• Domestic Competitions •

ABA Arbitration Competition (Regional/National)

The ABA Law Student Division's Arbitration Competition promotes greater knowledge in arbitration by simulating a realistic arbitration hearing. Participants prepare and present an arbitration case, including opening statements, witness examinations, exhibit introductions, evidentiary presentations, and summations. Experience what it is to be a professional, competent, and ethical advocate.

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ABA Client Counseling Competition (Regional/National)

The ABA Law Student Division's Client Counseling Competition simulates a law office consultation in which law students, acting as attorneys, are presented with a client matter. They conduct an interview with a person playing the role of the client and then explain how they would proceed further in the hypothetical situation.

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ABA Mediation Competition (Regional/National)

Representing clients in a mediation setting is an essential skill for lawyers. This competition, in which law students role-play as advocates and clients in a mediation setting, measures how well students model appropriate preparation for and representation of a client in mediation as well as provides students a valuable opportunity to experience the mediation process.

Each team consists of two students. In each round of the competition one student plays the role of an attorney in a mediation and the other student plays the role of the client. The students are judged on preparation, teamwork, how well the interests of the client are represented, using opportunities in the mediation process, and other elements of effective advocacy in mediation.

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International Law School Mediation Tournament (Chicago, IL)

Please join us in a tournament designed to train students to be mediators and effectively represent clients in mediation. The tournament is not only educational, but enables students with common goals and interests to work together and share ideas.

This tournament features: three students per team; mediator training provided Thursday afternoon and attorney advocacy training Friday morning; three preliminary rounds. Each team member must co-mediate (with a student from another school) one round; the two remaining team members constitute the attorney/client team and represent either the plaintiff or defendant in the round.

< Georgetown has attended this competition in the past, but not in recent years - it is a hybrid competition/conference with less emphasis on competition - this is the only competition to include students' participation as mediators >

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ABA Negotiation Competition (Regional/National)

The ABA Law Student Division's Negotiation Competition promotes greater interest among law students in legal negotiation and provides a means for them to practice and improve their negotiating skills. The competition simulates legal negotiations in which law students, acting as lawyers, negotiate a series of legal problems. The simulations consist of a common set of facts known by all participants and confidential information known only to the participants representing a particular side. All of the simulations deal with the same general topic, but the negotiation situation varies with each round and level of the competition.

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Merhige National Environmental Negotiation Competition (Richmond, VA)

The Robert R. Merhige, Jr. National Environmental Negotiation Competition is held at the University of Richmond Law School in honor of the late United States District Court Judge. A graduate of the T.C. Williams School of Law, Judge Merhige presided over several groundbreaking cases, including the desegregation of Virginia schools in 1972 and the admittance of female students at the University of Virginia in 1970. Over the course of his thirty-one years on the bench, Judge Merhige showed a sincere commitment to the environment, imposing a $13 million fine against Allied Chemical for its pollution of the James River and Chesapeake Bay with the insecticide Kepone and encouraging the company to institute an $8 million cleanup fund. Judge Merhige retired in 1998 and returned to private practice at the law firm of Hunton & Williams. Sadly, Judge Merhige passed away in 2005. Each year, the University of Richmond Client Counseling and Negotiation Board honors his legacy through the spirit of this competition.

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NBLSA International (Multi-Party) Negotiations Competition

The 2007-2008 National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) International Negotiations Competition was created to provide NBLSA members with realistic exposure to alternative dispute resolution. The Competition was also designed to promote NBLSA International Relations and foster positive relationships between NBLSA members and other law students around the world. The competition requires participants to demonstrate oral advocacy and bargaining skills in a competitive environment. 2008 Competition Problem featured 12 parties from 6 countries in a massive multi-party negotiation.

< Georgetown has not yet attended this new competition, but may do so in future seasons >

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• International Competitions •

VIS West International Commercial Arbitration Moot (Vienna, AUSTRIA)

VIS East International Commercial Arbitration Moot (Hong Kong, CHINA)

GOAL: The goal of the Vis Arbitral Moot is to foster the study of international commercial law and arbitration for resolution of international business disputes through its application to a concrete problem of a client and to train law leaders of tomorrow in methods of alternative dispute resolution.

