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Mediation Resolves Long-running Dispute
FrontLines - November 2009
By Karima Rhanem
In Morocco's capital, a dispute simmered between the Rabat Bar Association and its insurance provider regarding which organization was responsible for collecting insurance premiums for the lawyers' families. All of Rabat's lawyers and their families were left uninsured for 18 months due to the disagreement.
The bar association had agreed to collect the payments but did not reliably pass on the payments to the insurance company, and some lawyers didn't pay. The insurance company let this go on for years without addressing the problem. When new management took over the insurance company, they refused to reimburse the lawyers for medical expenses since the premiums had not been fully paid. This left the lawyers and their families suddenly without coverage-with no advance notification.
With the health care of about 4,000 people on the line, two lawyers decided that alternative dispute resolution was worth a try. In Morocco, where resolution of a case in the overburdened commercial courts can take up to 700 days, mediation is an attractive out-of-court option.
The two men-Omar El Farissi and Tarik Mossadek-met at a USAID-sponsored commercial mediation training program. The agreement they helped to mediate is Morocco's first commercial mediation of note.
The mediation skills Farissi and Mossadek learned in the sessions paid off. Their compromise addresses the concerns of both sides: the bar association will pay the lawyers' premiums and set up a working group to collect the additional premiums from lawyers' families on the insurance company's behalf. In exchange, reinstated coverage will be retroactive.
The contractual relationship was renewed in 2008.
"The experience of mediating the dispute taught me that a solution always exists," Farissi said. "I have learned to bring people together and foster an environment of trust, which gives people the confidence to think calmly and logically."
The USAID-supported training sessions were organized by Development Alternatives Inc., the Search for Common Ground (SFCG), and a local organization as part of the Agency's Improving the Business Climate in Morocco program. The Rabat Center for International Mediation and Arbitration is also working with USAID to develop a cadre of certified mediators and to increase awareness of alternative forms of dispute resolution.
Staff from USAID's office in Morocco contributed to this article.
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