LSU Law students have many opportunities to learn and practice professional lawyering skills. Our Clinics, Field placements, and Simulation Courses are all designed to prepare students for practice.
On April 4, the Civil Mediation Clinic teamed up with both Legal Negotiations Simulation Course sections to conduct a mediation simulation of a serious personal injury case. Mediators Dakota Hawkins (3L) and Carson Garand (3L) assisted Plaintiff Attorney Sara Kuebel (3L) and her client Lenzi Hebert (3L) reach a settlement with Defense Attorney Stefan Neubig (3L) and Insurance Adjuster Jessica Thomas (3L).
This exercise was a full-blown mediation conference with confidential Position Papers, opening statements in a Joint Session, and “shuttle diplomacy” negotiations utilizing numerous caucus sessions (private meetings) between each side and the mediators. The student negotiators were exposed to the practice of preparing themselves and their respective clients for a mediation conference, the structure of a mediation, and the persuasive and other techniques utilized by mediators to help parties reach settlements.
This is the third year of the successful collaboration of these classes.
