On February 1-4, CLDP implemented a follow up four-day Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Oral Argument Training in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina to support the second phase of its Willem C. Vis Moot Competition (Vis Moot) program. The program focused on the third and final element of th Vis Moot prepartory process: oral advocacy. The training portion of the program, held at the University of Mostar, was led by CLDP and BiH’s ARBITRI Association, and featured practice pleadings with arbitrators, group discussions, and interactive practice and coaching sessions. Participants in the program included student Vis Moot teams from the University of Zenica, University of Sarajevo, University of Banja Luka, University of Tuzla, Central Europe University (CEU), Saarlandes University, and University of Zagreb.  

On February 3-4, the seven universities competed in a preliminary competition (Pre Moot) at NSoft, a Mostar-based technology company acknowledged by Deloitte as one of the 50 fastest growing companies in Central Europe. The students pleaded in front of professional arbitrators, advisors, and NSoft’s legal team for several hours throughout the day. The competition on February 3, was followed by a professional networking event for the students hosted by NSoft to encourage student recruitment. Through this program the knowledge of BiH law students and university faculty of international commercial law and arbitration will develop and institutionalize Vis Moot programs in universities throughout BiH.  Following this program, the law students will go on to compete in the Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, the pre-eminent moot competition on commercial law and arbitration, held annually in Vienna, Austria in March.