Willem C. Vis Moot Western Balkans Program

The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (Vis Moot) is an annual competition held in Vienna, Austria every Spring. The purpose of the Vis Moot is to foster the study of international commercial law and arbitration, and provide a practical training to students for resolving complex international business disputes. The Department of Commerce Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP), in collaboration with Western Balkan countries, conducts two critical trainings to help develop advocacy skills. The first training consists of developing teams' written advocacy skills. Trainers’ lead students in several exercises and lessons designed to assist them in writing a memoranda for claimant and respondent. The training focuses on topics such as: persuasive legal writing, review of legal questions in the Vis Moot Problem, how to structure legal arguments, and how to conduct legal research with a focus on using case law in persuasive legal writing. The second training is concentrates on presentation of arguments in oral hearings held before arbitration practitioners and academics. The training focuses on topics such as: how to deliver an argument, the importance of structure, time management and alternative arguments, and how to respond to arbitrators. The oral arguments training is followed by a Pre-Moot competition. The Pre-Moot marks the last event to prepare the students for the Vis Moot Competition.