International Student Competition for Law Students in Düsseldorf and Hamburg

Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek Again Organizer of Pre-Moots for Young Academics in Law

On March 28, 2011 in Hamburg and from April 7 - 9, 2011 in Düsseldorf, students of law will prepare at the "Pre-Moots" initiated by Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek for the international "Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court" student competition in Vienna.

The Pre-Moots serve as preparation for the final round of the 18th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court to be held in Vienna, one of the world's largest student competitions with more than 250 participating teams from universities from all over the world. Since early October, the teams have prepared pleadings as plaintiff and defendant representatives on the basis of a realistically drafted matter of an international commercial purchase. The entire competition, just as the Pre-Moot Rounds, is held in the English language.

It is the objective of the Moot Court to awaken the interest of students in international commercial law and in commercial arbitration as they assume the representation of a fictional client in a simulated international legal dispute. As a result, among other things, they should be made aware of the arbitration proceeding as an alternative form of settlement of disputes. Arbitration proceedings oftentimes offer the very efficient possibility of resolving a legal dispute through reference to a private arbitration court instead of state courts.

During the Pre-Moot Rounds endorsed by Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek, students get the opportunity to present their prepared pleadings before experienced business lawyers from various law firms and thus receive valuable tips and suggestions for the final in Vienna. Last year, particularly the team of Hamburg University with a higher-than-average number of awards and prizes had placed very well in the final round. The Düsseldorf team also moved into the final round and ranked among the 16 best teams.

During the Pre-Moots in Hamburg, a total of nine teams (including teams from Hamburg University and from Bucerius Law School) will compete in simulated arbitration proceedings and present their pleadings before experts.

In Düsseldorf, the 4th Pre-Moot Rounds will be held in cooperation with DIS 40 Rhein/Ruhr, the Circle of Friends of the Faculty of Law and Düsseldorf Moot Association. A total of 22 university teams are expected, including from Canada, Russia, the USA and Brazil.

The Düsseldorf Pre-Moot Rounds will start off on April 7, 2011 around 7:00 p.m. with a reception for all teams and arbitrators at Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek's Düsseldorf offices. The pleadings will be held in the following two days at Düsseldorf law firms and will conclude at the Higher Regional Court on Saturday, April 9, 2011 with a final pleading between the two best university teams before a top-class arbitration court.

Additional information is available here.