The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot is a competition that is held in Vienna, Austria, from April 16-21 this year. According to the Competition’s website, the goal of the competition is “To foster the study of international commercial law and arbitration for resolution of international business disputes through its application to a concrete problem and to train law leaders of tomorrow in methods of alternative dispute resolution.” This year, a team of JMLS students will be traveling to Vienna in order to participate in the competition.
The team includes students Mark Swantek, Jeremy Liabo, and Jennifer Burton, and are being coached by Professor Karen Cross and Professor Kenneth Kandaras. The structure of the competition includes submitting briefs on the issue presented, followed by oral arguments before a panel of judges consisting of arbitral experts. The team has submitted their claimant’s brief in December and their respondent’s brief in late January. The problem presented involves determining questions of contract flowing form a purchase of goods under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, as well as procedural issues regarding the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal.
Since submitting their briefs, the JMLS team has been preparing for their trip across the pond by practicing their oral arguments with faculty, Willem C. Vis alumni, and through participation in a mini-moot that was hosted by Loyola-Chicago a few weeks ago. We are all wishing them good luck.
