Greetings Everyone!
Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur welcomes you to the 1st MNLU-N National Commercial Mediation Competition, 2023 (Virtual) live blog. The competition commences on the 14th of April 2023, under the guidance of our Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) Vijender Kumar in collaboration with our Payments Partner, State Bank of India; our Effort Partner, AK & Partners; our Knowledge Partner, IAMC, Hyderabad; and our Media Partners, SCC Online and Eastern Book Company.
This year the competition will be conducted virtually. The ADR Society is proud to host the 32 teams from the premier law institutions of the country in the competition.
The event shall comprise 5 rounds, which are two preliminary, Quarterfinals, followed by Semi-Finals, and the Final round.
The theme of the Competition – IPR and Cyber Laws
The theme of the competition was designed, considering the expansion of transactions which is resulting in a significant increase in the likelihood of intellectual property (IP) disputes that transcend national borders.
DAY 1: 14th April 2023 (Friday)
4:00 PM – Commencement of the Inaugural Ceremony
We have the honour of officially welcoming you to the 1st edition of the MNLU-N National Commercial Mediation Competition, 2023 (Virtual), the flagship ADR event of Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur. We are honoured to have with us our Patron-In-Chief, Prof. (Dr.) Vijender Kumar, the Vice Chancellor of MNLU, Nagpur and the Chief Guest for the Ceremony; Patrons, Dr Ashish Dixit, the Registrar of the University and Dr C. Ramesh Kumar, Deputy Registrar; and, Dr Ragini Khubalkar, Faculty Advisor to the ADR Society.
4:16 – NCMC declared open by our respected Vice-Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) Vijender Kumar
As accentuated by the Hon’ble Vice Chancellor sir, the ADR Society was founded in the year 2018 with the solemn aim to help propagate the various methods of Alternative Disputes Resolution, the ADR Society has had a history filled with both efforts and achievements. The Society has been organising intra-University ADR competitions and training sessions, the Society was the proud organiser of the National rounds of the Louis M. Brown and Forrest S. Mosten International Client Consultation Competition in 2019. The Society has also organised other crucial events including seminars on mediation and guest lectures by luminaries in the field.
The University nurtured the dream of having this one-of-a-kind competition during the inception of the Society. The pandemic derailed our plans, but here we are with the very first MNLU-N NCMC which we plan on conducting in the physical mode in the coming editions.
4:20 – Orientation Session of the Participants
The participants were briefed about the procedural and technical modalities concerning the competition. It was reiterated that the Client Counsel Pair in the Negotiating Team must switch roles across both Preliminary Rounds. A technical briefing of the participants about the usage of Cisco WebEx platform was made, following which all the concerns and the queries of the participants were addressed in a Question & Answer Session.
Day 2: 15 April 2023 (Saturday)
9: 30 AM – Judges Briefing
The proficient drafting team of ADR Society has successfully started the judges briefing by explaining the crucial details for Preliminary Round 1.
The Mediation Room Masters are ready. 
Confidential information for Preliminary Round I is shared with the participants.
10:00 AM – 11: 30 AM – Preliminary Round I
The rounds have begun.
Bench 2
Mediator (TC 26): Mediation is like playing a guitar…There are going to be no victors vanquished.
Client (TC 03): I suffered a panic attack and broke my leg.
Counsel (TC 03): Calm down, Mr. Andrew!!!
Mediator (TC 26): Peace cannot be obtained by force; it can be done only by Bench understanding the spirit.
Counsel (TC 03): We should go from the Macros to the Micros.
Client (TC 13): Andrew, I lied, I lied in my opening remarks. He/him are not my pronouns.
Counsel (TC 03): Stock Market does not wait for anyone.
Bench 4
Counsel (TC 26): Ideas are not patentable, expressions are.
Mediator (TC 4): I wanted to do a quick reality check. Rome was not built in a day.
Bench 5
Client (TC 7): I got attached to a hobbit. Please don’t reveal my gender identity.
Bench 9
Counsel (TC 22): The show must go on.
Bench 11
Mediator (TC 29): Compared the Mediation session to a “romantic talking stage”.
Bench 13
Mediator (TC 20): Our role shall be to guide (teams) who is the mario to their princess peach, which is a positive outcome of this mediation session.
Bench 14
Mediator (TC 32): Just like we pass batons in a Relay race, similarly we need to give each party an opportunity to explain their points without interrupting the opposite party.
Mediator (TC 18): Dholak analogy was given for introducing the parties to mediation.
