MG’s

1st VIMAC’24
Virtual Intl. Med-Arb Competition
MediateGuru
Sharing the gift of Mediation with the World

2024

to be held from Hosted by

17th Oct 2024 International
to University of Sarajevo
20th Oct 2024

1 Important
Dates
Launching of Med-Arb
Proposition - 4th August
2024
Last date to Register - 10th
October 2024
Submission of Memorials -
13th October 2024
Preliminary Rounds - 17th to
18th October 2024
Quarter Final and Semi Final
Round - 19th October 2024
Final Round - 20th October Why should you participate
2024
in a Med-Arb Competition
Participating in a Med-Arb competition offers a unique
blend of practical experience and skill development,
encompassing both mediation and arbitration processes.
This exposure not only enhances your negotiation and
advocacy skills but also provides a comprehensive
understanding of hybrid dispute resolution methods

Benefits Additionally, the experience gained from tackling

Engaging in such competitions allows for real-life scenarios and understanding international
significant networking opportunities with standards can greatly bolster your academic and
professionals and peers, fostering valuable professional credentials, making you a more
connections in the legal field. versatile and attractive candidate in the legal and
ADR sectors.
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MediateGuru
Sharing the gift of Mediation with the World
1st VIMAC’24

Eligibility Team Composition

To be eligible to sign up, Composition of the Team: Each participating team shall
students must be registered as consist of 3 members.
full time or part time law Each team in the Mediation Round(s) shall play the role of
students in the academic year of a Client and Advocate pair and 1 member as a Mediator.
2023-2024. Students who The team in the Arbitration Round(s) shall constitute of 2
graduated in 2024, before the Counsels and 1 member as an Observer/Researcher.
competition but no longer than 6 Requests for changes in team composition or roles should
months prior to the be communicated to the OC by 13th October 2024.
commencement of competition The roles of the members shall not be changed throughout
are still eligible to participate. the competition.

2 Rounds of the
Competition Nature of the
All the teams shall Competition
participate in both sessions
(a Mediation session All Competing Teams shall participate in the Preliminary
followed by an Arbitration Round. The Client Advocate/Counsel-Counsel pairs shall
Session) in all the rounds. advance separately, and the Mediators shall advance
separately.
Structure of Rounds: The Top 8 Client-Advocate/Counsel-Counsel pairs and Top 8
Preliminary Rounds Mediators from the Preliminary Rounds shall participate in
Quarter Final Rounds the Quarter Final Rounds.
Semi-Final Rounds All the Rounds from the Quarter Final Rounds shall be
knockout rounds. The Quarter Final Round shall have a total
Finals
of 4 rounds.

Example: Aditya and Bobby are the Client- Advocate/Counsel- Counsel Pair of Team A and shall
be competing against Team B, composed of Leslie and Chen. The Mediators are Cyril and Nissan,
belonging to Team C and D, respectively.
The qualifying client-advocate/counsel-counsel pair shall be determined based on which team
obtains the highest cumulative score in that round alone.
The cumulative score is a total of the scores obtained by the Client Advocate/Counsel- Counsel pairs
in the Mediation and Arbitration Session.
The Mediator shall qualify based on who scores the highest individual in the Mediation Session. The
Higher scoring mediator shall qualify to the Semi Final round.
The Highest Scoring Client-Advocate/Counsel-Counsel pairs and The Highest Scoring Mediator in their
respective Quarter Final round shall participate in the Semi-Final Round.
The Highest Scoring Client-Advocate/Counsel-Counsel pairs and The Highest Scoring Mediator in their
respective Semi-Final round shall participate in the Final Round.
The Round Structure may be changed at any point before the start of the competition at the
discretion of the organisers. The changes, if any, shall be communicated to the participants as
required.
This knockout system shall apply to all sessions in each round of the Competition excluding the
Preliminary Rounds.
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Registration Process
Each team shall register to the competition by filling in their details in the following link.
Please note this will be the link for Preliminary Registration -
https://forms.gle/jEFWwYU8jnfWCBE67
On receipt of the duly filled Preliminary registration form the organization shall respond to the
participating team, acknowledging the receipt and mentioning the step to conclude Final
Registration. Each team will have 3 days to conclude their Final Registration, after
communication of Successful Preliminary Registration.
After successful Final registration, the Governing Council shall respond to each registered
team before 1 month of the commencement of the competition, with a unique team code,
which shall be used to identify the teams during the competition.

