Mediation
Seminar
Professor Yarn
dyarn@gsu.edu

(404)413-9147

Assignments and Announcements

Course Syllabus

MEDIATION SEMINAR - This page is for informational purposes for Fall registration. I reserve the right to change content.

LAW 7062 - Fall 2009

PROFESSOR YARN - (404)413-9147 dyarn@gsu.edu

Time: Tuesdays from 4:10 - 5:50 pm. Although this is a three-hour course, classes are two hours long. Classes in this course end in September. Exceptions will be posted on the Assignments page. 

As a required part of this course, an intensive mediation workshop will be taught from 8:30am - 5:00pm on August 11 - 14, 2009. More details below and posted as available. You may not register for this course unless you can attend this workshop.

Room: 653

Prerequisite: The course is limited strictly to twelve (12) students. Third-year students and those who have already taken Law 7060 will receive preference in registration.

Office Hours: Please feel free to contact me at any time by phone at my office (above) or at home (706)548-0726 or by e-mail. I will be available all day on most Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. At other times, it is best to make an appointment. Although you are more than welcome to drop in anytime, please call or e-mail in advance to be sure I am not away at a meeting. 

Description: Mediation is an alternative dispute resolution mechanism in which an impartial third party assists disputants in reaching a negotiated agreement. Once a purely private, voluntary process, mediation has been embraced and institutionalized by the judicial system. Today, few civil legal disputes are allowed to go to trial in Georgia without first undergoing mediation. This course will provide students with an understanding of the mediation process, various theories and styles of mediation, and the law and legal institutional framework supporting the process when it is connected to courts. In addition, students will be trained to mediate and to represent parties in mediation. Opportunities for mediation at the Fulton County Landlord/Tenant Court are available on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.

Workshop: This course requires students to participate in a 28-hour workshop held in August prior to the beginning of regular classes. Upon satisfactory completion, students will qualify as having fulfilled the in-class training requirement for registration as a mediator with the Georgia Supreme Court's Office of Dispute Resolution. Complete attendance is required in order to complete the course and receive certification of completion for registration with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution.

Workshop Schedule: August 11, 12, 13 (8:30am - 5pm) & 14 (8:30am - 12:30pm).

Location: Faculty Conference Room, 4th Floor, GSU College of Law

Food: Lunch will be provided except on the last day of the workshop. We are working on coffee, snacks, etc. Breakfast on your own.

Dress: Casual and comfortable; please note that the conference room and other rooms on the 4th floor can get both very hot and very cold in the summer.

Cost: In the past, this workshop has required an additional cost of $150.00 for students to cover materials, food, and coach honorariums. Price may vary slightly this year. Checks should be made out to "CNCR-GSU Law" and handed in on the first day of the workshop.

Materials: Required texts - Bennett & Hughes, The Art of Mediation (2d ed. NITA 2005) with additional materials to be provided at the workshop. Optional recommended text: Bush & Folger, The Promise of Mediation (1994).

Although not required, I strongly recommend reading Fisher, Ury & Patton, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (2d ed.), before the August workshop. This is a very cheap paperback available at most bookstores. In addition, you may find chapters 7 & 8 of Yarn & Jones, Georgia Alternative Dispute Resolution: Practice and Procedure in Georgia (3d ed. West 2006) (available in your local law library), to be helpful.

You do not need to bring any laptops to the workshop. 

Grading: Based on a short research paper with skill acquisition and participation as a large additional factor.