International Programs
Moot Competitions
Arbitration Moot Court
New programs at UT Law are increasingly sending students
to Europe, Africa, and Central America, where
they debate, study, and experience events firsthand.
In 1996 Professor Alan Rau started helping students prepare for and fund trips to the annual Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna, Austria. “This competition is an excellent experience for students who want to experience an international practice while still in law school,” says Rau, who is the Robert F. Windfohr and Anne Burnett Windfohr Professor of Law. “It helps our students learn in areas that go far beyond what our curriculum provides.”
At the moot, students learn about international commercial law by competing with their global peers and by practicing arbitration, the standard method by which international commercial disputes are settled. More than one hundred teams from forty countries competed in 2003. Students meet and talk with international arbitrators, practicing lawyers from all over the world, which prepares them for their own international practice.
“We’ve been delighted with the success our teams have experienced in the Austrian competition,” says Dean Bill Powers. “Alan has done a great job of coordinating the true team efforts of students, alumni, and those who sponsored the team at Cox & Smith; Fulbright & Jaworski; King & Spalding; Loeffler, Jonas & Tuggey; and Vinson & Elkins. We couldn’t attend without the generous support and time each has contributed, and we couldn’t succeed without great students.”