3 Registration
Fees Code of Conduct
The registration fee for the for 1st VMAC’24
competition is
Rs. 4000/- per team (For The official language of the Competition shall be English. The
Indian Participants) Participating Teams should mention only their allotted Team
£ 70/- per team (For United Codes for the purpose of communication with Judges/Organizers.
Kingdom Participants) The identity of the Participating Team or the name of their
€ 70/- per team (For European University shall not be disclosed to any other person during the
Union Participants) course of the competition in any form other than to the OC,
$ 70/- per team (for any other whether directly or indirectly. In addition, sporting any visible or
foreign team not mentioned distinguishable badges/ card/ uniform by any participant which
provides an opportunity of inferring/ disclosing their identity or the
above)
identity of the Law College/ University being represented, is strictly
forbidden.

Anti-Scouting: The teams shall uphold the integrity of the Competition at all times and any form of
scouting, disclosure of confidential information or any other unethical/unprofessional conduct is strictly
barred; the practice of the same shall result in immediate disqualification of the team. Any attempt to
obtain confidential information or any other information from the other parties or participants, which
may give the team an unfair advantage in the competition, will result in immediate expulsion of the team.
Participating Teams will not be allowed to observe the Sessions of any other team(s) taking part in any
event excluding the Final Rounds of the Event. Scouting shall result in immediate disqualification and any
decision taken by the Governing Council in consonance with OC Committee in this regard shall be final
and binding upon the Participating Team(s).

4 Dress
Code
All the participants are to adhere to Western Formals/Business Formals style of dressing. The
OC reserves the right to disqualify any team for misconduct during the competition. In case of
doubts, the decision of Governing Council shall be final.
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Release of Confidential Information

Confidential information for each Mediation round shall be released
30 minutes before the Mediation session for the Preliminary and Quarter Final Rounds.
40 minutes before the Mediation Session for the Semi-Final Round.
50 minutes before the Mediation Session for the Final Round.

Participants are strictly instructed to keep the contents of the Confidential Information
exclusively to themselves. Any violation of this rule shall result in immediate disqualification. In
this regard, the discretion of the Governing Council shall be final.

5 Time
Allotments Mediation Session
For Mediation Session - 45 Structure of the Mediation Session
minutes in total
For Arbitration Session - A Mediation Session will consist of 2 Co-Mediators and 2 Client-
45 minutes in total Advocate teams from different teams. One team will represent the
Note: There will be a 5 minute Requesting Party, while the other team will represent the
break in between the Responding Party. In a team, the Client-Advocates of the Mediation
Mediation Session and the Round(s) shall become Counsels for the Arbitration Round(s). The
Arbitration Session during Mediator becomes the researcher/observer subsequent to the
which teams are required to Mediation Round, for the Arbitration Round. The Client-Advocate
prepare for the forthcoming Team will represent the side allocated to them by the Organising
Committee. The sides and the co- mediator shall be intimated to
Round of Arbitration.
the Participants prior to the rounds.

lllustration - In a particular court hall, Team ‘A’ Client-Advocate act as Requesting Party in Mediation
and Team ‘B’ Client Advocate acts as the Responding Party in Mediation, competing against each
other. Co-Mediators/Researchers from Team ‘C’ and Team ‘D’, respectively, will act as Co-Mediators
for Team ‘A’ and Team ‘B’ in the court hall.

6 Caucus

Mediators will have the opportunity to call for one or multiple Caucuses during each Mediation
Session. A Caucus, throughout the round, may last a maximum of 10 minutes. It is the
discretion of the Mediators to call for a Caucus. While one team is participating in the Caucus,
the other team will be asked to leave the Virtual Breakout room by a member of the Organising
Committee (OC) of the Governing Council for a specific period of time after which they will be
requested to enter the Room again. The Team that is not a part of the caucus must not disturb
the other team during their caucus and this shall be strictly monitored by the Organising
Committee Member.
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Brief Time Allotments

for Mediation Session for Arbitration Session
Meditation Session: 45 minutes + 2 Minutes Arbitration Session: 40 Minutes + 6 minutes
for post discussion and evaluation for Rebuttals and Sur- Rebuttals in total
· Opening Statement of Mediators (5 Each Party will not be permitted to
Minutes) speak for more than 23 minutes
· Opening Statement of Client-Advocate including rebuttals and Rebuttals.
Team (3 Minutes each) The time split among the speakers for
· Caucuses and Conference (25 minutes) each team (not exceeding 23 minutes
· Closing Statement of Client-Advocate per team) may be decided amongst
Teams (3 Minutes each) · Closing Statement themselves and intimated to the
of Co-Mediators (3 Minutes) Organising Committee member at the
· Post- Mediation Session (2 Minutes) beginning of the Round.

The time splits shall apply to all the competition rounds.

