Awards in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot
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Various moot court awards are annually given in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna as well as the Willem C. Vis (East) Moot in Hong Kong. The top prizes in Vienna are the Pieter Sanders Award (Best Claimant Memorandum), the Werner Melis Award (Best Respondent Memorandum), the Martin Domke Award (Best Oralist), and the Eric Bergsten Award (Winner of the Moot; known as Frédéric Eisemann Award until 2017).[1] Honourable Mentions are also awarded for the best oralists, memoranda, and teams that qualified for the knockout stages in the oral phase.
For the competition in Hong Kong, the top prizes are the David Hunter Award (Best Claimant Memorandum; known as Eric Bergsten Award until 2017), the Fali Nariman Award (Best Respondent Memorandum), the Neil Kaplan Award (Best Oralist), and the Eric Bergsten Award (Winner of the Moot; known as David Hunter Award until 2017). Like the Vienna competition, Honourable Mentions are awarded for the best oralists, memoranda, and teams that qualified for the knockout stages in the oral phase. Up until 2016, a separate winner for the Asian Division was also declared.
Between 2020 and 2022, due to COVID-19, both Vis moots were conducted online. In-person hearings resumed for both moots in 2023.
Awards for the best memoranda in Vienna
Honourable Mentions are awarded for the best memoranda of the competition, and the Pieter Sanders Award is given for the Best Claimant Memorandum. During the first three Moots, the award was given for the Best Written Memoranda in support of the positions of Claimant and Respondent. Subsequently, the Werner Melis Award was introduced as a separate award for the Best Respondent Memorandum. Pieter Sanders was one of the founders of modern international commercial arbitration.[2] He was one of the principal drafters of the New York Convention and the 1976 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. Professor Sanders was also founder of the Law Faculty of Erasmus University Rotterdam and co-founder of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration as well as the Netherlands Arbitration Institute. The Werner Melis Award is named after an Honorary President of the International Arbitral Centre of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Vienna)[3] and Honorary Vice-president of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration.
Award for the best individual oralist during the general rounds in Vienna
Honourable Mentions are awarded for the best oralists of the competition; the Martin Domke Award is awarded to the Best Individual Oralist. Both types of award are for the general rounds, and not elimination rounds. To be eligible for either award, a participant must have argued at least once for the Claimant and once for the Respondent. The Martin Domke Award was named after a former adjunct professor of law at New York University and a well-known scholar of international arbitration. Professor Domke was also vice president of the American Arbitration Association for 25 years and served as editor-in-chief of the then Arbitration Journal (now the Dispute Resolution Journal). He also was the author of Commercial Arbitration, published in 1965, and The Law and Practice of Commercial Arbitration, published in 1968.
| Moot | Year | Winner of Best Oralist | 2nd place | 3rd place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1994 | Gregor Kirchhof, Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg | William Spiegelberger, Columbia University | Larisa Malakoff, Columbia University Neil Oberman, Laval University |
| 2nd | 1995 | Chantal Niggemann, Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg | Neil Katz, Laval University | Dennis Willardt Zewillis, University of Copenhagen |
| 3rd | 1996 | Kay-Jannes Wegner, University of Cologne | Friedrich Blase, University of Cologne | Kelly Longton, Deakin University Sebastian Semran, University of Cologne |
| 4th | 1997 | Camilla Andersen, University of Copenhagen | Corinne Widmer, University of Basel | Daniel Kalderimis, Victoria University of Wellington |
| 5th | 1998 | Biljana Dischlieva, University of Kiel | Julia Tilgen, Albert-Ludwigs University | John Bona, University of Queensland |
| 6th | 1999 | Carmen Klein, University of Cologne | Martin Illmer, Johannes Gutenberg University | Peter James Black, University of Queensland Martina Peric, University of Zagreb |
| 7th | 2000 | Jan Stemplewitz, University of Münster | Philipp Schulte, University of Münster | Sarah Catherine Holland, University of Queensland |
| 8th | 2001 | Trevor Stockinger, Loyola Law School Los Angeles | Ivana Radic, University of Rijeka | Michael Karschau, University of Kiel |
| 9th | 2002 | Marion Alice Jane Isobel, University of Queensland Robina Kaye, University of Montpellier |
Mitja Kocmut, University of Ljubljana | |
