Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University student team places among top 10% of teams at Vis moot
Congratulations to the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University student team for placing among the top 32 out of almost 400 teams at the 28th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. This accomplishment puts the Pace team in the top 10% of teams, worldwide. This success comes after eight months of preparation and six rounds of arguments (including rounds at 2:00 AM and 5:00 AM). The team’s hard work and diligent preparation resulted in getting the team to these semi-final rounds.
This year’s team members included: Katelyn Rauh, 3L (captain, brief writer, and oralist), Kayla Kosack, 2L (brief writer and oralist); Audra Gale, 2L (brief writer and oralist), Melanie Schlosser, 2L (brief writer and oralist), and Krittika ‘Kye’ Shah, 2L (brief writer and oralist). The team was also mentored and coached by their extremely dedicated coaches: Linda Wayner, Bryn Goodman, Amanda Brody, and Celia Morel. Notably, Bryn, Celia, and Amanda are all Pace Vis alumni, and Linda practices in international commercial law and is an adjunct professor at Pace.
Captain of this year’s team, Katelyn Rauh, notes, “The key to our team’s success was practice. After we finished our briefs in January, we immediately transitioned to preparing for oral arguments. We participated in six external practice competitions—such as the Prague Pre-Moot, the Fordham Pre-Moot, and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution Moot—and we had weekly internal competitions arbitrated by Pace Vis alumni. These practice competitions helped us develop our arguments and learn how to engage with the arbitrators through Zoom, which was admittedly difficult at first. Thankfully, we had extremely talented and dedicated team members, each of whom brought different strengths to the table. We also had coaches who believed in us and pushed us to be our best! I believe our success this year will help build a strong foundation for Pace’s future success in Vienna.”
Haub Law 2L and member of this year’s Pace Vis team, Audra Gale, shared, "When we found out that we advanced to the elimination rounds, first, the round of 64, and then the round of 32, my heart skipped a beat. It came as such a rush and confidence boost because we competed against such incredible teams across the globe. Because of the sheer number of teams participating, I knew this was no small feat. My advocacy skills have grown immensely from the amount of time, practice, and preparation we put into the Vis so it was nothing short of an incredible feeling to know that work and our progress shone through to the arbitrators. The Vis is like nothing else because of how many lives it touches – you get feedback from arbitrators around the world and go head-to-head with teams from all over as well. That’s why advancing this far means so much – it places us amongst the top 10% of student international commercial arbitrators around the world."
Professor Darren Rosenblum, who is a member of the Verein (governing board) of the Moot, commented, “I can say that the leadership of the Moot did a phenomenal job last year in moving online with great speed, and this year in perfecting the online moot. The hypothetical this year – involving a pandemic – was timely and challenging. I was not surprised at all to see this team of stellar students excel in the worldwide rounds.”
Professor Louis V. Fasulo, Director of Advocacy, Moot Court and Client Counseling programs, remarked, “In these challenging times our students and faculty coaches continue to excel through determination, hard work and collaboration. These students exemplified the best of the best as they made their mark in this international forum. I am so proud of this accomplishment.”
The Trial Advocacy program at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law was ranked #24 in the Nation by the most recent U.S. News and World Report rankings.
