Bridge Mediation LLC, an international Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) company along with the Alternative Dispute Resolution Law Review (ADRLR) is hosting an essay competition for law and management students in India. The theme of the essay is “How Mediation can benefit the business community”.

The essay competition is open to both law and and management students and entries are to be sent by March 5, 2012 to essaycompetition@bridge-mediation.com. Top three submissions will be awarded cash prizes and the entries shall be published in the ADRLR.

India coordinator for Bridge Mediation and Editor-in-Chief, ADRLR, Anuroop Omkar says that both Bridge Mediation and ADRLR share a “common vision” of creating greater awarness about mediation and negotiation and that this essay competition is a direct consequence of this shared vision. There is a common perception that mediation is “against litigation” says Omkar, when it should ideally be viewed as an “ancillary recourse to litigation for a healthier and sustainable society”.

Another reason behind supporting this competition, says Omkar, is the fact that ADR is not given its due importance in law schools despite being a part of the curriculum. According to Omkar, ADR should be made a “regular routine of law students” and should also be pushed more aggressively by Legal Aid Services around the country.

On the future plans of ADRLR, Omkar is hopeful that this competition will also generate interest in the ADRLR and encourage academic writing on ADR methods. He sees ADRLR as not only reaching out to lawyers and courts, but also to the general public who “need it the most”. While various ADR practitioners from around the world have agreed to write for the ADRLR, Omkar says that it is too early to discuss the specifics. He is hoping for the best though and sees this competition as an ideal way to generate interest in ADR mechanisims.

More information on the competition can be found here.