| 10th | 2003 | Andrew Molnar, Deakin University Simun Soljo, University of New South Wales |
Lim Wei Lee, National University of Singapore | |
| 11th | 2004 | Alexey Konovalov, Mari State University | Nawel Bailey, McGill University Dominic Müller, University of Heidelberg Metka Potocnik, University of Ljubljana |
|
| 12th | 2005 | Charmaine Roberts, University of New South Wales Anna-Maria Tamminen, University of Vienna |
Richard May, Victoria University of Wellington | Philip James Furniss, University of Ottawa Sarah Santiago, Syracuse University |
| 13th | 2006 | Sonu Dhanju, Osgoode Hall Law School | Shonagh Margaret Brown, University of Aarhus Erik Eastaugh, University of Ottawa, Kristen Miller, Franklin Pierce Law Center Christopher Nahler, University of Vienna, Edward Russell, Monash University |
|
| 14th | 2007 | Steven Wayne Hopkins, Southern Methodist University | Jason Stearns, Stetson University | David Quayat, University of Ottawa |
| 15th | 2008 | Lennart Beckhaus, University of Münster | Michael Lederer, University of Vienna | Jerald Hess, American University Shen Narayanasamy, Monash University Tariq Rangwala, Osgoode Hall Law School |
| 16th | 2009 | Oliver Jones, Lincoln's Inn | Sarah Wright, University of California | Alexander Fawke, Monash University |
| 17th | 2010 | Antonia Füller, Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg | Gregory Dixon, Duke University Aashni Dalal, London School of Economics |
|
| 18th | 2011 | Robin von Olshausen, Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg | Ethan Minshull, Tulane University | Douglas Alexander Cordeiro, Panthéon-Assas University William Glaser, Pepperdine University |
| 19th | 2012 | Laura Liefländer, University of Hamburg | Bastian Nill, Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg | William Crowe, Fordham University Newton Mak, Chinese University of Hong Kong Malgorzata Pohl, University of Silesia Angelina Sgier, University of Zurich Genavieve Shingle, Pace University |
| 20th | 2013 | Kristen Holman, University of Ottawa | Lauren Watts, University of Washington | Abby Hilaire, University of Washington Brie Coyle, University of Washington |
| 21st | 2014 | Sam Song, University of San Diego | Paulo Sergio De Albuquerque Coelho Filho, Universidade de São Paulo | Andres Sandoval, University of Florida |
| 22nd | 2015 | Kelvin Chong Yue Hua, National University of Singapore Laura Fahrner, Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg |
Zain Jinnah, Harvard University | |
| 23rd | 2016 | Karmijn Krooshof, University of Amsterdam Rebecca Lennard, University of Notre Dame Australia Dimitrios Peteves University of Florida |
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| 24th | 2017 | Emily Domingo, Monash University Natalie Kolos, University of Ottawa Ashlyn Robinson, University of Florida |
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| 25th | 2018 | Timothy Morgan, University of Sydney | Evanthia Kasiora, London School of Economics Laura Korn, University of Freiburg Lilian Winter, University of Freiburg |
|
| 26th | 2019 | Terry Frederic, Brooklyn Law School | David Vucinic, University of Belgrade | Reto Tettamanti, University of St Gallen Yves Tjon-A-Meeuw, University of Zurich |
| 27th (online) | 2020 | Afreen Taqvi, La Trobe University | Eleanor Dennis, McGill University | Gabriel Libório, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro |
| 28th (online) | 2021 | Francis Lake, BPP Law School | Madeleine Bosler, University of Sydney Jonas Benedict Klein, Bucerius Law School |
Efat Elsherif, McGill University |
| 29th (online) | 2022 | Frederik Kold Galsgaard, Aarhus University | Christian Grunau, University of Münster | Océane Kessler, University of Basel |
| 30th | 2023 | Killian Hayes Dockrell, University of Edinburgh | Elisa Alexandra Henke, Humboldt University of Berlin | Laurenz Faber, University of Vienna |
| 31st | 2024 | Yijun Cui, University of Sydney | Mathias Abildgaard Ohlsen, Aarhus University | Thomas Martyn, University of Sydney
Sophia Danzer, University of Vienna |
| 32nd | 2025 | Sonia Ram, University of New South Wales | Madelize Breet, University of Queensland | Aman Mohamed, University of New South Wales |
Award for winner of the moot in Vienna
Previously the Frédéric Eisemann Award, the Eric Bergsten Award is awarded to the prevailing team in the championship round. The award is named after the founder of the moot. As the Vis has grown in the number of participating teams, the Vis has expanded from having originally only four teams advance into the elimination or knockout rounds to its current state where the top 64 of over 300 teams advance.[4] From 1994 to 1996, the top four teams advanced;[5] from 1997 to 1999, the top eight teams advanced;[6] from 2000 to 2002, the top 16 teams advanced;[7] and from 2003 to 2007, the top 32 teams advanced.[8] Each team that advances to the elimination rounds receives an award for Honorable Mention for Best Team Orals.
