successfully complete the training and meet all of CCR's certification requirements can be certified and conduct actual mediations on behalf of CCR, and receive course credit in the Mediation Practicum. Students are able to work in the Cook County Court System and mediate cases that are referred by Cook County judges.

The program also provides other trainings for the Northwestern Law community, such as teaching conflict resolution to student leaders and teaching negotiation skills to high school students.

In addition, the program coaches the teams representing Northwestern Law in the ABA Negotiation Competition. For 2009, the team representing Northwestern Law, comprised of Leslie Garbarino and Jacob Babcock, took first place in the ABA Negotiation Competition National Finals.

The Program on Negotiation and Mediation is led by Lynn Cohn. Sheila Maloney is the Assistant Director.

For further information about the Program on Negotiation and Mediation, contact Nancy Flowers, Program Assistant, at (312) 503-8538 or by e-mail.

The program’s office is located in the 8th floor of the Rubloff Building of Northwestern Law in the Bluhm Legal Clinic.