The Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot is an international moot that takes place every April in Vienna. Named in honour of Professor Willem Vis, a world-recognised expert in international commercial transactions and dispute settlement procedures, this moot is an acknowledgment of the business community's marked preference for resolving international commercial disputes by arbitration.
This method of dispute resolution is offered as the clinical tool to train law students through two crucial phases: the writing of memorandums for claimant and respondent, and the hearing of oral argument based upon the memorandums. The forensic and written exercises require determining questions of contract – flowing from a transaction relating to the sale or purchase of goods under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and other uniform international commercial law – in the context of an arbitration of a dispute under specific arbitration rules.
There are currently 79 law schools from 30 countries that send teams to Vienna. It is an excellent opportunity for students to learn an extremely valuable commercial skill, and a rare chance to meet and to form valuable professional friendships with a range of law students from around the world.
More information is available online at:
http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu/vis.html