Help Pepperdine Law Students Compete in Vis Arbitration Moot

Opportunity to support three students participating in a once in a lifetime opportunity at the Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition in Vienna this April!

We are Charlie, Tatiana and Micah, J.D. students at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law earnestly seeking funding for an incredible academic opportunity. Passionate about immersing ourselves in the study of international law, the three of us studied at Pepperdine’s London campus last fall, where we excelled in courses on International Commercial Arbitration and International Moot Court. Our professors saw our dedication to deepening our studies and fine-tuning our skills and encouraged us to register for the prestigious Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. We’ve since spent over 150 hours since November researching a novel cross-jurisdictional energy contract fact pattern, writing extensive briefs for both parties, and preparing for the four guaranteed oral rounds in Vienna next month.

In our initial research, we were excited to learn that Pepperdine Caruso School of Law’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution had fully funded teams traveling to the competition in previous years, including a team of eight in 2024. However, upon registration, we were informed that the school would not be providing financial sponsorship for a team this year. Despite meeting with all relevant administrators to understand the budget change, Pepperdine confirmed that they could not support our team and that it would not be appropriate for the university’s advancement office to seek funding on our behalf. The Dean’s suite encouraged us to explore alternative funding options including crowd fundraising, leading us to launch this GoFundMe campaign.

As first generation law students carefully budgeting for our legal education, the cost of traveling to Vienna to take part in this week-long experience is prohibitive, but the rewards cannot be understated. The Vis Moot offers an unparalleled chance to develop oral advocacy and legal writing skills, engage with peers and professionals from around the world to advance career opportunities, and immerse ourselves in a realistic arbitration scenario. Further, with hundreds of universities from countries all over the world competing each year, this competition is considered the highest level of mooting that we can take part in. As a third-year law student and second-year member of the Pepperdine Moot Court team, Micah won best advocate in the Inner Temple Moot Competition last fall and received a perfect score from a judge during her arguments at the 2024 National Appellate Advocacy Competition in Los Angeles. Second-year students Charlie and Tatiana had their international moot debut just last month, advancing to the top sixteen teams in the world in the virtual rounds of the Sports Law Arbitration Moot (SLAM). Just shy of qualifying for the Grand SLAM Finals in Geneva, they are motivated to write their come-back story at Vis.

To make this incredible opportunity a reality, we are asking you today to help us cover the associated costs of participating. Between the registration fee, flights, hotels, transportation and meals for a three person team, the cost nears $10,000. A breakdown is below. Any donation to get us started will be appreciated beyonds words!

For additional information on how to support us through donations of hotel points, airline miles, or direct endowments through Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, please contact us directly.