On February 16-18, CLDP, in coordination with Arbitration Initiative Georgia, hosted the 10th Annual Tbilisi Vis Pre-Moot. The Tbilisi Vis Pre-Moot serves to help students prepare for the 28th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot held in March and April 2021.  As the competition was held virtually, CLDP had the unique opportunity to invite law schools from around the globe to compete with teams from the Caucasus.  This year’s competition was comprised of fourteen teams from the Caucasus, Eastern and Western Europe, South Asia and the United States.  CLDP opened the competition with a substantive training that helped the teams to hone their arguments for the pre-moot and subsequent competitions.  More than fifty arbitrators and legal professionals helped to judge the subsequent competition rounds and were charged with providing constructive feedback to the pleaders. 

CLDP directly supported the teams from the Caucasus by arranging participation in a virtual oral advocacy training workshop and organizing advisory sessions with Vis alumni from the University of Pittsburgh Law School.  CLDP’s support of the Tbilisi Vis Pre-Moot is one aspect of its work in Georgia and the Caucasus region. This program is truly significant for the Caucasus and the larger Europe-Eurasia region, because it not only promotes commercial arbitration, but also helps to build awareness around the importance of commerce and economic development and investment.