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Hungarian mediators study at UNM

by ABIGAIL RAMIREZ, C&J 271

Learning how to use alternative dispute resolutions remains the goal of Hungarian visiting research scholar student Zsofia Drjenguszky during her semester-long stay at the University of New Mexico.

“The topic is very interesting for me to see how to solve conflicts,” said Drjenguszky, the 16th student participant. “It shows a new alternative way that is better or easier then the traditional way if you went to court or to a judge.”

The Julius Rezler Foundation gives Hungarian students the opportunity to study alternative dispute resolutions (ADR) and create mediators and arbitrators for Hungary.

“I would say that the graduate students that leave here are at the forefront of mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution in Hungary,” said Scott Hughes, professor of law at UNM School of Law, director of ADR Program, and one out of three teachers who participate in the Rezler Foundation.

According to Steve Borbas, university planner and fellow teacher participant in the Rezler Foundation, mediation and arbitration is not a widely used method in Hungary. He said this fairly new government lacks experience with ADR efforts, which causes their court systems to be overburdened with small disputes that could easily be resolved with mediation. Learning ADR skills can show Hungarians how to solve their workplace or any other problems without going to court.

“If you are aware of mediation then you can run your company differently and have much greater awareness of how to work with people, discuss differences, show respect and eliminate conflict as much as possible with an employee and the company,” Borbas said.

Every semester since 1996, the foundation chooses a Hungarian student to study ADR. Each student learns ADR through a series of courses taught at the law school and public administration. Along with mediation and arbitration courses, students also attend live arbitration debates and weekend mediation training workshops.

“I have learned a lot,” Drjenguszky said. “I know what mediation and arbitration are and the advantages of them. In my basic mediation training, we could try out how it [mediation] works in practice, and mediation trainers told us how to do a better job.”

Every May, T. Zane Reeves, Regent’s professor of public administration and head of Julius Rezler Foundation at UNM, travels to Hungary to select the two recipients. Along with a series of interviews, one of the requirements for students to be accepted into this program is to be able to speak fluent English.

The Foundation consists of two groups, one in Budapest, Hungary, made up of representatives from different Hungarian universities. The other group is located at UNM, which teaches the students the ADR process in a classroom setting and in real-life sitatuions.

The three non-paid teachers who participate in the Foundation are Reeves, Hughes, and Borbas. Hughes teaches the mediation section, Reeves teaches the arbitration section and Borbas is the student’s connection back home, since he is also from Hungary.

According to Reeves, each Hungarian student holds a college degree or is close to finishing it with a goal to achieve either a Ph.D. or a J.D. in either sociology or law.

“It’s fantastic, because all of these students are intelligent and curious,” Borbas said. “They want to learn new things and are ready for adventure.”

One adventure students experience is the style of education here, according to Reeves. In Hungary students attend classes and take notes, but are not allowed to ask the teacher questions about the subject or have any type of interaction.

Julius Rezler, a Hungarian native and founder of the program, came to the U.S. to escape a wrongfully accused arrest by the communist police. According to Reeves, a friend warned him of his arrest and Rezler fled. Reeves speculates the communist police wanted to create a show trial and accuse Rezler of being a spy due to his American half-brother.

Reeves is writing a book about Rezler’s life. Rezler is recognized as a well-known arbitrator in the U.S. An arbitrator is a non-courtroom trial selected by two parties to resolve a dispute. When Rezler died, he left more than $500,000 to fund the foundation in his will.

“They [the members of the board] really are successful at recruiting the cream of the crop,” Reeves said. “These students are young, smart and appreciative.”

Borbas said ex-participants of the program started an ADR consulting company of their own in Hungary during the last three or four months. This company is now trying to teach others ADR for their problems.

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