Arizona High School Mediation Tournament - Judge Registration

Purpose

The aim of the Arizona High School Mediation Tournament is to provide students with a hands-on understanding of mediation and the role it plays in the practice of law. Participants are trained in the various forms of mediation and practice their mediation skills in friendly competition. Over three rounds, students perform the roles of mediator, advocate and client once each.

Judge’s Role

As judge, you will be given a scorecard and asked to evaluate each student on his or her performance in each role. At the end of each competitive round you will be given an opportunity to provide constructive feedback to participants. 

Time Commitment

Rounds last 1 hour followed by 10 minutes of judges’ comments. A one-time training for judges lasts 45 minutes. You are invited to volunteer for 1 or all 4 rounds. 

Judges' schedule

Morning Shift:  8:20am - 12:30pm

Afternoon Shift: 12:00pm - 5:00pm

*Judges' training orientation is only required one time. Judges can choose from: A virtual orientation hosted prior to the tournament date and an in-person orientation the day of. If the in-person orientation is selected, volunteers will be asked to arrive earlier than the time listed above.

Scoring

Mediators are judged on their ability to work together with their co-mediator, their ability to help advocate/clients see the strengths and weaknesses of their case, their ability to stay positive and professional, their listening skills, and their ability to help guide the parties to a resolution of the case.

Advocates and clients are judged on their ability to present their case, to articulate their strengths and weaknesses, and to work with the mediators toward a solution while also meeting their needs and interests.

Location

This event will be hosted in-person at the Florence Community Library in Florence, AZ.

History

When Dick Calkins was Dean of Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa, he started the American Mock Trial Association and initiated college mock trial tournaments, expanding to high schools and middle schools across the nation. Once he became a mediator, Dick and some fellow lawyer-mediators began to wonder if mediation could be taught through this type of competition. In 2002, he founded the International Academy of Dispute Resolution to run mediation tournaments at the law school and college levels. It has grown to include multiple tournaments each year across the globe, with participants from 47 countries.

The first high school mediation tournaments were held in St Louis in 2021. 

If you are a paralegal, judge or attorney interested in volunteering, please complete your registration no later than April 17, 2023

To view the Foundation's volunteer overview video, please click here!