Bankside Chambers to sponsor top Auckland mooters

The Auckland Law School is sending a team of law students to the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, held in Vienna, Austria.  The Moot is one of the largest and most prestigious mooting competitions in the world. With over 300 teams from around the world taking part, the competition has been colloquially referred to as the “Arbitration Olympics”. The Moot offers participants the opportunity to develop their written and oral advocacy, as well as their knowledge of international arbitration in a practical way.

The Law School is also thrilled that Bankside Chambers has signed on to sponsor the 2016 moot team as well as teams attending the Vis Moot in future years. Current team member Jack Davies says: “Having the financial support of Chambers has made it considerably easier for the team to focus on moot preparation, knowing it will not have to commit time and energy to searching for sponsorship”. The Law School is pleased to have secured the support of Bankside, itself a Chambers replete with a variety of esteemed arbitrators.

The Dean of the Auckland Law School, Professor Andrew Stockley, said how grateful he was for the support of Bankside Chambers. “Participation in international arbitration of this caliber is extremely important for our students. It exposes them to top level mooting and the increasing importance of international arbitration. Our teams have a strong record of success in the Vis competition and I am delighted that with Bankside Chambers’ support, we will be able to continue to send our students to this prestigious event”.

The Auckland Law School team comprises Reuel Baptista, Jack Davies, Taylor Gray and Jovana Nedeljkov, together with coaches Thom Clark and Nikolai Santamaria.  Prior to the competition in Vienna, the financial support of both the Law School and Chambers will fund the team’s attendance at pre-moot competitions in Prague, London, Budapest, Heidelberg, The Hague, and Paris.  These pre-moots give the team the opportunity to practice their oral submissions and meet some of the other teams who will compete in Vienna. Participation in the pre-moots is an essential component of competing in this competition.

Over the past two years, teams from the University of Auckland have put in strong performances both at the pre-moots and the main competition. This year’s team aims to continue this success and has spent the past three months refining their written and oral arguments in preparation.

The team thanks the Auckland Law School and Bankside Chambers for their generous financial support in this competition.  The team is also grateful for the support of Dr Petra Butler, Isaac Hikaka and Martin Smith, who assisted with the preparation of the oral presentations. Finally, the team thanks its coaches for their guidance in preparing for the competition.

The Law School and Bankside Chambers wish the team all the best as it represents Auckland in Vienna.

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(Back row) Christine Meechan QC, Simon Foote, Lady Deborah Chambers QC, Suzanne Robertson (Bankside Chambers), Thom Clark (Meredith Connell, Coach) , Nikolai Santamaria (Greenwood Roche, Coach), Andrew Brown QC, Kate Davenport QC, Royden Hindle, Kelly Quinn (Bankside Chambers);(Front Row) Jack Davies, Jovana Nedeljkov, Reuel Baptista, Taylor Gray.