Following Legally India’s initial report of Nalsar Hyderabad’s victory at the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, Vienna, the final results have now been announced giving a total of 110 MPL points to participating teams. The Nalsar winners told Legally India the secret to winning and losing in Vienna.
Apart from winners Nalsar, honourable mentions were awarded to NUJS Kolkata, ILS Pune and M. S. Ramaiah College of Law Bangalore.
Nalsar Hyerabad took home 40 MPL points for defeating University College, London in the final rounds of this Tier 1 global championship moot. Nalsar speaker Ishita Bhardwaj won an honorable mention citation for the Martin Domke Award for individual oralists.
Both the ILS Pune speakers, Madhupreetha Elango and Ravi Raghunath and M. S. Ramaiah speaker Monica Patil bagged similar honorable mention citations for their oralist performances.
NUJS Kolkata won the honourable mention citation for the best respondent memorandum. Both ILS Pune and NUJS Kolkata also won honorable mentions for their team orals performance.
MPL 3 Quicklinks:
The Nalsar team consisted of speakers Jagdish Menezes and Ishita Bhardwaj and researcher Ridhi Kabra.
Menezes said: “We worked really hard for a good eight months for the moot. Before that, we worked on the 16th Vis moot problem and cleared the challengers at Nalsar. This time the moot problem was great. It was very well drafted. However, unlike the other Vis problems, this problem was biased in favour claimants. Most other Vis problems are usually balanced.”
Menezes praised the quality of judging during the moot as “first class”. “I earlier thought that the judging could be subjective. But, I was wrong. These judges come year after year to judge Vis Vienna. There were judges who have been coming for the last 13 years. They are very experienced. The moot is not tiring if you enjoy it. I enjoy arbitration.”
Menezes said that the only reason why Indian teams do not break is because the moot has not been institutionalised in Indian law schools. “Out of the 19 Vis moots, the University of Hamburg has won the moot 5 times. NUJS Kolkata is the only other Indian team that has performed really well at the Vis. This is because they began to institutionalise the Vis mooting culture.
“Mooters every year pass down what they have learnt at Vis. Vis is more of a simulation than any other moot. Other international moots are more like an academic exercise – you need to have knowledge, appropriate court manners, etc. At Vis, you have practitioners who are looking for a commercial solution – you need to be reasonable, you need concede points at times and suggest suitable alternatives. Vis is not like an international moot before the ICJ where you just quote leading precedents. At Vis, you need to present illustrations rather than precedents and you have to use both common law and civil law authorities.”
“Indian teams go to Vis with a very domestic moot mindset or an international law moot mindset. At Vis, you need not argue based on your memo, you can just argue about anything. It is so real world. You just need to have a holistic understanding of the subject in the context of the business involved. Unlike any other domestic or international moot where 20 good precedents can win you a moot, you need to focus on the commercial part of your arguments at Vis.”
Menezes also said that another important challenge was to understand the bench quickly. “Understanding your bench is very important. Civil law judges do not care about cases or precedents. You have to show them some convention or statute and reason out your arguments.”
Menezes also extensively praised their team researcher Ridhi Kabra. “She played a key role in our win. I knew three arguments; Ishita knew three arguments, but Ridhi knew all the six arguments. This is a testament to her hard work.”
Menezes also thanked their team coach Manish for his guidance. “We practiced extensively and we were not tired after doing 4 rounds in a day.” Menezes also mentioned that Nalsar won every single round of the moot by a unanimous decision. “The people who judged us in the semis took us out for lunch before the finals and rooted for us during the finals.”
