Note: The Mediation Clinical Seminar will satisfy the Negotiation and Leadership requirement when taken in conjunction with the Mediation Clinic.

To learn more about the Clinical Curriculum and Registration, please visit our Clinical Registration Center. You can also find more information on How to Register for Clinics and How Clinical Credits Work.

For more information about this clinic, please visit the clinic page of the HMP Website.

Required Clinic Component: Harvard Mediation Clinic (1 clinical credit). This clinic and seminar are bundled; your enrollment in the clinic will automatically enroll you in this required seminar.

Additional Co-/Pre-Requisites: Clinic students must complete the entirety of the mandatory basic mediation training program with the student-led Harvard Mediation Program (“HMP”) before or during the semester that they participate in the clinic. The HMP training is offered as a two weekend immersive experience and it is anticipated that the training dates for Fall 2025 will be: September 21-22 and October 5-6, 2025; OR  for Spring 2026 will be: February 7-8 and February 21-22, 2026. For more information regarding HMP’s basic mediation training program, including confirmed training dates, please visit the Harvard Mediation Program website. Students must be able to participate in the full four days of training (or have previously completed HMP’s basic mediation training program) to be eligible to mediate.

By Permission: No.

Add/Drop Deadline: December 12, 2025.

LLM Students: LLM students may enroll in this clinic through Helios.

This 1-credit seminar is the required classroom component for students doing work through the Mediation Clinic. Students will read and discuss works related to: the legal, procedural and practical context in which we mediate; frameworks for evaluating the quality and efficacy of our work as mediators; handling challenges to mediator neutrality, impartiality, and ethics; working with parties to prepare effective settlement agreements; and understanding the role of party-advocates in a mediation context. Some sessions will require students to present problems related to the clinical work in which they are currently engaged to the members of the class for discussion and brainstorming. Students will submit approximately five short written journal entries reflecting on their mediation experience/observations and a written mock mediation scenario.

Note: Rather than a one-hour session each week, it is anticipated that this seminar will meet for six two-hour sessions, with one meeting before the required training and the remaining five meetings in the second half of the semester, after the required training has been completed.