Labor Courts Mediation Clinic

The costs of civil litigation is soaring and the legal community, much as the work-world, is opting for a wider palette of strategic dispute resolution strategies. The practice of arbitration and mediation is becoming a common phenomenon, though it is more popular in the family courts than it is in other areas of the law. The labor courts, in an attempt to facilitate the legal procedures, have developed a route of "fast hearings" by adopting the ADR methods. These hearings are not subordinated to the compulsory rules and legal procedures in a court of law, but rather enjoy the flexibility of acting in the most suitable way of resolving disputes between employers and employees in a just yet quick manner. Such cases are referred to this "fast track", which is inclined to assist both parties in resolving their dispute by mediation and conciliation in an attempt to reach an agreed compromise. The students participating in this clinic acquire the basic mediation tools in addition to legal knowledge as to fundamental labor law: black-letter law, court decisions and legal literature. In their field work the students, supervised by both a judge and an academic instructor, handle these cases independently. This experience exposes the students to the reality and hardships of employees and enables them to master and create new mediation techniques. In the classroom the students and the academic staff member reflect on their field work and develop a critical view of the labor court, the work world and the shortcomings of the law itself. The written assignment (a 10 page paper by the end of the term) is the theoretical analysis of these observations.

For Further Information, contact us at:

Prof. Mordehai Mironi | 04-8249536 mmironi@law.haifa.ac.il