No argument - UQ moot team members are world's best

A team of University of Queensland law students courted international success in Austria this month where they won the prestigious Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot competition.

The T. C. Beirne School of Law team won the annual moot following a series of intense oral hearings at the Faculty of Law, University of Vienna, and at the International Arbitral Centre of the Federal Economic Chamber of Austria.

Team members were third and fourth-year students Joanne Coates, Lisa Cohn, Lisa Ford, Jacqueline Mowbray, Darren Peacock and Dugald Wishart. Ms Ford and Ms Mowbray argued the University of Queensland's case to defeat the University of Cologne, Germany in the final on April 6.

Their coach and lecturer in international commercial law, Professor Gabriel Moens, described their win as 'spectacular'.

'This has been a great achievement for the students and their success enhances the reputation of the School of Law internationally,' he said.

'It was a very tough competition and they were up against first-rate law schools around the world.'

Forty-eight law schools were admitted to the finals, representing 19 countries, including the United States, India, New Zealand, Germany, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.

Professor Moens said the event, in its fourth year, was the second most important international law competition for law students after the Jessup Moot Competition, the oldest-running international public law competition held in Washington D.C.

It is the first time a Law School team has won the competition in the three years that it has entered.

Professor Moens said the team was well-prepared after six months' preparation on a complex international commercial law problem set by the competition organisers.

'We worked together relentlessly,' he said. 'If they were excellent, I told them they were average.

'I knew the commitment they needed to make it to the top and I chose students with different strengths, not necessarily students with straight 7s.'

Professor Moens coached the Brigham Young University team from Utah, USA to take seventh place the 1996 competition as part of his sabbatical at that university.

Previous competition winners include Cornell University and Columbia University in the USA.

The University of Queensland team defeated the University of Kiel, Germany; University of Chicago-Kent, USA; University of Basel, Switzerland; and the Free University of Berlin, Germany in the general rounds. They then defeated Columbia University in the quarter-final, and Deakin University in the semi-finals.

The final was held before 400 people and arbitrated by Eric Schwartz, former secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration, the Honourable Delisa Ridgway, chair of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, USA, and Mauro Rubino-Sammartano, president of the European Court of Arbitration.

Professor Moens organised simulated arbitration hearings in February and March to prepare the students for 'hours of relentless and incisive questions' then selected Ms Mowbray and Ms Ford to argue the team's case.

'All team members agreed that Ms Mowbray and Ms Ford were the best speakers but this doesn't diminish the value of the contribution made by other team members,' he said.

'For a teacher, the competition is a great opportunity to work closely with students so they reach their full potential. It's a process of growing together.

'The competition provides the students with many networking opportunities as well as a valuable learning experience.'

Team members receive 10 credit points for participation in the Moot.

Ms Mowbray, who has gained work experience at with a law firm in Brussels for the second half of this year, said participating in the Moot was the highlight of her education at the University.

Other team members are holidaying in Europe before continuing their studies at the University in semester two.

Professor Moens said he was eager to help students defend the title next year.

For more information, contact Professor Moens (telephone 07 3365 2220).