The ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition is the ICC’s largest annual educational event and attracts students, academics and professional mediators from all over the world. Fenwick Elliott has supported the ICC Mediation Week for many years, including the 12th Mediation Competition (3-8 February 2017).

What began in 2006 with only 10 teams now comprises 66 selected teams with over 500 participants from 34 countries, making it the premier international mediation competition worldwide, including training programmes and numerous social events in marvellous locations.  The students compete in almost 150 mock mediation sessions throughout the Competition week.

"The event makes it possible for professionals and some of the world’s top mediators to inspire and engage a new generation of mediators."

Over 130 selected professional mediators volunteer to act as mediators, or as judges, assessing each team’s negotiating and problem-solving skills, as well as their ability to make good use of the mediator. Many professionals return to this exceptional event in Paris year after year and regard it as a privilege to offer their time and expertise to the students.

The ICC Mediation Week (including the Competition) takes place in Paris every year at the beginning of February and provides a unique opportunity for students to learn and compete, to network and make friends. The event makes it possible for professionals and some of the world’s top mediators to inspire and engage a new generation of mediators and mediation users and is an essential part of the ICC’s efforts to promote mediation as an effective dispute resolution technique.

The Competition lasts six days and is open to students of every discipline, albeit each team must have one law student to take the role of counsel. During the Competition, university students face complex international business problems, which they attempt to resolve by mediation conducted under the ICC competition rules. The students spend months ahead of the Competition preparing for these cases with their coaches. The ‘Problems’ consist of two different parts: General Information and Confidential Information for each team, not known to the other party.

Many past team participants return to the Competition as volunteers, and sometimes as professionals. There seems to be a magic surrounding this special event: hard work and months of preparation, but also lots of fun, interesting conversations, wonderful atmosphere, numerous espressos, French wine and Parisian glamour. It was a pleasure to represent Fenwick Elliott at this event and I look forward to next year’s event.