In an exciting all-woman final at the 16th ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition, New Zealand’s University of Auckland emerged victorious against Bulgaria’s University of Sofia. The University of New South Wales closely followed in third place. The National University of Singapore, the winner of 2020 APCMC, was also awarded ‘Best Team Work between Counsel and Client’. 48 university teams were selected to compete in 100 mock mediation sessions from 5 to 11 February 2021 in this globally-renowned competition.
The final dispute concerned a small textile manufacturer and a distribution company specialising in tourist products and was based on a real-world case written by Competition professional, Alain Roy. This is thrilling news for the ADC as Auckland University, the winner of the APCMC in 2019, and the National University of Singapore, the winner of the APCMC in 2020, have both achieved excellent results in this year’s ICC.
Britney Clasper and Bronwyn Wilde represented Auckland in the final mediation. Reflecting on her team’s success, Ms Wilde said: “ICCMW is a truly international competition which requires you to adapt your skills to unique styles and cultural differences. It is a rare experience, and I would encourage anyone to give it a go”. Other Auckland University team members were Arianna Bacic and Andrew O’Malley Shand, and the team was coached by Matthew Jackson and Isabelle Kwek.
Australia’s UNSW team also performed strongly in reaching the semi-finals of this illustrious competition. Coached by Dr Rosemary Howell since 2006, UNSW has consistently reached the final rounds in all but 3 years and were winners of the competition in 2016 and 2018. Both UNSW and Auckland University have been strong performers in the ADC’s own Asia-Pacific Mediation Competition (APCMC) in the past.
As the winner of the ADC-ICC APCMC 2021 gains a reserved place to compete in the ICC competition in 2022, we are looking forward to seeing what fantastic results 2022 will bring!