The Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot

(Four Upper Year Students / 3 Program credits in Winter Term, and possibly 1 or 2 ISP credits in fall term)

(At the discretion of the academic coach, a researcher may be selected to earn credit through an individual supervised project)

Selection Process: Present a ten minute oral argument before a panel of judges at the general tryouts.

The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot is one of the largest and most prestigious mooting competitions in the world. It is held each year in Vienna in the week before Easter, and a sister competition is held in Hong Kong earlier in the spring. The Vis Moot now brings together teams representing more than 160 universities from more than 50 countries. All members of the team will participate equally in the drafting of memoranda on behalf of the claimant and respondent and will have the opportunity to speak at least twice at the competition in Vienna.

The moot always focuses on a breach-of-contract dispute between two commercial parties located in different, imaginary countries. The dispute always includes procedural issues governed by international arbitration law and rules and substantive contract law issues governed by the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The Moot attracts not only bright students from all parts of the globe but also, as arbitrators, many of the world's leading arbitration practitioners and scholars. It provides an exciting and intense introduction to this specialized but increasingly important field of international legal practice. http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu/vis.html

Participation is made possible through an Endowment Fund established in 2006 by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.

Pre-requisite:  There are no formal pre-requisites

Recommended:  Any of the following courses taken prior to, or concurrently with the moot in either term would be an advantage:

• Public International Law (Law 540)
• International Commercial Arbitration (Law 613)
• International Economic Law (Law 454/456)
• Commercial Law (Law 441) 
• Conflict of Laws (Law 550)
• Also helpful would be any experience in working with international or foreign law.

Course Evaluation: Letter grade based upon research, written factum, performance and participation during preparation and at the competition.

2012 Team: Megan Beal, Christina Jabbour, Irfan Kara, Jennifer Ng, Vanessa Beamish (student coach)
2012 Academic Coach: Josh Karton
2012 Location: Vienna, Austria, March 30 - April 5, 2012

Participation History