Katarzyna Przyluska-Ciszewska

Senior Fellow – Poland

Katarzyna Przyluska-Ciszewska is a Polish lawyer, mediator, international dispute resolution specialist, and neutral evaluator. She specializes in complex commercial, construction, and property related cases.

About Katarzyna Przyluska-Ciszewska

Katarzyna Przyluska-Ciszewska is a Polish lawyer, mediator, international dispute resolution specialist, and neutral evaluator. She specializes in complex commercial, construction, and property related cases in addition to cross-cultural disputes. She began training at the School for Judges and was then trained as an attorney-at-law and called to the Warsaw Bar in 2004. Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska speaks Polish, English and Italian, and has practiced mediation in Poland since 2005 and in the United Kingdom since 2011. 

Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska graduated from the University of Warsaw, Faculte International pour l’Ensignement du Droit Compare, in Strasbourg in 1997, and was a scholar of the Stefan Batory Foundation, a postgraduate study in Bologna University School of Law, in 1998.

In 2013, Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska participated in a training with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) to prepare for her certification as an international mediator. She is a mediator listed by Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. In 2019, she established a Foundation for Wellness and Mindfulness in Mediation, and became a certified Warrior One trainer in Mindfulness for Lawyers. Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska serves as a President of the European Chapter for the Mindfulness in Law Society.

Mediation Practice

Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska has served as a mediator in Poland since 2005, and in the United Kingdom since 2011. She specializes in complex commercial, construction, and property related cases in addition to cross-cultural disputes. As a court-appointed mediator, she has worked in cooperation with a number of different courts in Poland. In February 2020, she joined the Global Mediation Unit of the Ombudsman Office for United Nations Funds and Programmes as well as CEDR’s Platform-to-Business Mediation Panel. Currently, she is a specialist in the first consumer online banking mediation scheme in the Mediation Center by the Financial Supervision Commission in Poland. 

Litigation Practice

Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska established her law office in 2003. She is an active litigator supporting both domestic and foreign clients through alternative methods of dispute resolution and dispute prevention programming. Her legal practice consists of:

  • Litigating and arbitrating for both the private and public sectors
  • Assisting in complex investment work, the acquisition of Polish companies, and in the building of franchising models of cooperation between local and foreign companies
  • Counseling for construction and foreign infrastructure companies as well as multinational energy corporations

Since 2009, Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska has been involved in various activities for the Polish National Bar Council, including acting as an Inspector for the Supreme Bar Council, the Deputy Disciplinary Commission for the Warsaw Bar Association and as Past Chairman for the Young Advocacy Training Commission. Currently, she is a President of the Mediation and Arbitration Section of the Warsaw Bar Association.

ADR Achievements and Training

  • In 2011, Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska opened the first Mediation Center for the National Bar Association of Poland. She served as the Center’s first president for eight years. As president, Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska:
    • Organized and ran eight major mediation training seminars for attorneys that resulted in the promotion of almost 500 lawyers to administrative, civil/commercial, and criminal mediators
    • Implemented regular training sessions for practicing mediators in the fields of civil mediation techniques, mediation advocacy, non-violent communication in mediation, and transformative communication in mediation
    • Offered pro bono services to contribute to the development of modern advocacy in Poland
    • Promoted the use of mediation, participated in legislative processes concerning mediation in parliament, and secured new court orders for mediators
    • Invented the use of e-mediation by the Center and developed a special platform of communication designed for this purpose
  • Served as the first instructor in Poland to train experienced lawyer-mediators within Poland’s new branch in 2017
  • Proposed crucial changes to the principles of the ethical code of conduct for lawyers and mediators concerning regulations that would be compatible with CCBE acts to the Polish Supreme Bar Council
  • Created Mediation Week in 2013, which has taken place successfully around Poland during subsequent years and has been adopted by a number of countries worldwide
  • Appointed by the Minister of Economy to an advisory team focused on creating systematic solutions for commercial disputes based on the US Alternative Resolution Act of 1998 in 2013
  • Served as a member of the group of experts appointed by the Speaker of the Senate to work on tax amendment proceedings for creating Fast Track Mediation in 2018
  • Selected as a JAMS Weinstein International Fellow in 2019
    • Participated in trainings on negotiation, leadership and conflict prevention at Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation and at Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law
    • Interned with The Office of the Ombudsman for the United Nations Funds and Programmes in New York

ADR Teaching and Mentoring

In her teaching and mentoring practice, Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska uses her comparative knowledge of different legal systems and explores how to design and successfully enforce alternative dispute resolution and international mediation in Poland.

  • Teaches at both the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan and Warsaw University, and at the Lewiatan Mediation Center
  • Established Foundation for Mediation and Mindfulness, 2019
  • Participated as a member of the jury in the ELSA mediation competition for Poland’s highest performing law students and in the ICC Mediation Competition as both a judge and a mediator, 2013-present
  • Interested in building communities and think tanks for both the public and private sectors to promote dispute resolution and peacemaking
  • Hopes to develop innovative models of women’s activation and participation in the legal and ADR space with a special emphasis on women negotiators and peace builders
  • Brought peer mediation and non-violent communication to primary, secondary and college teachers’ curriculum in local schools, 2020
  • Teaches stress reduction and mindfulness in law at Warsaw Bar Association and co-teaches Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction training for social activists and business leaders

Publications and Education

Publications

Ms. Przyluska-Ciszewska has published several articles regarding mediation procedure, ethics, dignity, and mindfulness in mediation and negotiation:

  • “Mediation is a Successful Way Out of Chaos,” Rzeczpospolita, Poland (2018)
  • “Administrative Mediation, How an Architect Can Talk to Authority,” MedicjA2, Architank, Poland (2019)
  • “Mindfulness in Mediation and Negotiation,” Mindfulness Magazine, Poland (2019)

Educational Qualifications

  • Master of Law, University of Warsaw, 1997
  • Faculte International pour l’Enseignement du Droit Compare, Strasbourg, 1997
  • Scholar of the Stefan Batory Foundation, a postgraduate study in Bologna University School of Law, 1998

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