XXIV Vis Moot - 2016/2017

24th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot

This year the University of Lausanne has marked its 10th anniversary of participation in the Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot. Present 24th edition of the Willem C. Vis Moot is the biggest since its creation: 343 participating universities from all over the world.

The Team of the University of Lausanne was represented by Jonathan Bornoz, He Cheng, Daria Gorbacheva and Marleen Botterbrodt.

The Team has been coached by Sergii Drug under the supervision of Professor Andrea Bonomi.

The participation of the University of Lausanne has been a successful one, marked with an honorable mention in the competition for the Werner Mellis Award for the Best Memorandum supporting the position of Respondent (for the 3rd time).

With this achievement, University of Lausanne has been crowned with eight honorable mentions in its relatively short history of only ten participations in the Moot. It is for the 5th consecutive year that University of Lausanne comes back from Vienna with at least one mention.

The Problem of the XXIV Moot related to the complex issue of the commencement of the arbitration and the security for costs in international commercial arbitration; as well as the interpretation of the parties’ intent under the CISG regarding the provision of the exchange rate alongside the scope of the  buyer’s obligation to peform a payment of a purchase price vis-à-vis public regulations in the state of the seller.

The Moot Problem and the full Moot results can be accessed on the Moot website.

 Supervisor

Professor Andrea Bonomi has been in charge of the Vis Moot program at the University of Lausanne since its team participated in the Moot for the first time in 2008.  For more details on Professor Bonomi’s extensive experience and publications, please visit UNIL’s website.

Contact Professor Bonomi

 Coach

Sergii Drug is a former Moot participant (2013 -2014) and a coach of the UNIL team (2014-2017). Mr. Drug holds LL.M. degree inthe International and European Economic and Commercial Law from the University of Lausanne as well as Bachelor and Master in Law from the Kyiv University, Ukraine and currently is a doctoral candidate at the University of Lausanne. His practical experience includes practicing in an international law firm as well as an in-house legalcounsel. 

Contact Mr. Drug

Team

   Marleen Botterbrodt is a master student in HEC Lausanne, specializing in Law and Economics. After she finished High School in Potsdam, Germany, she moved to Switzerland in 2010 and registered for the Bachelor of Science in Management in HEC Lausanne in 2011. Her specializations are international commercial and corporate law. During her studies, she worked for an international company where she had the chance to practice all the languages she speaks: German, English, French, and basic Spanish and Italian. Marleen’s hobbies include cooking and discovering new cultures.

   Daria Gorbacheva is a master student at University of Lausanne, specializing in Comparative and International Law. In 2016, she obtained Bachelor’s degree from MGIMO University, Moscow. Daria gained practical experience through short-term internships in Moscow based law firms and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Being a Russian native speaker, she is fluent in English, French and Spanish and has basic knowledge of German.

   Jonathan Bornoz is a master student at the University of Lausanne, specializing in commercial law. In 2015, Jonathan has obtained a bachelor degree from the University of Lausanne. During that year, Jonathan also had a practical experience in a Lausanne-based law firm. Being a native French speaker, Mr. Bornoz speaks fluent English and has good knowledge of German. In his leisure time, he is found of sports, travelling and reading.

   He Cheng is a third-year student at University of California, Davis School of Law, who is currently on exchange at University of Lausanne. He received a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Beijing Institute of Technology in China, and a Master’s Degree in Food Science from University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Prior to law school, Robin worked in different sectors of the food industry with a focus on regulatory compliance and quality assurance. He worked as a law clerk in a San Francisco based law firm after the first year of law school, and participated in various research projects at the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic after his second year of study. He has been exposed to a variety of legal and policy issues in his work and research, including trade policy for agriculture commodities, product labelling challenges and trade dress litigations.

Supports

The Team has benefited from the support of Lenz & Staehelin and was privileged to use the library resources of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law as well as support and guidance from the CDCEI.