The MLC – Special Education Edition is a sophisticated 40-hour training program designed specifically for SELPAs and LEA Special Education Administrators, and other education-related professionals. This course offers participants a unique opportunity to learn about the mediation process in a format geared specifically toward special education cases. Taught by experienced lawyers and mediators, course participants will learn the essential skills required to negotiate effectively in challenging situations and mediate disputes. The program will focus on the various stages of the process, identifying and working with different negotiation styles, cross-cultural communication, and facilitating problem-solving regardless of whether the case involves disputes regarding placements, services, assessments, the IEP process, and more. In addition to providing mediation skills training, the program will focus on issues specific to the adversarial setting, including managing attorney advocates, the parameters of confidentiality, and concerns about discovery. It will also focus on issues of particular concern to school-based mediators, including maintaining the parent and school relationship, the proscription against dual representation, providing legal advice, conflicts of interest, drafting mediation agreements, and other ethical dilemmas.