Course

What is the Willem C. Vis Moot?

The goal of this master course offered by the University of Lucerne is the participation at the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. More than 380 university teams from all over the world compete against each other. Each team is representing the parties in dispute of a fictional case before an arbitral tribunal.

The case deals with typical issues in connection with the the UN-Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the field of International Commercial Arbitration. On the basis of the fictional case, the participants of each team draft a legal brief referred to as Memorandum for Claimant. Subsequently, the participants change their role from representing Claimant to representing Respondent. In the next phase, they draft the Memorandum for Respondent, in response to a Memorandum for Claimant drafted by the moot team of another University.

The week before Easter oral pleadings take place in Vienna. In four rounds (twice representing Claimant and twice representing Respondent), the participants will compete against four other teams from different Universities in front of arbitral tribunals, consisting each of three experienced practitioners and experts on the subjects of the CISG and international commercial arbitration from all over the world.

To ensure an educational and successful participation, the University of Lucerne team has the chance to attend preparatory crash courses and will be supported by individual coaching by the professors and the coaching team throughout all the stages of the Moot.

As a preparation for the oral pleadings in Vienna, several test runs against Swiss and foreign teams will take place at Swiss law firms and pre-moots outside Switzerland, allowing the participants to reach out and get in contact with possible future employers as well as students from abroad.

For additional information, please take a look at our booklet, visit the main homepage of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (click https://vismoot.org/) or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.