The JU students of the Faculty of Law and Administration qualified to the quarter finals in the 17th prestigious Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot and three team members, Magda Kofluk, Maciej Durbas and Maciej Marek received  honourable mentions.

In the finals, which traditionally took place in Vienna, took part 252 teams from all over the world, including leading law schools, such as that of Harvard University, Heidelberg or London School of Economics.

The JU team consisted of 12 students from the Faculty of Law and Administration: Paweł Bukiel, Maciej Durbas, Magdalena Inglot, Katarzyna Kempa, Magda Kofluk, Urszula Kubicka, Jakub Majewski, Maciej Marek, Andrzej Olaś, Piotr Semeniuk, Barbara Sobowska and Daniel Zatorski.
The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot is one of the most prestigious contests for law students. It is known as the “Olympic games for lawyers” and since 1993 it has been organized annually by, among other institutions, UNCITRAL, Pace University in New York and the University of Vienna.

The contest objective is to popularize the knowledge of and the skills in international commercial law and arbitration as well as the knowledge of the Vienna Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The contest lasts throughout most of  the academic year, from September to April. At the beginning of September a particular case from the domain of international commercial law is chosen and announced. The teams are tasked with preparing two memoranda – for the claimant and the respondent – and then oral arguments which are to be heard by the arbitral tribunal. The oral part takes place in Vienna, a week before the Easter.

So far the JU students have participated in two contests – the 16th and the 17th ones. They have been coached by Ms Agata Wacławik Wejman, LL.M., who has run the workshop on “International commercial arbitration”, whose one of the objectives is to prepare contestants. The workshop is based on an innovative teaching idea of practical law education which combines the collaboration of university law professors and practicing lawyers. The JU team’s academic tutor is prof. dr.hab. Jerzy Pisuliński.

The case (problem) chosen for the 17th contest was related to, among other things, the so called multileveled arbitration clauses which define various methods of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for particular stages of the dispute, the role of  force majeure in honouring the contract and the issue of responsibility for the discrepancy between the item offered for sale and the regulations which are introduced after the contract has been signed.

Having written the memoranda, the JU team began preparations of the oral part. Thanks to our sponsors, especially CMS Cameron McKenna, the international provider of legal and tax services, as well as some reputable Kraków chambers, such as Kubas Kos Gaertner, Studnicki Płeszka Ćwiąkalski Górski, Maruta and Traple Konarski Podrecki, the team members could take part in mock contests (the so called pre-moots) with other universities from all over the world. The mock contests the JU team took part in took place in Warsaw, New York, Hanover, Belgrade and Düsseldorf. The team members also had a chance to consult leading practitioners and university experts from Poland and abroad.

On March 25, 2010 the contest began with a solemn welcome ceremony  at the Konzerthaus in Vienna. About 2000 participants took part in a banquet and the next day the General Rounds began. In the first, four-day Round,  each team faced four other teams. After the first Round there were 64 teams selected, which scored most points in the oral presentations. They took part in the Elimination Rounds, which are based on a tournament system (each dispute has a winner, who moves on). To be ranked among the 64 best teams is considered a great success.

In the First Rounds the JU team faced teams from Bombay, Wisconsin, Mainz and Doshisha, a Japanese university. It qualified to the Elimination Rounds. The success was followed by a series of individual victories: Maciej Durbas and Basia Sobowska defeated the team from Loyola law School from Los Angeles. Then they defeated the Lucerne University. Finally, in the round of sixteen universities, the JU team faced an exceptionally strong team from Freiburg, whom they defeated and thus made it to the semifinals, where the team faced King’s College from London, one of the favourites. The house was packed and among the audience one could see professor Martin Hunter, the author of a famous commentary on international arbitration and the winners of previous contests. Both teams did very well, though the jurors decided to single out the King’s College team, who eventually reached the finals and won the Frédéric Eisemann Award.

By winning the fifth place among 252 universities from around the world, the JU team proved their excellence and talent, which is even more striking considering the fact it was only the second appearance of the JU team in the contest. None of Eastern and Central European universities has ever come close to match the result. Magda Kofluk, Maciej Durbas and Maciej Marek won individual prizes for their oratory talents. The JU team success helped to popularize international arbitration in Poland, both as an academic discipline and legal practice. It also proves that the innovative teaching idea of practical law education which combines the collaboration of university law professors and practicing lawyers carries the day.

Katarzyna Kempa

See more information on the Moot and the JU team at: jumoot.wordpress.com