Mooting Premier League 3 season standings
Pos | Law school | Pts | Details |
1 | NLSIU Bangalore | 288 | [Jessup Intl rounds] (hon men for team orals, hon men for 3rd best memo); ISRO Man Lachs (gold); NLS Arb (organisers); Oxford Media Intl rounds (best memo); DMH (best speaker); Surana Corp (silver, best memo); GIMC (gold); KLA (best memo); Rizvi (gold); Jessup South (gold, best memo); Oxford Media India rounds (silver, best memo); Stetson South (gold, best memo); NLIU-Juris Corp (gold, best speaker, best memo); Palkhivala (gold); Dunant (silver); B.R. Sawhney (gold); Trial Adv South (silver); Raj Anand Moot (semis); Maritime Arbitration (semis, best memo, hon men for best resp memo); |
2 | NLU Jodhpur | 200 | NLS Arb (best memo); Stetson Intl rounds (gold, 5th best oralist, 9th best oralist); Vis (East) (hon men for respondent memo); Raisoni (gold, best speaker); NLU Antitrust (organiser); Amity moot (silver, best speaker, best researcher); Surana Tech (semis); GIMC (silver); Jessup North (best speaker); Stetson North (gold); Hidayatullah (gold, best speaker, best memo); Dunant (best memo); Trial Adv North (silver, best speaker, best memo); IICLAM (gold); |
3 | Nalsar Hyderabad | 186 | [Vis Vienna] (gold, hon men for oralist); [ISRO Man Lachs] (silver); NLS Arb (silver); Oxford Media Intl rounds (gold); Leiden - Sarin (best speaker); BCI - NLU Delhi (semis); NLU Antitrust (silver, best memo); BCI-Nirma (gold, best female speaker); DMH (semis); Jessup South (semis); Oxford Media India rounds (semis);Dunant (gold); B.R. Sawhney (organiser); |
4 | NLU Delhi | 156 | [Jessup Intl rounds] (hon men for team orals, hon men for 38th best oralist and 11th best memo); Oxford Media Intl rounds (semis); BCI - NLU Delhi (organisers); ULC moot (best male speaker, best female speaker); BCI-Nirma (semis); Surana Tech (semis); DMH (semis); KLA (semis); Jessup North (gold); KK Luthra (gold); SLCU-LKS-CCI Antitrust (best researcher, semis); Oxford Media India rounds (gold, best speaker); (Law Asia (semis); Dunant (semis); IICLAM (organiser); |
5 | NUJS Kolkata | 119 | [Vis Vienna] (hon men for team orals, hon men for best resp memo); Vis (East) (hon men for claimant memo, hon men for respondent memo); NLU Antitrust (gold, best researcher); NUJS-HS (organiser); KLA (silver); SLCU-LKS-CCI Antitrust (gold, best memo); Oxford Media India rounds (semis); NLIU-Juris Corp (semis); Hidayatullah (silver, best researcher); B.R. Sawhney (semis); SLCU Moot (silver, best speaker, best memo); Trial Adv North (semis); |
6 | GLC Mumbai | 106 | Amity moot (gold); DMH (best memo); NUJS-HS (gold, best speaker, best memo); SLCU-LKS-CCI Antitrust (best speaker); NLIU-Juris Corp (semis); Trial Adv South (gold, best speaker); IICLAM (Best Memo); Raj Anand Moot (silver); |
7 | ILS Pune | 97 | [Vis Vienna] (hon men for oralist, hon men for team orals, hon men for oralist); Pro Bono Enviro (best speaker); BCI - NLU Delhi (best female speaker); Surana Tech (silver); GIMC (best memo, best speaker, semis); KK Luthra (silver); Stetson South (best speaker); B.R. Sawhney (best speaker, semis); Trial Adv South (semis); |
8 | RMLNLU Lucknow | 85 | ISRO Man Lachs (best speaker, semis); Stetson Intl rounds (8th best oralist); Leiden - Sarin (gold, best applicant memo); DMH (best reseracher); Surana Corp (semis);KK Luthra (best memo); Stetson North (silver); Palkhivala (silver); Trial Adv North (semis); |
9 | NLIU Bhopal | 77 | NLS Arb (best speaker); Pro Bono Enviro (silver, best memo); NLU Antitrust (best speaker, semis); BCI-Nirma (semis); NUJS-HS (silver); GIMC (semis); Rizvi (silver, best speaker); NLIU-Juris Corp (organiser); SLCU Moot (gold); Raj Anand Moot (semis, best memo); |
10 | Campus Law Centre Delhi | 60 | BCI - NLU Delhi (silver, best male speaker); Amity moot (semis); ULC moot (semis); KLA (gold); Raj Anand Moot (gold, best speaker); |
11 | GNLU Gandhinagar | 60 | Raisoni (silver); Frankfurt (hon men for best team in the Asian regional group); ELSA Asian rounds (best speaker); NLU Antitrust (semis); GIMC (organiser); Jessup North (best memo, semis); Palkhivala (best researcher, semis); B.R. Sawhney (silver); Trial Adv North (gold); |
12 | RGNUL Patiala | 57 | Raisoni (semis); Pro Bono Enviro (semis); Amity moot (best memo, semis); ULC moot (silver); Surana Tech (best memo); Jessup North (semis); SLCU-LKS-CCI Antitrust (semis); Stetson North (best speaker); Hidayatullah (semis); B.R. Sawhney (best memo); |