7 Time
Keeping Arbitration Session
The Organising Committee Structure of the Arbitration Session
Member supervising the An Arbitration Session shall include 2 or 3 Arbitrators depending on
session shall be the official the rounds of the competition, 4 Counsels (2 from each
timekeeper. Teams have the participating side). The Team representing the Requesting Party in
responsibility to adhere to the the Mediation Session of that round shall be the Claimant in the
time limit. Participants must Arbitration Session. The team representing the Responding party
note that they can only speak in the Mediation Session of that round shall be the Respondent in
for the allotted time limit, as the Arbitration Session. The Judges will play the role of Arbitrators.
mentioned above. The Participants may be required to deal with certain designated issues
Organising Committee during the rounds. The participants must nevertheless be prepared
member shall notify teams with the entire case. The mediators in the Mediation Session of
about the remaining time that round shall act as observers in the same court hall for the
during the round. arbitration session.

Written Submissions
for the Arbitration Session
Teams are required to draft written submissions for the Requesting Party (claimant in the arbitration
session) as well as the Responding Party (respondent in the arbitration session). The last date to submit the
written submissions is 13th October 2024. All the participants are requested to submit a soft copy of both
the written submissions in PDF and Word format to [email protected].
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Guidelines
for Written Submissions
Each Participating Team shall prepare Memorials on behalf of the Claimants (Statement of
Claims) and Respondents (Statement of Defence) between 10-20 pages. Each Memorial
should be maximum of 20 pages.

Any changes made to the soft copies after submission and subsequently produced during
the rounds will be disqualified. The decision of the Governing Council would be final in this
regard.

Format of Submission
Each of the memorials should contain all of, and only, the following components in the
following order:
1. Cover page
2. Table of Contents
3. Index of Authorities
4. Statement of Jurisdiction
5. Statement of Facts
6. Issues Raised
7. Summary of Arguments
8. Arguments Advanced/ Pleadings
9. Prayer

Formatting Guidelines
The page must have 1-inch margins from all sides.
The text font and size for the written submissions must be Times New Roman, size 12 with
1.5 line spacing with justified alignment for the text.
The footnote style to be followed is the 20th Edition Bluebook Citation and the text font of
the footnotes must be Times New Roman, size 10 with 1.0 line spacing, margin of 1-inch to
be used and the text must be justified.
There must be no other additional space between two footnotes. Character spacing should
not be condensed in any manner.
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Scorecard for Mediation Session

for Mediator

Criteria of Maximum Marks

Evaluation Marks Alloted

Opening Statement 10

Establishing
professional 10
relationship with the
parties

Identifying key issues 10

of the dispute

Propose creative 10
settlement properties

Ability to contribute to
an effective process 10
and outcome

Effective use of
conference and caucus 10

Closing Statement 10

Post session, Self-

evaluation of the 10
dialogue

Code of conduct and

control of the session 10

Understanding the
needs and interests of 10
the parties

Total 100
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Sharing the gift of Mediation with the World
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Scorecard for Mediation Session

for Client

Criteria of Maximum Marks

Evaluation Marks Alloted

Client opening 10
statement

Teamwork between
advocate and client 10

Caucus 10

Conference 10

Willingness to reach 10
an amicable solution

Strategic use of facts

and confidential 10
information

Generating and
selecting creative 10
solutions

Relationship building 10
and problem solving

Closing statement 10

Post session self- 10

evaluation of dispute

Total 100
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Sharing the gift of Mediation with the World
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Scorecard for Mediation Session

for Counsel

Criteria of Maximum Marks

Evaluation Marks Alloted

Advocate opening 10
statement

Teamwork between
advocate and client 10

Caucus 10

Conference 10

Willingness to reach 10
an amicable solution

Strategic use of facts

and confidential 10
information

Advocating client’s 10
interest

Relationship building 10
and problem solving

Closing statement 10

Post session self- 10

evaluation of dispute

Total 100
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Sharing the gift of Mediation with the World
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Scorecard for Arbitration Session

