At the end of March, four master students from Erasmus School of Law travelled to Vienna to participate in the 30th edition of the Vis Moot competition. For months, they prepared for their participation in the world’s largest moot court competition. This year’s team was formed by members: Yabsera Seneshaw, Han Taychayev, Loretta Kohlmoos-Santos and Masumi Dave. During their preparation and run-up to the final in Vienna, they were coached by Piotr Wilinski, Assistant Professor of Commercial Law at Erasmus School of Law, Juan Pablo Valdivia Pizarro, Lecturer in International Arbitration at Erasmus School of Law, and Thomas de Bekker, Legal Counsel at the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI). On Thursday 8 April, the competition came to an end. The students and their coaches look back on their road to the final.
With almost 400 participating universities, the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court (Vis Moot) is known as the world’s largest and most prestigious moot court competition. According to Masumi, one of the team members, “Vis is not a normal moot. The amount of dedication, preparation and organisation that went in Vis cannot be compared to any other moot.” The United Nations Convention of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) is the building block for the competition. The Vis Moot annually starts in October, when the organisers reveal a case to the participating teams. This case concerns the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the CISG. Based on this case, students get into claimant and respondent roles, on whose behalf they write legal memoranda and plead before panels of arbitrators.
“The amount of dedication, preparation and organisation that went in Vis cannot be compared to any other moot.”
Until the end of January, participating teams had the chance to submit their legal memoranda, in which the teams set out their arguments. These legal briefs were then assessed by the legal practitioners and arbitrators and formed an important link on the way to the final moot. After the written phase, the oral rounds started, where the teams – in preparation for the finals in Vienna – started presenting their arguments orally before different panels of arbitrators and lawyers in various ‘Pre-Moots’ that took place worldwide. The participating teams then finally met in Vienna for the final rounds. “We trusted our process, our growth, our team members, and received such nice and positive feedback at the end of all our general rounds”, Masumi looks back.
Whereas the Vis Moot participants of the past three editions were forced to digitally participate in the competition, this year the competition took place physically again, making it possible to travel and experience both the Pre-Moots and the finals in Vienna in person. Coach Wilinski: “Having the chance to travel, get to know other teams and experience what happens in Vienna is magical. Students benefit from establishing a strong network of like-minded people and friends, greatly improve their written and oral advocacy skills and begin to understand what else is necessary to become a T-shaped lawyer [the ideal lawyer who combines in depth-legal knowledge with other (more or less general) knowledge and skills, ed.].”
“One for all, all for one”
This year’s participating students – Yabsera Seneshaw, Han Taychayev, Loretta Kohlmoos-Santos and Masumi Dave – represent different study fields and nationalities and thus formed a rich and diverse team. “This, I believe, has given us the advantage of being able to look at the moot problem from different legal perspectives and help each other see things from different point of views”, team member Loretta elaborates. Despite the team not taking the win, the students and their coaches look back on the journey with pride. “This year’s team demonstrated great camaraderie. One for all, all for one. It does not happen every year to see such a great group of musketeers”, Wilinski proudly states. “The friendship they established is an important element of the Vis Moot because the team members need to work together and trust each other throughout the whole six-month journey. When they joined the team, we saw their potential, their natural (and unpolished) skills”, Wilinski reflects. “The Vis Moot helped fast-track their development, which will certainly benefit them in the future”, coach Valdivia Pizarro adds.
On their social media channels, the team members look back on “a journey filled with so many experiences and emotions”. The students are happy to have gotten the opportunity to visit so many different countries and work on their (advocacy) skills. “We all feel like we have come a very long way from when this all started and are definitely not the same people anymore. This experience has shaped us into becoming better future lawyers by teaching us uncountable things”, Loretta concludes. Masumi proudly adds: “I now can confidently conclude that all of us have turned out to be better humans, better pleaders, and better lawyers.”