The CWRU Law School Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court team competed in the annual Vis International Arbitration Moot Court competition. Though it typically takes place in Vienna, Austria, it was held online this year due to the pandemic.
The competition drew more than 380 teams from all over the world and CWRU competed well on this international stage.
Callan Foran (2L) took home an honorable mention for best oralist award. This award is given to the top 40 students out of more than 1,000 who competed. Foran is only the second student in CWRU law school’s history in this competition to receive this award.
CWRU’s strong performance in this competition comes after a successful year of international competitions for the team overall.
Before participating in the Vienna competition, the team competed in the Athens pre-moot, the Moot Academy pre-Moot, the Swiss Chambers Arbitration Institution pre-moot and the Budapest pre-moot. At the Swiss pre-moot, Rachel McKay (2L) placed third as an individual oralist out of a field of more than 100 competitors.
The 2021 CWRU Vis team consists of Kristina Aiad-Toss (3L and co-captain), McKay (2L and co-captain), Foran (2L), John Schon (2L), Vaibhav Ganesh (1L) and Reece Disney (1L). The coaches are Professor Katy Mercer and Douglas Pilawa (LAW ’19), international dispute resolution associate at Squire Patton Boggs.
The Vis Moot is an international commercial arbitration moot court competition that centers around a contract for the sale of goods that invariably goes awry. This year’s Vis Moot Court problem involved a contract for the sale and licensing of certain genetic materials to be incorporated into vaccine research, development, and production. The competition involves two major parts—the written phase in which teams submit two memorials (one for the claimant and one for the respondent) and an oral arguments phase. The main oral arguments phase of the competition takes place in Vienna the week before Easter every year, but in the lead up to the main competition in Vienna, teams often compete in pre-moots as a way to practice for Vienna. As the Vis has grown throughout the years, the pre-moots themselves have become larger and more prestigious each year. Thus, the pre-moots have become not only a way for students to practice, but also important competitions in and of themselves.
“We are absolutely thrilled with how the Vis team performed this year,” said the team’s co-coaches, Mercer and Pilawa. “The competition gets harder each year and the Case Western [Reserve] team continues to improve to meet that challenge. We are beyond happy for Callan to be recognized on the international stage for her history-making performance in the Vienna competition and we look forward to what next year brings.”