Maciej Tański

Senior Fellow – Poland

Maciej Tański is a full-time mediator and co-founder of the Partners Poland Mediation Center (Centrum Mediacji Partners Polska – CMPP), a leading non-governmental mediation initiative in Warsaw.

About Maciej Tański

Maciej Tański is a full-time mediator and co-founder of the Partners Poland Mediation Center (Centrum Mediacji Partners Polska – CMPP), a leading non-governmental mediation initiative in Warsaw. Established in 2001, the center provides family law mediation services, training in mediation skills for mediators, and educates the public about mediation potential. Since 2002, he has mediated commercial cases and managed the first Business Mediation Center in Poland (Centrum Mediacji Gospodarczej).

Mr. Tański has initiated pioneering mediation advocacy campaigns in Poland. He is a founding member of the Association of Family Mediators (Stowarzyszenie Mediatorów Rodzinnych – SMR) where, for many years, he presided over its Standards and Certification Commission.

Using his mediation capacity, he currently facilitates town hall meetings and citizen participation processes in Warsaw.

Since 2005, he has continuously served on the Civic Council on the Alternative Dispute Resolution to the Minister of Justice of Poland.

Mediation Practice

Mr. Tański has a diverse and extensive mediation practice, from environmental and neighbor disputes, to workplace disagreements, family law cases, and large-scale business enterprise disputes. He has mediated over 1,000 cases, including court-referrals.

In particular, his mediation practice and expertise encompasses the following areas:

Contracts: commercial contracts, sub-contracts
Commercial: founder disputes, IT disputes, dissolution of business, cross-border commercial disputes
Property: real estate, joint ownership
Family: family business disputes, elder care, patchwork family disagreements
Matrimonial: divorce, child residence, maintenance and custody

ADR Achievements and Training

As the Partners Poland Foundation Director, he was responsible for the implementation of pioneering ADR programs in Poland, including: the peer mediation pilot project, divorce mediation public campaigns, and commercial mediation advocacy initiatives.

Drafted the widely recognized Standards of Mediator Practice and the Code of Mediator Ethics, adopted by the Civic Council on Alternative Dispute Resolution to the Minister of Justice of Poland
Drafted Standards of Family Mediator Practice and the Rules of Mediator Certification Procedure, adopted by the Association of Family Mediators
Has written, co-authored or edited numerous publications on mediation
Co-designed and wrote teaching materials, and conducted training in a pioneering international program for experienced mediators, Pathways To Sustainable Mediation
Was awarded a Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship (2015)
Was trained in mediation in the mid-90s by distinguished American mediators (Jim Melamed, Prof. Allen Snyder, Charles Wiggins) and then further developed his mediation skills under the guidance of Lisa Parkinson (UK, family law mediation), Dan Dana (US, workplace mediation), Christopher Moore (US, environmental disputes), Joe Folger (US, transformative mediation approach) and Gary Friedman (US, mediation based on understanding)

ADR Teaching and Mentoring

Mr. Tański has been a mediation trainer since the late 1990s and has conducted mediation trainings and workshops for well over a thousand lawyers, judges, and non-lawyers.
He has trained over 200 mediators in Bulgaria, Georgia, Jordan and Kosovo.

As a mediation trainer he conducts:

Basic mediation training, to increase the pool of private mediators
Family mediation training for lawyers
Business mediation training
Administrative mediation (issues between citizens and authorities) training for public officials
Negotiation workshops for government officials
Mediation courses for students of several post-graduate law schools in Poland

Publications and Education

Publications

Mr. Tański co-authored and edited a number of publications on mediation and ADR in Poland, in Polish:

Alternative Dispute Resolution (2003)

Family Mediation. Handbook for Judges (2001)

The Child in Divorce (2005)

Dad Forever (2006)

49 Questions About Family Mediation (2008)

The Child in Parental Split (2013)

Educational Qualifications

M.A. in Political Science, Warsaw University (1987)