2nd National Mediation Competition and 4th National Client Counselling Competition (DAY 1)

IMS Unison University’s 2^nd National Mediation Competition and 4^th National Client Counselling Competition started off, in all its glory on 7^th October 2021.

The competition was inaugurated by the blessings and insights of Dean School of Law, Prof.(Dr.) R.N. Sharma. He highlighted the importance of mediation with the slogan , “ Adalat me jane se pehle mil to le” which brings out the theme of mediation i.e meeting of aggrieved parties before treading inside the Courtroom. He then enlightened the participants with the overview of the Client Counselling competition and apprised the participants with importance of being proficient in the activity of client counseling as a law student.  He mentioned that the participants should have the ability to interview and understand the client.

Thereafter, the students were enlightened by the Guest of Honour, Sr. Adv. N. Deepa Narayanan. She commenced her address by emphasising the importance of properly counselling a client in the legal profession. She advised the participants to open-up with the client to make them feel comfortable and gain their trust. She the emphasised on the importance of mediation and quoted that, “ounce of mediation is better than pound of litigation“. She pinpointed the skills required to be an astute mediator and the ways to arrive at a settlement.

Afterwards, Prof. (Dr.) Gurdip Singh Bahri, Chancellor, IMS Unison University, showered his words of wisdom. He not only elaborated the utility of Alternate Dispute Mechanism at National level but also at international level. He opined that the win-win situation of both parties and the paramount importance given to the interest of the clients are the main facets of ADR. Almost as a ritual his address was full of anecdotes from his personal life experiences which made his address a delight to be heard.

Eventually, the Inaugural was concluded by a courteous vote of thanks by Ms. Sarita (Faculty Co-Convener). Her encouraging words filled the event with gusto.

The National Mediation Competition was enriched by the participation of 20 teams, few of which were University of Mumbai Law Academy, National Law University, Nagpur, Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, University Institute of Legal Studies, Punjab. Subsequently, the judges were briefed by the conveners and the teams got ready for the preliminary round A and B which commenced at 11:30 AM and 12:30 PM respectively. The participants manifested their zeal and zest by showcasing their intellectual and social skills to reach at an amicable settlement. Day 1 of Mediation competition came to an end with the declaration of the results of preliminary rounds.

The National Client Counselling Competition began with the preliminary rounds at 2:00 PM, where 24 participating teams sprang into action with the clients. Some of the 24 teams participating in the competition are Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Christ Academy Institute of law, Tamil Nadu national Law university, National Law University Orissa, NMIMS School of law Navi, Mumbai, Rajiv Gandhi National Law university, Himachal Pradesh national Law university, Amity law school Noida, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, VIT school of law Chennai, UPES Dehradun. Symbiosis Law School Hyderabad. Our respected judges kept the teams and the clients on their heels by grilling them with their questions. The teams showed extraordinary will power as they faced the challenging and crafty problems. After the ebullient first rounds the judges enlisted their respective markings. At the end of the day the results for the semi-final rounds were compiled and communicated to the teams.