Professor Tom Stipanowich Featured Speaker at Singapore Convention on Mediation

Straus Institute Dean and Professor of Law Thomas J. Stipanowich was a featured speaker at the momentous conference associated with the initial signing of the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (the "Singapore Convention") on August 7. The day-long conference, co-sponsored by the Singapore Ministry of Law and the United Nations, was attended by nearly 900 government delegates, lawyers, and leading dispute resolution professionals from seventy nations. The event was highlighted by a signing ceremony in which forty-six countries including the U.S., Brazil and China indicated their intent to ratify the convention. Prof. Stipanowich, who appeared as one of three speakers on "The Rise of Mediation: Bridging Differences for Tomorrow," concludes:

"The Singapore Convention is a truly historic milestone in the modern history of international dispute resolution. By establishing a platform for the international enforcement of mediated commercial agreements, it may do for mediation what the New York Convention did for binding commercial arbitration."

On August 8, Dean Stipanowich and Straus Managing Director Sukhsimran Singh also participated in a "Global Think Tank" workshop considering the potential impact of the Singapore Convention on mediation. The event, co-sponsored by JAMS, the International Bar Association and other groups, drew more than 50 in-person participants and more than 250 by live-streaming. Stipanowich made note of the fact that at least four Straus graduate students or alumni were present for the workshop: Blazo Nedic (Serbia), Ximena Bustamante (Ecuador), Jody Sin (Hong Kong) and Jiyun Moon (Republic of Korea). Ms. Moon recently became Centre Manager of the Singapore International Mediation Centre.