Campbell Law advocates compete at 22nd Willem C. Vis East Competition
The 2024 Campbell Law School Willem C. Vis team had a busy spring break week in Hong Kong on March 10-17, 2024. After six months of preparation, the team attended the 22nd Willem C. Vis East Competition. The team was comprised of Philip Martin ’25, Madison Carney ’25, Sofia Gomez-Ayala ’25 and Tomas Nazer-Paniagua ’24.
The team, which was proudly coached by Maeve Healy ’22, would like to thank the Charlotte International Arbitration Society (CIAS) for its sponsorship this year. This CIAS is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote and support arbitration throughout the Carolinas.
A record number of 144 universities and colleges participated in oral arguments at the Vis East this year. The Campbell Law team was one of only 11 teams from the United States present in Hong Kong. During the general rounds of the competition, the Campbell team had the pleasure of arguing against Dalian Maritime University from China, University of Zurich from Switzerland, The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences from India and Team 483 from Russia.
After impressive performances from each advocate, Campbell did not proceed to the elimination rounds – only 32 out of the 144 teams did. In preparing for the competition, the team had help from various Vis alumni and team supporters. Professor Raluca Papadima, who followed the team through arbitrating tryouts in September, teaching some of the students on the team in International Business Transactions, and finally to Hong Kong as an arbitrator for the competition, noted the hard work and vast improvements made by each student. While the team was disappointed to not proceed to elimination rounds, the students and the coach made it abundantly clear why Campbell Law participates each year.
Healy stated, “As always, the Vis Moot provided our students an unmatched opportunity to learn about different legal systems, network with practitioners and students from across the world and craft creative legal arguments encompassing both civil and common law jurisdictional considerations.”