| Moot | Year | Number of teams | Winner of the moot | Runner-up | 3rd place | 3rd place | QF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1994[9] | 11 | Columbia University | Laval University | |||
| 2nd | 1995 | Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg | University of Nottingham | ||||
| 3rd | 1996 | Cornell University | Deakin University | ||||
| 4th | 1997 | University of Queensland | University of Cologne | ||||
| 5th | 1998 | University of Münster | University of Queensland | ||||
| 6th | 1999 | Deakin University | Tulane University | ||||
| 7th | 2000 | 80 | University of Queensland | Loyola Law School | |||
| 8th | 2001 | Monash University | University of Cologne | Harvard University | |||
| 9th | 2002[10] | 108 | National University of Singapore | University of Queensland | |||
| 10th | 2003 | 128 | West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences | Humboldt University of Berlin | |||
| 11th | 2004[11] | 136 | Osgoode Hall Law School | Victoria University of Wellington | |||
| 12th | 2005[12] | 150 | Stetson University | University of Vienna | |||
| 13th | 2006[13] | 150 | Queen Mary, University of London | Stetson University | Columbia University | ||
| 14th | 2007 | 178 | Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg | University of Zagreb | Aarhus University | University of Belgrade | * Harvard University |
| 15th | 2008 | Carlos III University of Madrid | Touro Law Center | University of Vienna | |||
| 16th | 2009 | 234 | Victoria University of Wellington | University of Pune | |||
| 17th | 2010 | 255 | King's College London | University of Ottawa | Osgoode Hall Law School | University of Hamburg | |
| 18th | 2011 | 262 | University of Ottawa | University of Montevideo | * University of Belgrade | ||
| 19th | 2012 | 282 | Nalsar University of Law | University College London | Harvard University | * Bucerius Law School | |
| 20th | 2013 | 290 | City University of Hong Kong | Monash University | * Columbia University * Bucerius Law School | ||
| 21st | 2014 | 290 | Deakin University | National Law School of India University | Duke University | * University of Belgrade | |
| 22nd | 2015 | 298 | University of Ottawa | Singapore Management University | |||
| 23rd | 2016 | 333 | University of Buenos Aires | Singapore Management University | Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná | * National University of Singapore * University of Georgia | |
| 24th | 2017 | 367 | University of Ottawa | Jindal Global Law School | Columbia University | University of Montevideo | * Maastricht University * Mackenzie Presbyterian University * National University of Singapore * University of Cambridge |
| 25th | 2018 | 362 | National Research University – Higher School of Economics | University of Cambridge | National Law School of India University | University of Bucharest | * Australian Catholic University * Columbia University * University of Dusseldorf * University of Passau |
| 26th | 2019 | 379 | Pennsylvania State University | University of Ottawa | Lomonosov Moscow State University | University of Zenica | * University of Sydney |
| 27th[14] | 2020 (online) | 248 | West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences | Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg | University of Hamburg | University of Queensland | * Chinese University of Hong Kong * Moscow State Institute of International Relations |
| 28th | 2021 (online) | 387 | Bucerius Law School | Singapore Management University | National Law University, Delhi | University of Ottawa | * Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg * London School of Economics * National Law University Odisha * University of Vienna |
| 29th | 2022 (online) | 367 | Sofia University | University of Hamburg | University of Pretoria | University of Sydney | * Singapore Management University * University of Vienna |
| 30th | 2023 | 387 | University of Vienna | University of Belgrade | Singapore Management University | University of Hamburg | * Stetson University * University of Geneva * University of Queensland * University of Mainz |
| 31st | 2024 | 373 | Bucerius Law School | University of Vienna | University of Tübingen | University of Pristina | * National Law University, Jodhpur * Mackenzie Presbyterian University * WU Vienna * Charles University Prague |
| 32nd | 2025 | 384 | University of St. Gallen | McGill University | University of Göttingen | WU Vienna | * University of Ottawa * Deakin University * University of Bonn * University of Würzburg |