INTERNSHIPS, MOOTS & PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Willem C.Vis International Arbitration Moot Court Competition
and
Willem C. Vis (East) Moot Court Competition.
The Vis Moot is named after the late Willem Cornelis Vis, Executive Secretary of the Vienna Diplomatic Conference that created the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The moot is organized on an annual basis in Vienna by Pace University.
A few years ago, a sister moot, Vis (East), was instituted to encourage greater participation from Asian teams; this moot is hosted at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Both moots follow the same format, and use the same moot problem, but in all other respects they are separate competitions.
Both moots aim to promote the study and practice of international commercial arbitration. The moot problem is normally based on a business dispute; and the teams are expected to present their arguments before a panel of arbitrators and under the rules of one of the major arbitral institutions, like the International Chambers of Commerce or the London Court of International Arbitration.
The competition has been the basis of international arbitration seminars at various schools, where students participate in a semester-long research, writing, and oral advocacy course in preparation for the Moot.
The Vienna chapter of the moot featured 177 universities in 2006-07. The Hong Kong Chapter is growing steadily; 48 teams participated in the recently concluded 2006-07 edition.
Vis Moot Facts
Vienna
Focus area: International Sales transaction based on CISG, International Commercial Arbitration
Organizers: Pace University School of Law
Offical webpage: http://cisgw3.law.pace.edu/vis.html
Format: Participating teams first draft and submit a Claimant Memorandum. Following this, they are send another team’s Claimant Memorandum on the basis of which the draft a Respondent Memorandum. All teams are entitled to participate in the Oral rounds in Vienna, where they compete in four preliminary rounds. 32 teams advance to the elimination rounds.
Registration: early October - early December
Submission of briefs: Claimant brief, early December ; Respondent brief, late January
Qualifying Round: None. Interested teams may participate in a preparation round hosted by Fordham University.
Final Round: early April.
Prizes: Frédéric Eisemann Award (Winning team), Pieter Sanders Award (Best Memorandum, Claimant); Werner Melis Award (Best Memorandum, Respondent); Martin Domke Award (Best Oralist) Second Place, Third Place and a number of Honorable Mentions are also given in the above categories.
Hong Kong
Organizers: Chinese University of Hong Kong
Official webpage: http://www.cisgmoot.org/
Format: Same as Vienna
Registration: early October – early December
Submission of briefs: Claimant brief, early December ; Respondent brief, late January
Qualifying Round: none. Interested teams may participate in a preparation round hosted by Fordham University.
Final Round: late March.
Prizes: David Hunter Award (Winning team), Eric Bergstern Award (Best Memorandum, Claimant); Fali Nariman Award (Best Memorandum, Respondent); Neil Kaplan Award (Best Oralist) Second Place, Third Place and a number of Honorable Mentions are also given in the above categories.
Selection at NYU
Awaiting information
NYU team for the 2006-07 competition
Vienna: Philipp Groz (LLM ’07), Michael Howe (LLM ’07), Rahim Moloo (LLM ’07) and Ramona Vijeyarasa (LLM ’07). Coach: Giorgio Mandelli (LLM ’07).
Hong Kong: Rashida Allie (LLM ’07), Wangui Kaniaru (JD ’07), Jeena Shah (JD ’07) and Stacia Sowerby (JD ’08). Coach: Jocelyn Burgos (LLM ’06). Flavia Mange (LLM ’07) provided extensive research assistance.
Click here for the team’s report on their experiences and performance.