Mediator (TC 32): Just like a rallying race, the parties are the participants and the mediators are just the organizers who can help the parties to know the track but the parties have to run themselves to reach the finish line.
12:00 PM – Judges Briefing
Judges Briefing for Preliminary Round II has begun.
Confidential Information for Preliminary Round II has been shared with the teams.
12:30 PM – 2:00 PM Preliminary Round II
The rounds have begun – Lost in the Plane Sight.
Bench 2
Mediator (TC 10): Think like we are waiters and yourselves as customer at a Sandwich store. We have complete control over the kind of bread, you want the kind of meat and the kind of vegetables.
My job is simply here to serve you talking about me, kind of hunger.
Bench 14
Mediator (TC 27): Mediation is like flying an airplane. Parties being pilots and mediators being cabin crew. I hope that they reach their “Final Destination.”
It’s not the requesting party v. responding party. It’s us against the issues.
Client (TC 3): As soon as I wake up daily, I see the upset faces of my employees and that breaks my heart. I regret the war nature had with us in the form of a pandemic.
Requesting Party (TC 3): Restructure the whole agreement.
Responding Party (TC 27): Can’t go as per your whims.
Bench 15
Mediator (TC 28): Mediation is like a Rubik’s Cube.
3:00 PM – Announcement of Teams Proceeding to Quarter-Finals
3:45 PM – Judges Briefing
Judges Briefing for Quarter-Final Rounds have begun.
We’re honored to have the following as judges for the Quarter-Final Rounds –
- Adv. Apurva De
- Adv. Rahul Bangde
- Ishita Batra
- Richa Bhargava
- Soham Panchamiya
- Zahra Padamsee
- Sharbani Rout
- Kavita Bhargava
Confidential Information for Quarter Final Rounds has been shared with the teams.
4:45 PM – 6:15 PM Quarter-Final Rounds
The Quarter-Final Rounds have begun.
Client (TC 09): It is ironical for me to be compromising considering that a while ago you were asking me to be comfortable with accusation.
Counsel (TC09): We feel we are going into circles.
Client (TC 23): Not negotiate out of fear, not fear to Negotiate.
Client (TC 25): Have to catch a flight, please wrap up this session asap!
7:00 PM Announcement of Teams Proceeding to Semi-Finals
DAY 3: 16th April 2023 (Sunday)
9:30 AM – Judges Briefing
Judges Briefing for Semi-Final Rounds have begun.
We’re honored to have the following as judges for the semi-finals round:
- Gauri Venkatraman, Managing Advocate, Gauri Venkatraman & Associates, Advocates
- Himanshu Deora, Partner, King Stubb & Kasiva
- Rukmani Menon, Director, CAMP Mediation
- Shanta Chellappa, Director, CAMP Mediation
- Sudhir Voditel, Advocate, High Court of Bombay (Nagpur Bench)
- Upasana Singh, Founder and CEO, Accords International (AcIn)
Confidential Information for Semi-Final Rounds has been shared with the teams.
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Semi-Final Rounds
TC09 Client: Do you think Metalens exploiting a 23 year old is a good precedent set for the company?
M04: Now let’s address the elephant in the room, or should I say, the ‘Ape’.
TC 23 Counsel – These are futuristic offers and you need to have a broader mindset.
2:15 PM – Announcement of Teams Proceeding to Final Rounds
2:15 PM – 3:00 PM – Judges Briefing
Judges briefing for the Final Round has begun.
We’re honored to have the following as judges for the Final Round:
- Hon’ble Justice Pratibha Singh, Delhi High Court
- Dr. Anjan De, Senior Advocate, High Court of Bombay (Nagpur Bench)
- Gayathri Kalia, Executive Director and CEO, CAMP Mediation.
Confidential Information for the Final Round has been shared with the teams.
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM – Finals
The Final Round comprising 90 minutes was followed up by a feedback session by the esteemed panel.
5:00-6-00 PM Closing Ceremony
The results were announced by Dr. Chamarti Ramesh Kumar, Dr Anjan De, and Ms. Gayathri Kalia. The following are the results:
Winner (Negotiating Pair): Army Institute of Law, Mohali
Winner (Mediator): National Law University, Jodhpur
Runner-up (Negotiating Pair): O.P Jindal University
Runner-up (Mediator): University Institute of Legal Studies, Chandigarh
Best Negotiating Pair in Preliminary Rounds: O.P Jindal University
Best Mediator in Preliminary Rounds: National Law University, Jodhpur
