On October 27-29, CLDP led a three-day training for law schools in Bosnia-Herzegovina to support the first phase of its Willem C. Vis Moot Competition (Vis Moot) program.. The program aimed to prepare law students to compete in the 2018 Vis Moot to be held in March 2018 in Vienna. Participants included coaches and students from six different law schools in Bosnia-Herzegovina included schools from various regions of the country that had never participated before in the international competition. The training focused on analysis of the newly-released Vis Moot problem, legal research and writing, and general analytical skills required for the written submission portion of the competition. As part of its “train-the-trainer” model, CLDP prepares returning Vis Moot competitors as coaches who then return to their respective home countries and work with their assigned teams. 

On October 30, US Ambassador Cormack invited the students from the 2017 teams and CLDP to the Embassy in Sarajevo to congratulate efforts on the success of the program, almost every student from the 2017 teams received a job offer or scholarship. During this meeting CLDP, students and coaches discussed with the Ambassador the importance of the Vis program and its relationship with improving the business environment in Bosnia through the spread of commercial arbitration expertise, as well as the program providing students with prospects in the job market in a country where the unemployment rate is over 40%. 

Through this program, CLDP has trained over 100 trainers over the past several years. The Vis Moot, held annually in Vienna, is a leading moot competition on commercial law and international arbitration. It is an educational initiative created by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law for judges, practitioners, arbitrators, and law students, to foster the study of international arbitration and encourage resolution of disputes through alternative means.