The Firm has a long history of supporting the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (Vis Moot), from organizing pre-moots and a colloquium to training and coaching teams. In 2023, in collaboration with the US Department of Commerce's Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP), we expanded our support to provide in-person workshops for law students in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Pakistan, Poland, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

White & Case's collaboration with CLDP—which works with developing and transitional countries to support the rule of law and to promote the policy, legal and regulatory conditions for doing business—began in 2022 with providing international coaching for Vis Moot teams across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and with a training session for lawyers and judges in Sri Lanka seeking to better understand international law and alternative dispute resolution in a business context.

"CLDP's goals and efforts are directly related to the skills the Vis teaches these future legal practitioners, so it makes sense that our work with one has fed into our relationship to the other," says Washington, DC partner Matthew Drossos who, along with counsel Jennifer Ivers, leads the Firm's efforts with this initiative.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2023, the Vis Moot competition attracts students from more than 300 law schools worldwide and helps them develop skills and knowledge on the resolution of global business disputes through arbitration. Throughout the competition students present written submissions and argue a mock commercial arbitration dispute before panels of highly regarded volunteer scholars, judges and lawyers.

In 2023, the Firm's collaboration with CLDP grew with the development and presentation of training sessions to law students in Central Asian and Eastern European countries. More than 20 White & Case lawyers from six of our offices taught interactive lectures and practical sessions on international commercial and investor-state arbitration. The students also received an introduction to the Vis Moot, including best practices for legal research, writing and oral advocacy.

"The sessions provided many students with their first exposure to international law and international dispute resolution," says Ivers. "These training programs go beyond preparing for a law school moot competition and extend to preparing the next generation of international lawyers in the region."

Following the training sessions, White & Case lawyers coached teams throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia as they prepared for the Vis Moot—taking place in March 2024 in Vienna, Austria and Hong Kong—with many of them meeting weekly.

"Firm lawyers have built great relationships with the students through this training," says Drossos, "and we look forward to watching their careers develop and continuing our relationship with CLDP."

Highlights

Unique colloquium prepares 350+ students for the Vis Moot
In October 2023, the Firm held the sixth edition of its White & Case Vis Colloquium, an annual event designed to help law students prepare for the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition (Vis Moot) held in Vienna, Austria and Hong Kong each spring. Twenty of our lawyers from ten offices joined other international arbitration practitioners and academics to teach topics such as legal research, drafting persuasive submissions and presenting oral arguments. Simultaneous gatherings were organized by 11 of our EMEA offices—the highest number to date—in Astana, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Prague, Stockholm and Warsaw. Approximately 220 students and coaches attended in person at a White & Case office, and another 150 participants took part by videoconference.

Unlocking the potential of international commercial arbitration in Africa
As part of the Firm's longstanding support of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition (Vis Moot), two lawyers from our New York office shared their knowledge and expertise with law students participating in the Vis Moot in collaboration with Africa in the Moot (AitM) as part of its Education and Training Series. Partner Jennifer Glasser and associate Efat Elsherif, a former Vis competitor, delivered a virtual talk on the art of oral advocacy, sharing firsthand experience with students from sub-Saharan African universities to support their preparation for the 2023 Vis Moot. AitM was founded in 2021 and currently supports 17 Vis Moot teams from 12 African countries through coaching, funding, access to research tools and the only in-person pre-moot in sub-Saharan Africa, a region severely underrepresented in the Vis Moot. As a result, AitM is unlocking the potential of international commercial arbitration and dispute resolution in Africa and plugging the next generation of African lawyers into the global arbitration community.

Photo by © MadrugadaVerde / GettyImages
The Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera) in Vienna, Austria.