“Mediation Must Not Undermine Lawyers’ Livelihood”: Additional Solicitor General at Masterclass Valedictory

Lawyers must be duly respected and rewarded as mediation increasingly becomes a preferred dispute-resolution process, said Senior Advocate P. Sreekumar, Additional Solicitor General for India at the High Court of Kerala. A mediation ecosystem that respects and adequately rewards lawyers, he observed, would encourage greater acceptance of mediation, making it a stronger, more widely embraced, and mutually beneficial process. He was delivering the closing address at the sixth edition of the Mediation Masterclass, a special Faculty Development Programme edition, at Sree Narayana Law College, Poothotta.

Programmes such as the Mediation Masterclass, he noted, are important steps towards developing a comprehensive understanding of mediation and its role in the legal profession. As mediation gains increasing relevance, initiatives of this nature will help equip legal professionals to engage meaningfully with an evolving dispute-resolution landscape.

Dr Reghunathan KR, Principal of Sree Narayana Law College, presided over the closing session. Adv Rajesh C Muttath, President of The Mediation Society, Suresh M. Velayudhan, Academic Coordinator of SNLC, and Raheema AV, participant representative, addressed the gathering. Della Mariam Thomas delivered the welcome address, while Sheena Das, Course Coordinator, proposed the vote of thanks. Dr Saritha Mangayil, Adv Radhakrishnan S., Adv Joel Kenneth Johnson, and Muneera Ali were also present.

As part of the closing ceremony, the Chief Guest distributed certificates of participation to participants who successfully completed the prescribed programme requirements.

The sixth edition of the Mediation Masterclass, conducted by The Mediation Society in collaboration with Sree Narayana Law College, was designed as a foundational and intermediate-level programme exclusively for law teachers and selected postgraduate law students of SNLC. Over seven full days, participants underwent structured training in the theory, law, and practice of mediation and negotiation through lectures, workshops, simulations, group discussions, and practical exercises. The curriculum covered the context and concept of mediation, the legal framework governing mediation, mediation agreements and mediated settlement agreements, and the mediation process.

The programme was led by Adv Rajesh C Muttath, Course Director and Principal Instructor of the Mediation Masterclass. Guest faculty included Adv Sreelal Warriar, Senior MCPC Trainer, Dr Balakrishnan K, Professor at the National University of Advanced Legal Studies, and Adv Teena Cherian, Mediator at the Kerala State Mediation and Conciliation Centre. The workshop components of the programme were facilitated by Adv Radhakrishnan S, Adv Vivek AV, Adv Ameena Rafeek, Adv Pooja Venkat, and Adv Joel Kenneth Johnson.

The Mediation Masterclass has steadily evolved into a specialised capacity-building initiative to strengthen mediation education and consensual dispute-resolution competencies among legal professionals, academics, and students. Structured as a comprehensive, three-tiered, 100-hour, hands-on training programme, it seeks to equip participants to engage meaningfully with the mediation ecosystem in roles such as mediators, mediation advocates, teachers, trainers, or commentators.

The sixth edition of the programme was organised by the SNLC faculty under the stewardship of Dr Reghunathan KR and sponsored by the SNLC Management.