Mediation Clinic

For many, getting justice means going to court, but less than 5% of civil cases go to trial and can end with high costs or poor results. Mediation offers a powerful alternative, giving parties control, dignity, and a means to resolve disputes on their terms.

In mediation, the parties are the experts of their conflict and decide the outcome. The mediator’s role is to help parties have a conversation, exchange information, and create an agreeable solution. Mediation allows parties to avoid the cost and risk of litigating their case in front of the judge and puts the power back in their hands to decide the case in a manner that is best for them. The Mediation Clinic provides free mediation services to parties; mediators serve as neutrals who guide the mediation process and explore possible resolutions to a conflict with the parties. Mediation is completely confidential, and if parties do not resolve their disagreement through mediation, they can still settle their dispute in court. 

In the Mediation Clinic, students become approved mediators in New York state and lead cases every week. Student mediators conduct mediations at the Bronx Civil Supreme Court, online through New York State’s Presumptive ADR Program (PAP), and assist parties in federal employment discrimination cases from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Through the Clinic’s partnership with UNITAR, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, student mediators have also presented at the United Nations, providing programming on mediation and negotiation skills training to delegates from all over the world. 

A student holding a piece of paper talks with two other people.

Conflict Resolution

Student mediators gain the skills to empower clients in resolving some of their most difficult legal disputes. By becoming experts in alternative dispute resolution processes and strategies, student mediators learn to overcome impasse and help parties create realistic settlements.

Students sitting in lounge chairs with laptops in Jerome Greene Hall.

Negotiation

Student mediators become expert negotiators, learning the value of active listening, asking the right questions, summarizing information, reframing positions, and generating momentum. These skills make student mediators successful third-party neutrals and equip them with negotiation skills to use in professional and personal settings. 

Mediation Clinic students pose outside the United Nations.

Leadership

Student mediators lead parties in the mediation process, act as representatives for the clinic on campus and at the courts, and facilitate training as educators at the United Nations.

Tyler Henry wearing a suit and smiling

Mediation is so much more than resolving disputes—it’s about restoring dignity, expanding access to justice, and empowering people to be heard in a system that often feels out of reach. Professor Carter is an extraordinary mentor who shares her deep expertise with generosity and care, equipping student mediators to navigate complex conflicts with confidence and compassion. The community within the clinic is just as powerful—my peers became collaborators, teachers, and some of my closest friends. The skills, relationships, and certification you walk away with aren’t just for law school—they’re tools for a lifetime. — Tyler Henry ’25