IBA-VIAC CDRC Vienna 2017 – Where Mediation and Negotiation Cross Borders

IBA-VIAC CDRC Vienna 2017 – where mediation and negotiation crosses borders

Following two successful editions of the IBA-VIAC Consensual Dispute Resolution Competition in Vienna, Dispute Resolution literally went international again in its 3rd generation from 10th to 14th July 2017. 11 mediator teams and 22 negotiator teams from all over the world travelled to the beautiful city of Vienna to show off their skills. For the third consecutive year, the IBA-VIAC CDRC Vienna team and ELSA Austria successfully proved again that:

Consensual Dispute Resolution is the dispute resolution method of the next generation.

Leading experts in mediation and negotiation as well as the successful students from all over the world made their way to Vienna to be part of another impressive week of the Consensual Dispute Resolution Competition. 

And the winner is …

Throughout the week while teams were competing, the Willem C. Vis Moot Arbitration case was mediated a total of 51 times.

All the way through to the final went the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, proudly winning the 1st prize in Negotiation against the University of Bonn, who came in 2nd. It was a close vote since both teams showed excellent negotiation skills. Congratulations also to Kings College, London, who won 3rd prize in Negotiation.

At the same time, winners of the mediation competition this year were the University of Bonn (1st prize Mediation, Sophie Lilienthal) and the National Law School of India University, Bangalore (2nd prize Mediation, to Pavan Srinivas and Mohnish Mathew). The competition faces a very special situation here and the CDRC rule book had to be consulted because student mediators are not allowed to mediate their own university. The solution was simple: the lucky 3rd prize mediator from PUC Sao Paulo, Fernanda Rebello, mediated the big Finale. With her on stage was Diego Faleck, also from Brazil. The finals were marked by fascinating intercultural dynamics between Germany, India and Brazil and was followed live by all participants as well as on a live stream of over 4,000 people from the Facebook community.

Business before pleasure

While naturally the mediation sessions of the competition took most of this week’s time and energy, a week like this would be incomplete without the great evening festivities. All participants were invited to mix and mingle in several beautiful venues in the host city of Vienna. The evening events in historic venues such as the Lusthaus and the City Hall were a great opportunity to engage in inspiring conversations about the future of our profession, all whilst enjoying fine Viennese food and of course, it should not go without mentioning the delicious local wines.

At this point we would like to say another enormous thank you to all of our sponsors, without whom the event would not be possible: CAM CCBC, Freshfields, Dr. Johannes P. Willheim, CIETAC, Graf & Pittkowitz, King & Spalding, JAMS, Schönherr, TPA and Völkl.

"What struck me most about this competition was the fantastic networking opportunities it provided to its participants. I particularly enjoyed spending the week with so many people from different corners of the world. The experts were not only very knowledgeable but were also extremely enthusiastic and open to share their knowledge and expertise with all of the students.” Greg Hoffmann – USA, Negotiator from Rutgers University.

“For the last three years I have participated as an expert assessor at CDRC, it has always been an amazing event where the hard work and passion of all those involved shines through. This year was the best edition yet, I am looking forward to taking part in the 4th Edition next year.” Martin Svatos – Prague, Czech Republic, Mediator.

We are proud to announce that the world’s finest in mediation and negotiation will descend on Vienna again in 2018. Don’t forget to book your flights!

                       

Gracious Timothy

Gracious Timothy is an Advocate, principally focusing on commercial arbitration and litigation. He is also an Accredited Mediator empaneled by the Indian Institute of Arbitration and Mediation (IIAM). He is also the Ambassador of the Young Mediator’s Initiative (YMI) by the International Mediation Institute (IMI), and an YMI Blogger for… MORE >

                       

Jenny Driver

Jenny Marie Driver completed her law degree from SOAS, University of London in the UK. Her legal studies led her to compete in CDRC Vienna 2016, which founded her interest and passion for mediation. Jenny also participated as a volunteer in the ICC mediation competition earlier this year. Previously to studying… MORE >

                       

Mirella Kreder

Mirella Kreder graduated with a Diploma in International Business Administration in 2006, became a certified European Dialogue Marketing Manager and is at the moment finishing her Masters (Sc.) degree in Business Psychology. Has over 13 years of experience in the energy sector, national and cross-border, due to working for the… MORE >