The Lawyer as Neutral
Founded in 1986, Penn Law’s Mediation Clinic was one of the first real case programs of its kind in the nation. With its cutting-edge technology-based instruction and breadth of sophisticated faculty-supervised fieldwork, it has maintained its preeminent place as a national model for mediation courses.
Mediation Defined
Mediation involves the intervention of a neutral third party into an existing or threatened dispute, with the aim of facilitating a negotiated resolution of the conflict. Lawyers are increasingly immersed in this arena, both as mediators and as traditional representatives of clients whose matters are subject to a mediation resolution. The number of disputes that are resolved through mediation now exceeds exponentially those that are tried in courts. It is also a subject of great interest to transactional lawyers.
Students
For students interested in participating in the Mediation Clinic, learn more about what you’ll learn, registration information, and prerequisites.
Explore the student experience
Contact Us
Mediation Clinic
Tel: 215.898.8427
News Highlights
Clinic students hone vital interpersonal skills during legal simulations with trained actors
Trained actors assist law students to practice their legal representation skills before jumping into real-world work.
Dwayne Bensing GED’09, L’12: From Philadelphia public school teacher to civil rights advocate
Dwayne Bensing GED’09, L’12 is a Staff Attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Delaware focusing on policy advocacy.
Mediation Clinic students learn that ‘lawyers can be problem-solvers as well as warriors’
Led by Practice Professor Douglas Frenkel L’72, Adjunct Professor of Law Michele Goldfarb, and Lecturer in Law Sharon Eckstein L’86, Mediation Clinic students learn to exercise unbiased lawyering judgment by facilitating real mediation sessions.
Penn Law’s Mediation Clinic: Tackling international child abduction disputes
Two Law School students traveled with Professor Douglas Frenkel L’72, the Mediation Clinic’s director, to mediate an international child abduction dispute in Omaha, Nebraska.