for Counsel

Criteria of Maximum Marks

Evaluation Marks Alloted
Knowledge of facts
and evidence on 10
record

Proper articulation of
issues 10

Knowledge of law 10

Interpretation and
application 10

Skill of advocacy 10

Persuasiveness and
response to question 10

Use of authorities in 10
persuading arbitrators

General impression 10
and mannerism

Identification of issues 10

Nature of relief sort 10

Total 100
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MediateGuru
Sharing the gift of Mediation with the World
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Scoring Criteria
For Mediators For Client-Advocate
(also acting as Counsel-Counsel for
The mediator scores obtained in the Arbitration)
Mediation session in the Preliminary Round
shall be ranked and the top 8 Mediators shall The cumulative score obtained in the
qualify for the Quarter Final Round, and the Mediation and Arbitration Session in the
highest scoring mediator from each session Preliminary round shall be ranked and the
shall qualify for the subsequent round. In case top 8 pairs shall qualify to the Quarter
of a tie, whoever has scored higher under Round.
criteria 3 of the Mediator Scoresheet shall be From the Quarter Final round, the highest
considered to break the tie, in case of a scoring team from each session shall qualify
further tie, criteria 4 shall be considered, if for the subsequent round. In case of a tie,
such a tie persists, criteria 10 shall be whoever has scored higher under criteria 2
considered to break the tie. of the Client Advocate Scoresheet shall be
The decision of the Judges shall be final and awarded the round, in case of a further tie,
binding on the participants, no disputes with criteria 7 of the Marking criteria shall be
regard to the scores shall be entertained by used, in case the tie further persists, criteria
the Governing Council and any such practice 6 of the Marking Criteria for the client and
shall lead to immediate disqualification of the advocate shall be used to break the tie.
team.

8 Best Preliminary
Team
Awards
for 1st VMAC’24
The highest scoring team from
Participation Certificate will be given to all the participants. In the
the Preliminary Rounds of both,
advanced rounds, starting from Quarter Finals till the Finals,
Mediation and Arbitration, shall
be adjudged as the Best Certificate of Merit would be provided.
Preliminary Team. The total of all
the scores obtained, by the three Following awards will be distributed during the Valedictory
members of a team, shall be ceremony:
calculated for this purpose. Best preliminary med-arb team
Best Mediator/Arbitrator
Second best mediator

9
Best Med-arb Client advocate team
Clarifications for Second best Med-Arb Client Advocate team
competition Best memorial
For any clarifications, regarding
the problem or the conduct of the Note:
competition, teams are a. E-Certificates for participation will be sent through email within 1
requested to mail their queries month of the declaration of result
and concerns to the GC at: b. Separate E- Certificates will be provided to the Semi-Finalists,
[email protected] by 12th Runners-up and Winners.
October 2024.
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Grievance Redressal/Dispute Resolution

All grievances are to be addressed to the Governing Council by sending an email to
[email protected], within one hour of the occurrence of the dispute/grievance. Non
compliance with this requirement will amount to a waiver of the dispute and subsequent
filing of such grievance, post the time allotted, will not be entertained. Decisions on all
grievances shall be taken by the OC members and such decisions shall be final and binding on
all participants.

Amendments made to the Policy

All participants must take note of the fact that the OC members holds the power to make
amendments to this Policy, from time to time. It is the duty of the participants to remain
informed of the updated Policy of the GC. The decision of the OC members, along with the
advice of the Governing Council, shall be final and binding for matters not mentioned in the
Policy
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MediateGuru
Sharing the gift of Mediation with the World
1st VIMAC’24

Objective behind 1st VIMAC’24

The primary objectives behind organizing the Med-Arb competition are to provide participants
with practical exposure to hybrid dispute resolution mechanisms, enhance their skills in both
mediation and arbitration, and foster a deeper understanding of the integration of these
processes. By simulating real-life scenarios, the competition aims to develop critical thinking,
problem-solving abilities, and effective negotiation and advocacy skills among participants.
Additionally, it seeks to create a platform for networking and knowledge exchange among
students, professionals, and academics, thereby contributing to the growth and development of
future ADR practitioners. The competition also aspires to promote awareness and understanding
of international standards and practices in Med-Arb, preparing participants for the global
landscape of dispute resolution.

10 What you’ll
gain About MediateGuru
Skill Enhancement Our story
Supporting Academic In the era of increasing legal disputes driven by diverse and
Growth growing populations, the high costs and prolonged timelines
Fostering Professional associated with traditional court proceedings are often prohibitive
for many individuals seeking justice. Recognizing these challenges,
Networks
our mission is to provide accessible and efficient alternatives to
Practical Learning
litigation through mediation and arbitration.
ExperienceEncouraging
Innovation in Dispute Our objectives include bridging the gap between different
Resolution community classes and professional mediators, thereby enhancing
Enhancing Career access to dispute resolution services and promoting social
Prospects awareness. To achieve this, we organize various conferences,
webinars, and landmark competitions in mediation, negotiation,
Cultivating Ethical
and arbitration, fostering knowledge exchange and skill
Practices development among participants.

11 Contact Us

In case of any query please contact:

Kindly refer to below mentioned (in this order):
Ms. Garima Rana (Event Coordinator)
+91 8800 474 226
[email protected]
Mr. Aditya Mathur Register by Scanning QR Code
+91 8447 919 954
[email protected]
/ MediateGuru