Table of ContentsConflicts in General and in the Legal ProfessionThe Costs of Litigation and MediationAlternative Conflict ResolutionUnraveling the Nature of ConflictFinal ThoughtsReferencesAfter Attending the Conflict Sensitivity Seminar , I wrote a thoughtful reflective essay to delve deeper into my key takeaways and personal growth from this enriching experience. The topics stated here are the ideas and thinking from the Conflict Sensitivity Seminar and are divided into sections for coherent and cohesive discourse. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayConflict in General and in the Legal ProfessionPeace cannot be defined without conflict; we cannot know what peace is when no contrasting force accompanies it. It is conflict that gives life and sets a limit to how peace manifests itself. Conflict is omnipresent, as our speaker Mr. Cesar Villanueva said during our seminar. Human beings thrive in conflict; the conflict over how we approach even the simplest things, from a little thought about what to cook for breakfast to a big thought about how to cure poverty and disease. In general, we have personal conflicts, interpersonal conflicts, societal conflicts and universal conflicts. As human beings we interact and socialize every day, this is where interpersonal conflicts arise. Some are just simple disputes or short-term problems, while others are deep-rooted, long-term conflicts or problems. This causes disorder, even violence. To prevent this, laws are created, courts are created, and lawyers are trained. Our courts and lawyers have the great responsibility of resolving disputes and, to some extent, ironing out the differences between the conflicting parties. The costs of litigation and mediation As a sociable species, we are prone to disagreements among our fellow humans. The birth of our legal system settled and resolved these disagreements, but it is not without consequences. The courts are saturated with cases, some of them simple disputes that can be resolved through out-of-court settlements, compromises or other extrajudicial means. This congestion slows down the time in which the court can resolve a case. People became litigious, they found a new way to threaten, harass, exert domination or even make money through lawsuits. This has further widened a divide in conflicts where the ability to litigate, connections within the justice system, in short, power matter in resolving disputes. During our seminar we have this authoritarian approach or competing style of conflict management, which more or less mimics a typical system. trial or litigation. This style is fast-paced and goal-oriented, but it tends to breed hostility between parties. Another approach introduced is the collaborative style, which is similar to an amicable settlement. The issues here are resolved in a way that provides optimal results. This may take a long time, but it creates mutual trust, strengthens commitments and relationships between parties. We can observe a marked difference between these two approaches. The first manages a conflict quickly but creates tension between the parties. This may result in a longer dispute, as the parties will continue to assert themselves against each other, whichwhich will lead to the burning of bridges and the creation of grudges. The latter approach handles conflict slowly as relationships and trust are slowly built, but ultimately a successful outcome is created; relationships and trusts are established, resulting in long-term resolution between the parties. Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods Before entering the field of legal profession, I had the perception that the practice of law involves only appearing in court to argue between the opposing party, in front of the judge, and in all cases, there will always be a losing party. It's like Game of Thrones where you either win or you die, there is no middle ground. When I came across the term alternative dispute resolution, I had no idea what it was. I asked my cousin who practices law what it was about. He said that it was one of the most important subjects that you should learn as it would be useful in practice, I was perplexed by his statement. One of our professors also said that alternative dispute resolution should be taken seriously, as it is an important tool in practice, since most disputes are resolved not in court but externally, settling cases outside the court to avoid litigation expenses. With their words in mind, I was eager to understand what alternative dispute resolution is and why it is an important tool for a lawyer in his practice.Unraveling the nature of conflictBy understanding how use the dispute resolution tool. We first knew the central subject that gives rise to every problem, conflict. Conflict, as discussed in the seminar, is a process by which two or more actors attempt to pursue incompatible goals while attempting to undermine the goal-seeking potential of others. Here we knew the idea that conflict is not static. It has its own life cycle, it starts small; it builds up and reaches its peak, then it resolves and disappears. But often it reappears. It can be a continuum that destroys relationships if not managed properly. This nature of the conflict gives a negative image of its nature, a threat. However, this view of the conflict is narrow. Conflict is not just a threat, it is also a challenge. We believed that when there was conflict, it was an opportunity to build better existing relationships or create new ones. Conflict does not equal violence, it can be a gift of energy where it creates new relationships. After knowing the nature of conflict, it is imperative to know the conflict in a situation and do it as a gift; referring to it as a way to build mutual trust and relationships. In life, we face various situations that lead to conflicts. But in some ways these conflicts are the same and can be mapped to give a better view. During the seminar, we learned how to analyze conflicts through different methods or lenses. These methods analyze all aspects of the conflict; the people involved, the behavior of each of them, their statements and prayers, the cause and effect of the conflict, and the history or root cause of the conflict. A conflict is like a story, it is touched by life. It builds, it escalates, it resolves, and to some extent it produces another plot or issue that will be addressed and resolved. To fully understand a story, literary scholars use different types of approaches to dissect parts of the story in order to flesh it out and see itfrom different perspectives. In conflict resolution, lawyers or mediators use the same type of analyzes or approaches to look at a certain problem or situation from another angle or perspective. We take many variables to fully understand conflict in any given situation; some conflicts may be simple on paper, but in reality they are a web of complexities, each of which must be considered in order to be repaired. In conflict, we must consider the people involved as they are the main drivers of the conflict and how they interact with each other; their relationships, their approach and their attitudes. We take into account their wants and needs, and also determine the very root of their conflict. By laying these maps out on the table and dissecting each one, we can map and relate each one. Through these, we can see their conflict from a different perspective. We could see different angles that we could not see before and thus create optimal solutions for the conflict in question. After defining the variables involved in the conflict and mapping them out, the next logical step would be to resolve them. But ideally, a conflict is not resolved, we transform this conflict. By transforming the conflict, we create a new reality for it. Contrary to the common idea that conflict threatens. We talk about this conflict and make it a block to build bridges between the people involved in the conflict. Instead of resolving and forgetting the conflict, it is better to transform it. This transformation of conflict leads to a transcendent solution that establishes relationships, it is the gift of conflict. Instead of making one party suffer a loss or settling for a compromise that the parties are forced to accept to avoid future losses, a better solution is to use the transcendental approach. This approach not only considers the resolution of a conflict, but also the equitable effect and harmony that this resolution brings. The goal here is not only to resolve the subject of the conflict but also the people involved. A typical conflict where one prevails over the other leads to more resentment and indifference. As ideal as this may seem, it is a daunting task because it begins slowly as each party is induced to cooperate given the prejudices they have as participants in the conflict. The goal here is equity; allow ourselves to cooperate for mutual and equitable benefit. Achieving equity does not stop the process of transcendence. This process goes beyond the conflict and the resolution of the parties, it goes beyond the people around; the overall effect in society. In this approach, another variable is also juggled, that of the people around. This supports the idea that conflict is a gift that can be called upon to create meaningful and lasting relationships. Not only between the parties involved in the conflict and the people connected to it, but also between the people around them. To illustrate simply, let's take a piece of paper. The conflict crumples the paper and some of its parts are torn. In a typical approach, we repair the paper; glue the torn parts and simply iron the paper so that it straightens out. The paper is in its original shape but traces of creases and torn parts are still visible. By analogy, the parties resolved the conflict in one way or another, but their relations collapsed. However, if we transcend the paper, we straighten the paper, but it does not stop there. We take the paper and turn it into something else. By.