Campbell Law Willem Vis Moot Team earns distinction

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Campbell Law’s Willem Vis moot court team is already achieving recognition for its hard work with two members winning individual distinctions on Saturday, Feb. 13. The team consists of Ash Giri (2L), Matt Jones (3L), Jenna Nichols (2L), Harsh Shah (3L), Aulie Strickland (3L) and Xander Zupancic (2L), and is coached by Professor Raluca Papadima.

“I’m very excited to let you know that our Willem Vis moot team participated this weekend in an amical pre-moot against U.S. and Eastern European teams,” Papadima wrote in an email. “Our team came in second overall, and two of our students received individual distinction: Xander Zupancic won best oralist and Ash Giri won best dual oralist. Please join me in congratulating our students!”

Papadima pointed out there is only one month to go until the teams compete virtually in the 18th Hong Kong Willem Vis (East) Moot Court Competition and the 28th Vienna Willem Vis Moot Court Competition.

“Until then, we have four more pre-moots ahead of us, which will keep us busy every single weekend,” she added. “Campbell Law is excited to compete in the Vis Moot and anticipates a strong showing during the upcoming rounds. Go Camels!”

The Willem C. Vis moot is the largest private law competition in the world.  It is held annually in Vienna and in Hong Kong, combining international contract law and commercial arbitration.  The previous edition of the competition brought together more than 3,000 students and 1,000 practitioners and academics, and was attended by approximately 380 universities (Vienna) and 128 universities (Hong Kong) from more than 80 countries.

The Vis Moot centers around a dispute arising from a sales contract concluded between two commercial parties from different countries, both signatory members to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The dispute between the parties is submitted to settlement through arbitration under the rules of an arbitration institution, which vary from year to year (the London Court of International Arbitration for the 2019-2020 edition). The Vis Moot is divided in two stages. During the written stage, participating teams are required to submit a Memorandum for Claimant, followed by a Memorandum for Respondent. During the oral stage, held normally in Hong Kong and Vienna, the students present the arguments developed in their memoranda against other teams, in front of an arbitral tribunal.

The goal of the Vis Arbitral Moot is to foster the study of international commercial law and arbitration for resolution of international business disputes through its application to a concrete problem of a client and to train law leaders of tomorrow in methods of alternative dispute resolution.