07/05/2025
Since 1994, Vienna holds, annually, the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (“Vis Moot”), a traditional university arbitration competition focused on issues related to international trade, that brings together thousands of students and arbitration practitioners from around the world.
Each edition features a hypothetical case, and the competitors participate in both written statements and oral hearings, preceded by intense preparatory training sessions held both in Brazil and in Europe, that simulate the competition’s environment in Vienna.
This approach significantly contributes to the development of a new generation of arbitration practitioners, as it allows students to develop essential legal practice skills by taking on the role of counsel and interacting with professors, practitioners, and arbitrators of international renown.
The latest edition of the Vis Moot, held in April this year, included over 390 universities, many of which were Brazilian – whose involvement has steadily grown over the years. In the 2024 edition, Brazil was represented by 24 teams, ranking as the third country with the highest number of participating teams, behind only the United States and Germany. In the most recent edition, 9 out of the 64 teams that moved forward to the elimination rounds were Brazilian, and numerous honorable mentions were awarded – either for the excellence achieved during the hearings or for the quality of the written memoranda submitted.
The increasing interest of Brazilian university students reflects the broader context of arbitration in Brazil, which has become increasingly solidified and promising, due to its stability, marked by a high degree of legal certainty, quality of the decisions, efficiency, and the consistent reinforcement provided by the Judiciary.
Additionally, the Brazilian arbitration community has actively encouraged the development of young professionals. The law firm L.O. Baptista, for example, not only organizes training sessions for students and annually sponsors teams from its country but also has in its legal team former mooties and coaches of university teams for the competition.
The support from arbitral institutions is also of great importance to the community, with special mention to the Center for Arbitration and Mediation of the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce (“CAM-CCBC”). Notably, due to CAM-CCBC’s involvement in the competition, the institution’s arbitration rules were adopted by the Vis Moot in the 2017 case – a significant milestone in its internationalization.
Initiatives such as the Vis Moot are essential for the training of new arbitration practitioners, as they integrate theory and practice in a highly competitive environment, thereby contributing to the development of a new generation of professionals better equipped to face the challenges of international arbitration.
Co-authored by: Silvia Rodrigues Pachikoski, Mariana Dias Sallowicz, Gabriel Rogenfisch Quintans, José Victor Palazzi Zakia and Julia Guimarães Rossetto