13 | Jindal Global Law School | 57 | NLS Arb (semis); ELSA Asian rounds (gold, best memo); [Pro Bono Enviro] (best researcher); ULC moot (gold); NUJS-HS (semis); KK Luthra (semis); Dunant (best speaker, semis); |
14 | School of Law, Christ University, Bangalore | 52 | Pro Bono Enviro (semis); Surana Corp (gold, best speaker); KLA (best speaker); SLCU-LKS-CCI Antitrust (organiser); IICLAM (silver, best speaker); SLCU Moot (organiser); |
15 | SOEL Chennai | 46 | Pro Bono Enviro (organisers); BCI-Nirma (silver, best male speaker); Jessup South (silver, best speaker); Stetson South (semis);Trial Adv South (best memo); |
16 | Symbiosis Law School, Pune | 40 | NLS Arb (semis); BCI - NLU Delhi (semis); ULC moot (best memo); Surana Tech (organisers); NUJS-HS (semis); Rizvi (best memo, semis); Palkhivala (best memo); IICLAM (semis); |
17 | HNLU Raipur | 39 | Jessup North (silver);Stetson North (semis); NLIU-Juris Corp (best researcher); Palkhivala (best speaker, semis); [Hidayatullah (organiser); SLCU Moot (semis); |
18 | CNLU Patna | 25 | BCI - NLU Delhi (gold); Stetson North (semis); |
19 | School of Legal Studies, CUSAT Kochi | 23 | Surana Tech (gold, best speaker); |
20 | Symbiosis Law School, Noida | 14 | Pro Bono Enviro (gold); Surana Corp (semis); |
21 | M. S. Ramaiah College of Law, Bangalore | 10 | [Vis Vienna] (hon men for oralist); |
22 | V M Salgaocar Law College, Goa | 10 | Stetson South (silver); |
23 | Army Institute of Law, Mohali | 10 | Stetson North (best memo); |
24 | Amity Law School IP University Delhi | 10 | Amity (oraganisers); NLIU-Juris Corp (silver); |
25 | NUALS Kochi | 10 | Raisoni (best memo); SLCU-LKS-CCI Antitrust (silver); |
26 | KLE Bangalore | 9 | ULC moot (best researcher); IICLAM (semis); |
27 | New Law College, Bharti Vidayapeeth University, Pune | 8 | Raisoni (semis); Stetson South (semis); |
28 | School of Law, Sastra University, Thanjavur | 6 | ULC moot (semis); Trial Adv South (semis); |
29 | Dr. Ambedkar Law College, Chennai | 5 | Jessup South (semis); |
30 | MATS Law School, Raipur | 5 | Raisoni (best researcher); |
31 | Seedling School of Law and Governance, Jaipur | 4 | ISRO Man Lachs (semis); |
31 | AKK New Law Academy, Pune | 4 | KLA (semis); |
33 | ULC Bangalore | 4 | ULC moot (organisers); SLCU Moot (semis); |
34 | SVKM’s Pravin Gandhi College of Law | 3 | Hidayatullah (semis); |
34 | Guru Gobind University | 3 | Rizvi (semis); |
36 | J S S Law College, Mysore | 2 | Surana Corp (organiser); |
36 | Nirma University | 2 | BCI-Nirma (organisers); |
threads most popular
thread most upvoted
comment newest
first oldest
first
Surprisingly, those who have won ICJ moots (your's truly) internationally also agree that it is more about illustrations and creativity, rather than precedents.
But well, its your day, what the hell!
However, I vehemently disagree that domestic moots and ICJ moots (I presume you mean other international law moots) require you to quote 20 precedents in order to win the moot. That's actually quite wrong and a severe misunderstanding of the very concept of mooting. If you repeatedly quote judgment after judgment, a judge will get thoroughly tired and bored of listening to you! You may not be required to present solutions from a pure commercial perspective (after all, an arbitration is quite different from court proceedings) but you have to communicate with the judge in a language he/she understands - and that would be presenting arguments and legal submissions, which may be backed by case laws / provisions of statutes / principles of law. I've actually seen a judge finally snap when a mooter kept substantiating every syllable of hers with a case law and he asked her whether anything she had anything of her own legal acumen to offer to the bench!
So, while Vis is very in tune with how an actual arbitration functions, that doesn't necessarily mean that other moots require you to simply quote leading case laws on the point you're trying to make. They still expect you to analyse the points as a lawyer would and make submissions to the court based on such analysis.
Having said that, a big congratulations to the NALSAR team. Having done Vis, I totally understand the challenge it poses and the dedication and hard work it requires to actually win the damn thing! Awesome job!
That was when he was in 2nd year !! lol
Last year the present 3rd year batch did HS !!!!!
Sorry Bey "Reality Check"
threads most popular
thread most upvoted
comment newest
first oldest
first