08.20.2007

From June 19 to 28, 2007, thirteen Jordanian judges, including the head of the Judicial Institute of Jordan and the two practicing mediation judges in Jordanian courts, traveled to the United States for a study tour focused on alternative dispute resolution.  The tour began with an intensive four-day advanced interactive training in mediation, with three experienced U.S. mediators acting as instructors, at the well known Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law.

Following the training, the Jordanian judges visited a number of mediation programs, learning from and exchanging ideas with administrators and mediators.  The judges visited the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Dispute Resolution Program, JAMS (a large private mediation firm), and the Superior Court of California Los Angeles County ADR office, where the judges observed a demonstration of the office’s computerized mediator database.

The judges also had the opportunity to observe two real mediation sessions conducted by California Academy of Mediation Professionals in the California Superior Court and to discuss the mediation process with the mediators as well as with Superior Court judges.