Tamil Nadu National Law University (“TNNLU”) has always considered Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) as a pivotal dispute resolution mechanism and in pursuance of that, it hosted the 1st TNNLU National Med-Arb Competition in collaboration with NaniPalkhivala Arbitration Centre(“NPAC”), Chennaifrom 8th to 10th of March 2019. The Competition was a distinct hybrid of Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism aims at nurturing the upcoming members of the Indian legal fraternity. The Competition consisted of two separate rounds of Mediation and Arbitration.
The event was inaugurated by the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr Kamala Sankaran on the 8th of March 2019 in the presence of faculty In-charge Ms DeepikaSivakumar and other faculties of the University. This was followed by the Draw of Lots and Exchange of Memorials by the participating teams. The following teams participated in the competition-
- Alliance School of Law, Bengaluru;
- Christ University, Bangalore;
- DamodaramSanjivayya National Law University, Vizag;
- Llyod Law College, Noida;
- NMIMS School of Law, Mumbai;
- School of Excellence in Law, Chennai;
- Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad;
- Symbiosis Law School, Noida;
- Symbiosis Law School, Pune; and
- VM Sagolkar College of Law, Goa
The preliminary rounds began on the 9th of March 2019. Two rounds of prelims took place so each team had to portray the role of Client-Counsel in the Mediation rounds will become the Counsels in the Arbitration rounds. The participant portraying the role of a mediator in the mediation rounds became the arbitrator in the Arbitration Rounds. The participant portraying the role of mediator/arbitrator has also to prepare an arbitral award. The prelims rounds were judged by faculty members of TNNLU, practising lawyers and experts in Arbitration and Senior Advocates from Madras High Court.
The rounds went on for two days and the final mediation rounds were judged by Ms Uma Ramanathan, Mr Vijaykrishnan and Ms Pushya Sitaraman, on the other hand, the final arbitration rounds were Judged by Mr N L Rajah, Senior Advocate, Madras High Court and Founding Director of NPAC, Inbavijayan Veeraraghavan FICA, FCIArb (UK), Founder Clove Global and Ms.Priyadarshini Natarajan, Advocate, Madras High Court.
The Valedictory Ceremony was organised in the august presence of Mr N L Rajah, Senior Advocate, Madras High Courtand Founding Director of NPAC; Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr Kamala Sankaran and Ms DeepikaSivakumar, faculty-in-charge of the organising committee.
Further, Symbiosis Law School, Noida was adjudged as the Best Med-Arb team and the award for best client and counsel pair was awarded to Alliance School of Law, Bengaluru. The first runner up award in Med-Arb category was awarded to Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad and in Client-Counsel category was awarded to Symbiosis Law School, Noida. Also, the best memorial award was given to School of Excellence in Law, Chennai.
Additionally, best Med-Arb team and best client counsel team out of preliminary rounds was awarded to Alliance School of Law, Bengaluru and Christ University, Bangalore respectively.
