About

the Mediation Lab

The Mediation Lab is a Private Organization under the auspices of which, ADR and Mediation related projects, trainings and activities are designed, promoted and implemented. The Mediation Lab has offices in Athens and Thessaloniki, the two larger cities of Greece.

Maria Chatzileonida and Maria Faropoulou, co founders of the Mediation Lab, both attorneys at law with a specialization in international business, banking and finance law, are engaged in the field of mediation practice and mediation training since 2009. They are both pioneers in the field, in Greece and they have already trained hundreds of mediators.

The Mediation Lab focuses on providing innovative, flexible, effective beneficial solutions to its clients through the implementation of successful international best practices.  It operates and promotes Mediation in fields of a high social and economic impact and a significant stake on development, by inducing a cultural and behavioral shift with respect to ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) and its use in contemporary Greece, following the demands of the international economic status.

The Mediation Lab, having an expertise in Debt Recovery and Business Mediation, also operates in all fields of Mediation, such as Workplace, Environmental, Family and Peer. It also offers Mediation Training in the equivalent fields.

The services that the Mediation Lab provides to its customers are being supported by the people of the company, as well as by a reliable and efficient network of external partners. Institutions, such as the “Program on Negotiations” (PoN) of Harvard Law School, the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce), the MBBs (International Mediators Beyond Boarders), their values and activities define the scope of action of the Mediation Lab, within an international framework of interaction.

We, the people of the Mediation Lab, have, since the beginning, set as of great importance the issues of experience in the mediation field, the strategic combination of ADR methods and litigation, the application of specialized standards and sophisticated know-how, the need of providing mutually beneficial solutions and the use of principled negotiations in order to end up to a win-win agreement in all the cases that we have handled.

FOUNDERS

Maria
Faropoulou

Attorney at Law (LL.M)
Mediator
Mediation Trainer
faropoulou1

Μaria Faropoulou is an attorney at Law, member of the Athens Bar Association and holds an LL.M degree in International Business Law from University of London,London School of Economics and Political Science and the School of Oriental and African Studies.

She works as a lawyer since 1993, practicing mostly business, corporate, banking, debt related (recovery and restructuring), property, real estate and commercial Law in Greece and abroad. She is an Accredited Mediator, certified by the Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights in Greece and an Accredited Mediation Trainer.

Maria received training and certification by:

  • Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiations
  • MiKK-MEDIATION BEI INTERNATIONALEN KINDSCHAFTSKONFLIKTEN in Family and School Mediation
  • JAMS International ADR CENTER in Commercial and Civil Mediation
  • Mediators Beyond Borders in Advanced Mediation Skills
  • Cross Border Family Mediators in “How Mediation can help implement decisions in cross – border family disputes concerning
    children”
  • Union International des Avocats (UIA) in Commercial Mediation
  • International Mediation Consulting, Canada, Dr. Maria Damianakis, IMI Certified Family Mediator, Mediators Beyond Borders, ABA Dispute Resolution Section, in Mediation Training and Family Mediation

She has conducted several mediations in Greece, some of a cross border nature, has co-mediated debt, banking and commercial and corporate disputes and has participated as a party’s advocate in some others.

Mediation Experience:

  • Designer and trainer on Banking/Debt Related Mediation Training Program
  • Designer and trainer on Peer Mediation Program
  • Judge at the International Commercial Mediation Competition, ICC Paris
  • Judge at the Athens InADR Mediation Tournament
  • Coach in Family Mediation workshops

She is founder of “Business Mediation Network” and “Family Mediation Centre” and also founder and partner of “the Mediation Lab”, a private organization. In 2017, she acted as a regular member of the State Committee on the Reform of the
Mediation Act in Greece.

Member of:

  • International Bar Association (ΙΒΑ) ICC Hellas
  • “Organization for the Promotion of Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods” (OPEMED)
  • Mediators Beyond Borders (IMMB)
  • “Athens Mediation and Arbitration Organization” (EODID)
  • the list of the Trained Financial Mediators (ΚΕΧΔ), Hellenic Center for Alternative Financial Dispute Resolution (ΕΚΕΕΧΔ)

She speaks English and French.

Maria
Chatzileonida

Attorney at Law (LL.M)
Mediator
Mediation Trainer
chatzileonida1-e1478540602423

Maria Chatzileonida is an attorney at Law, member of the Bar Association of Thessaloniki, Greece, holding a LL.M degree in International and Comparative Business Law, London Guildhall (Metropolitan) University, UK. She works as a lawyer since 1996, practicing mostly business, corporate, banking, debt related (recovery and restructuring), property, real estate and commercial Law in Greece and abroad.

She is an Accredited Mediator certified by the Greek Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights and an Accredited Mediation Trainer. She is also certified in Public Dialogues, as an Instructor and Coach.
Specialized and certified in Mediation and Negotiations by:

  • Chartered Institute of Arbitration, UK
  • MATA Mediation and Training Alternatives, UK
  • Toolkit Company, The Netherland
  • MiKK e.V.–MiKK-MEDIATION BEI INTERNATIONALEN KINDSCHAFTSKONFLIKTEN, Germany
  • Maria Damianakis, IMI Certified Family Mediator, Member of the Family Mediation Canada, AMFQ Board, ACR (AFM/SPDR) International, Family and Commercial Sections, ABA Dispute Resolution Section, Mediators Beyond Borders
  • JAMS International ADR CENTER
  • Mediators Beyond Borders International
  • Union International des Avocats (UIA)
  • Cross Border Family Mediators

Mediation Experience:

  • Trainer and Assessor on the Basic Training Program in Civil and Commercial Mediation
  • Trainer on the Training Program in Family Mediation
  • Coordinator and Coach in Educational Workshops in Family, Civil and Commercial Mediation
  • Designer and trainer on Banking/Debt Related Mediation Training Program
  • Designer and trainer on Peer Mediation Program
  • Judge at the International Commercial Mediation Competition, ICC Paris
  • Judge at the Athens InADR Mediation Tournament

She has successfully conducted several mediations as Mediator and has co-mediated or participated as a Legal Representative in banking, debt related (recovery and restructuring), commercial, corporate and civil disputes. She is founder and member of “the Mediation Lab” a private organization.

Member of:

  • Mediation Committee of the Bar Association of Thessaloniki
  • “Association of Greek Mediators”
  • “Association of Mediation Assessors, Trainers and Instructors” (AMATI)
  • ICC HELLAS
  • “Organization for the Promotion of Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods”(OPEMED)
  • “Athens Mediation and Arbitration Organization” (EODID)
  • the list of the Trained Financial Mediators (ΚΕΧΔ), Hellenic Center for Alternative Financial Dispute Resolution (ΕΚΕΕΧΔ)

She speaks English and French.