Disputes are a normal part of commercial life, yet many organisations meet them with no plan. Notices are missed, evidence is scattered across mailboxes and managers escalate to lawyers before they have worked out what they actually want. Cross-border investment, large infrastructure contracts and donor-funded programmes in Africa increasingly name arbitration or mediation as the agreed route, so staff need to understand how those processes run and what they cost.

This programme follows a dispute through its life. Participants begin by diagnosing the conflict, identifying interests as well as legal positions, and assessing risk and exposure. They compare the main resolution methods and the clauses that bring them into a contract, then work through the practical steps of each: negotiation strategy, mediation preparation and conduct, adjudication under construction contracts, and the arbitration cycle including appointing arbitrators, pleadings, document production, hearings, awards and enforcement.

Teaching combines short legal and practice inputs with simulations, document exercises and a mock mediation. Participants apply the tools to case files from construction, supply, employment and joint venture disputes and finish with a dispute management plan and a settlement strategy for a case of their own choosing.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Diagnose the causes and stakes of a dispute and distinguish interests from positions.
• Compare negotiation, mediation, adjudication, arbitration and litigation against cost, speed and enforceability.
• Draft escalation and dispute resolution clauses that work in practice.
• Prepare a claims or defence file with organised evidence and a clear chronology.
• Plan and take part in a mediation, including caucus sessions and settlement drafting.
• Manage each stage of an arbitration from notice to enforcement of the award.
• Brief and supervise external counsel and experts cost-effectively.
• Build a dispute prevention and early warning routine into contract administration.

The course is intended for people who prevent, handle or decide disputes, including:

• Contract managers and contract administrators
• In-house counsel and legal officers
• Procurement and supply chain managers
• Project directors and engineers in construction and energy
• Public sector legal and compliance officers
• Insurance and claims professionals
• Human resource managers handling employment conflicts
• NGO and donor programme managers with grant or partner disputes

Participants leave the course with:

• A decision framework for choosing the right dispute resolution route.
• Sample multi-tier clause wording to adapt to their own contracts.
• A claims file template with a chronology and evidence index.
• A mediation preparation sheet covering interests, options and fallback positions.
• A step-by-step arbitration timeline with budget markers.
• A dispute management plan for a live or recent case.

Learning is built around live case handling rather than lectures on doctrine. The programme uses:

• Case files from construction, supply, joint venture and employment disputes
• Role plays and a full mock mediation with feedback
• Drafting workshops for clauses, notices and settlement terms
• Group discussion of participants' own dispute experience
• Concise practitioner briefings on procedure and costs

Delegates who attend the full programme and complete the simulations and drafting exercises receive a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.