In a world in which the vast majority of conflicts are solved outside of the court, or in negotiations during court proceedings, this novel Clinic, led by advocate, mediator and social worker Dana Feinreich-Gilo, aims to utilize the tools of ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) in order to promote the rights of matginalized communities and empower them.

The formal legal process is characterized in many cases by structural failures and barriers such as high financial costs, and procedural constraints, and most importantly – it does not address the roots of the dispute. The judicial decision, therefore, often does not bring the conflict to “a real” solution. These barriers are especially disadvantaging for people from marginalized communities who have limited control over the legal process and suffer further silencing within it.

On the background of these challenges, ADR – in its different forms: mediation, negotiation, arbitration, etc – has developed and is becoming increasingly popular. The Clinic seeks to take these tools and direct them specifically in order to promote human rights and empower marginalized communities. In order to do so, before the beginning of the school year, all students in the clinic participate in a mediation course, and at the end of it are certified mediators.

The clinic is accompanied by an academic seminar taught by Prof. Orna Rabinovich Eini, with the dual goal of, first providing the participants with theoretical tools to examine the procedures in which they engage in in their practical work; and second, as a forum for critically examining and refining the theories in light of their experience.