Students from all over the world will participate in an arbitration competition at Cuatrecasas

2022-03-23T12:07:00
Portugal
Lisbon office welcomes more than 130 students
March 23, 2022

The fourth Lisbon Vis Pre-Moot is scheduled for March 24 and 25. Twenty teams from all over the world will take part in this hybrid event,  with over 130 law students (half of them in person) competing against each other in 30 rounds and three successive heats of simulated court proceedings until the winner is found.

Cuatrecasas will host this competition organized by the Under-40 Council of the Portuguese Arbitration Association with the support of the Portugal Very Young Arbitration Practitioners group (PT-VYAP). Law students from universities in Germany, Austria, Brazil, Denmark, Spain, United States, France, India, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Serbia and Switzerland will face each other.

Portugal will be represented by two teams: Lisbon University Law Faculty (FDUL) and the NOVA School of Law. More than 90 lawyers and university professors with commercial arbitration experience in different jurisdictions will judge the competition, including 18 lawyers from different Cuatrecasas litigation and arbitration teams. The program will also feature a talk by FDUL lecturer Catarina Monteiro Pires, as well as a networking event for all participants run by Morais Leitão.

The winning team will receive a cash prize of €1,000, sponsored by the law firms PLMJ and VDA.

The fourth Lisbon Vis Pre-Moot is one of the official preparation sessions for the 29th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot final, the world's largest international commercial arbitration competition that will take place in Vienna from April 8 to 14.

A 28-year old academic exercise

A moot is an academic exercise involving simulated arbitration proceedings where students are asked to examine a hypothetical case. Its purpose to help them deal with questions of law and improve their oral presentation skills in a practical way.

Every year, several hundred teams from all over the world take part in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, which has been held in Vienna since 1994. The event aims to promote studies in international commercial arbitration and commercial dispute resolution through arbitration.This competition is named after Willem Cornelis Vis (1924–1993), a world-renowned Dutch expert in international business transactions and dispute resolution proceedings.

The problem the participants will have to solve is based on an international sale transaction subject to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (the Vienna Convention of 1980). As part of the process, students will also encounter procedural issues related to arbitration.

March 23, 2022