A team of students recently represented the University of Georgia School of Law at the 31st annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna, Austria. 

The 2023-2024 team comprised 2Ls Jacob (“Jake”) Wood, Tiffany Torchia, Olha (“Olia”) Kaliuzhna, and Patrick Smith. Among those who supported their efforts were numerous coaches: 3Ls Hanna Esserman and Yekaterina (“Kat”) Ko, with support from 3Ls Sandon Fernandes and Benjamin (“Ben”) Price, and Georgia Law Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge. They worked together beginning in October, writing two briefs and preparing for oral advocacy. In early February, the team also participated in the Fordham School of Law Vis Pre-Moot in New York. 

This year, 373 teams from 89 jurisdictions around the world competed in Austria. Alongside more than 2,500 students, the Georgia Law team competed for several days. 

Reflecting on the last six months of Vis, Patrick shared,

“As a member of the Vis Moot team, I worked with my teammates to research, brief, and argue an international commercial arbitration case that reflected a real life issue. At the Vis competition in Vienna, we met and competed against teams from around the world who had all worked on the same case, which was such a unique experience. We were lucky to have the guidance, expertise, and support of Dean Rutledge. Overall, Vis exposed me to the global nature of commercial arbitration and gave me an increased appreciation of international law.“

To learn more about the Vis Moot team at Georgia Law, visit our website here.