Summer 2001

A competition of words

Moot Court argues with the best of them

The Moot Court team at Loyola University New Orleans School of Law was one of only two American schools to make it to the eighth and final round of the eighth annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court held at the University of Vienna School of Law. Moot courts teams representing 94 universities and 31 countries participated in the competition. Harvard University was the other American school to make it to the final round.

Members of the Loyola Moot Court team are seniors Amanda Bray, Raul Esquival, and Chris Laney. The teams had to resolve a controversy arising out of an international sale of goods subject to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The teams were given the problem in October. Between October and April, each team had to conduct extensive research and produce a series of legal briefs. The competition culminated with a week of oral arguments in Vienna in April. The competition complements and is an important feature in Loyola's continued strength and emphasis on comparative and international law.

The goal of the Vis Arbitral Moot, which takes the better part of an academic year, is to foster the study of international commercial law and arbitration for resolution of international business disputes. The Institute of International Commercial Law organizes the Vis Arbitral Moot at Pace University in New York.