Apply now to participate in the Vis Moot Court 19/20 competition! Dépose ta candidature maintenant pour participer au concours Vis Moot Court 19/20! Bewirb dich jetzt für den Vis Moot Court 19/20!

Dear Students,

We are looking for students who will represent the University of Fribourg in the next Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (“Vis Moot”, “Vienna Moot”). 

The Vis Moot is the largest and most prestigious competition in the field of international commercial and arbitration law. Each year, more than 340 teams from every corner of the world write memoranda and plead on a fictional commercial case to be resolved by an arbitration panel. 

The benefits for participating include 15 ECTS that count either as special credits, as “special credits and seminar” (master), or as “a proseminar” (bachelor). More importantly, however, the moot offers the opportunity to gain experience in international commercial arbitration, to argue in front of specialized lawyers in Switzerland (Schellenberg Wittmer, Lenz & Staehelin, Homburger, Bär & Karrer, Kellerhals Carrard, etc.) and abroad, and to build a world-wide network.

The 2019/2020 Vis Moot will start on 4^th October 2019 and finish on 9^th April 2020. From October to January, every team participating in the Moot will write two memoranda dealing with an international dispute arising out of a sales contract governed by the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods (“Vienna Convention”) and subject to international commercial arbitration. The team will first adopt the position of the Claimant and then switch roles, asserting the Respondent’s point of view.

Once the memoranda have been submitted, the teams will prepare themselves for the orals that will take in Vienna at different locations (Faculty of Law, major local law firms, Messecenter Wien, etc.) in spring 2020. The oral proceedings will last during an entire week and are the biggest getting together for international arbitration specialists world-wide. The Fribourg team will meet hundreds of teams from other universities and will plead its case in front of arbitration specialists coming from everywhere in the world.

In order to prepare for the oral proceedings, the Fribourg team will by trained by coaches, professors and experienced practitioners. It will also attend so-called pre-moots (pre-competitions) in Switzerland and abroad (Paris, London, Helsinki, Stockholm, Belgrade, etc.).

This half-year is not just an absolutely exciting immersion in the world of international arbitration, but also a wonderful opportunity to meet and befriend people coming from all around the globe. 

In the last few years, several teams of the University of Fribourg won numerous awards for their memoranda and pleadings. We sincerely hope that we keep up the good work!

The application is open to students who have completed four semesters of law studies and have a good knowledge of the English language. Applications including a letter of motivation, a CV, grades obtained and certificates, where available, should be sent in English to christiana.fountoulakis@unifr.ch until the 22^nd of September 2019.

For more information, an apéro will be held on 19^th September 2019, 6.30 pm, in front of Room 3113 (MIS 03). In the meantime, please visit https://vismoot.pace.edu/, https://www3.unifr.ch/ius/werro/fr/willemvismoot/, or send an email to the coaches Isabelle Cordey, David Schmid and Noé Luisoni.

The Vis Moot coaches and I are looking very much forward to putting together a motivated Fribourg team and accompanying you through the next Willem C. Vis Moot competition.

Prof. Dr. Christiana Fountoulakis