Campbell Law School honored internationally

Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of law placed in the top 2.5 percent of the 2008 Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court competition held the week of March 14, in Vienna, Austria. The team won two Honorable Mention awards: the Pieter Sanders Award for best memorandum for Claimant and the Werner Melis Award for best memorandum for Respondent. Only five teams of the 203 participating law schools, that represented 52 countries and six continents, were recognized for both the Claimant and Respondent memoranda.The Vis Moot competition provides law students with the opportunity to gain practical experience applying International Law through the representation of a client in a moot problem. Campbell’s 2008 Vis Team consisted of Natalie Kamphaus, Jarrett McGowan, Mica Nguyen, Russell Schonekas, Catherine Sims, John Stubbs, and Raymond Tarlton. Campbell’s Vis Team prepared for the competition by analyzing a problem centering around an international contract for the sale of wine and the application of international arbitration rules. The team began by researching international case law and scholarly commentary. Applying the law and the facts of the case, the Vis Team then wrote, polished and submitted its first 50-page memorandum of law on behalf of the Claimant, Mediterraneo Wine Cooperative. Two weeks later, the Vis Team received a Claimant’s memorandum from the Universidade of Minas Gerais in Brazil, to which the Vis Team responded with its second 50-page memorandum of law on behalf of the Respondent, Equatoriana Supermarkets.After the memoranda were submitted, the Vis Team began rigorous oral argument practice rounds, including several rounds with Campbell Law alumni and practicing attorneys serving as arbitrators. The Vis Team also traveled to Fordham Law School in New York City for several pre-moot practice oral rounds with former participants of the moot as well as other practicing attorneys serving as arbitrators. The Vis Team gained valuable experience answering the many challenging questions posed by the arbitrators regarding both international law and the specific facts of the case, all in preparation for the upcoming oral hearings in Austria in March.Only two American law schools received Honorable Mention awards for both Claimant and Respondent categories, Campbell University and Harvard University.Photo Copy: The Campbell team, from left, John Stubbs, Jarrett McGowan, Mica Nguyen, Raymond Tarlton, Natalie Kamphaus, Russell Schonekas, Catherine Sims and Professor Alan Button, team coach.

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