STRUCTURE: The business community's marked preference for resolving international commercial disputes by arbitration is the reason this method of dispute resolution was selected as the clinical tool to train law students through two crucial phases: the writing of memorandums for claimant and respondent and the hearing of oral argument based upon the memorandums -- both settled by arbitral experts in the issues considered. The forensic and written exercises require determining questions of contract -- flowing from a transaction relating to the sale or purchase of goods under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and other uniform international commercial law -- in the context of an arbitration of a dispute under specified Arbitration Rules.

In the pairings of teams for each general round of the forensic and written exercises, every effort is made to have civil law schools argue against common law schools -- so each may learn from approaches taken by persons trained in another legal culture. Similarly, the teams of arbitrators judging each round are from both common law and civil law backgrounds.

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ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition (Paris, FRANCE)

Inaugurated in 2006, the annual ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) International Mediation Competition is organized by the Amicable Dispute Resolution (ADR) division. The competition brings together law schools from all over the world, giving students an opportunity to test their problem-solving skills in a mock international mediation, and to meet experts from diverse legal and professional backgrounds.

Although competition problems are designed to test law students' skills as counsel and client to a commerical mediation, the experience is greatly enhanced by any background in business, accounting or finance.

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FIAC International Student Moot Court (Frankfurt am Main, GERMANY)

The competition involves a dispute (“Case-Study”) arising out of international investment protection law and provisions of a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and will be available on 1. September 2007 on the homepage of the moot at www.investmentmoot.org and on the website of the Wilhelm Merton Centre (www.merton-zentrum.uni-frankfurt.de/).

The focus of the moot court will be on oral presentation before an arbitral tribunal. Participants will therefore not need to prepare full written memorials, but only skeleton arguments outlining the arguments for both claimant and respondent. The skeleton arguments will be submitted to the Wilhelm Merton Centre by 18 January 2008 and will be exchanged with the opposing team one hour before each hearing. The hearings will be held on Friday, 15 February 2008 (general rounds and semi-finals) and Saturday afternoon, 16 February 2008 (final) at the Frankfurt am Main Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI).

< Georgetown has not yet attended this competition, but may do so in the future >

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International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot Competition (Melbourne, AUSTRALIA)

This competition engages students in simulated maritime law arbitral proceedings.

The written component of the competition requires the teams to prepare a forty page memoranda in support of either the claimant or the respondent. This aspect of the competition is judged by an international panel of maritime lawyers and arbitrators.

The oral component of the competition requires each team to argue four times in the general rounds, twice for the claimant and twice for the respondent. Distinguished members of the legal profession and shipping industry participate as arbitrators.

< Georgetown has not yet attended this competition, but may do so in the future >

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The Negotiation Challenge (Leipzig, GERMANY)

The Negotiation Challenge (TNC) contributes to the preparation of students for the more and more complex aspects of negotiation. The contest allows students from leading universities all over the world to come together and compete against each other in realistic negotiation situations. Thereby, the students not only need to apply their acquired negotiation skills, but also have to work in groups and demonstrate their team spirit. Participating in TNC offers a great opportunity to experience diverse ways of negotiation and to meet people from various countries with different backgrounds and cultures.

The contest is jointly organized by Harvard Law School and Leipzig Graduate School of Management and is one of only few international negotiation competitions in the world.  Both, its internationalism and the excellence of students and institutions involved are what make The Negotiation Challenge so unique.

< Georgetown has not yet attended this competition, but may do so in future seasons >

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• Online Competitions •

International Law School Negotiation and Mediation Competition (ONLINE)

This unique new competition for law schools worldwide includes the 2008 International Competition for Online Dispute Resolution (ICODR 2008) in which 270 teams from law schools around the world have competed since its commencement. The competition covers client instruction, case pleading, negotiation and mediation in the field of commercial dispute resolution.

The competition takes place online with each match run in a dedicated webfile using the bespoke software of The MediationRoom.com Each team can include not only the negotiating members (usually 3 or 4) but an unlimited number of fellow students to follow negotiations and post suggestions in a private team area.

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The International eNegotiation Tournament (ONLINE)

The purpose of the International eNegotiation Tournament is to increase awareness of emerging eNegotiation technology and provide education about effective online negotiation and dispute resolution. Participation is open to anyone, anywhere in the world. Competitors include university students, practitioners seeking continuing education, and ADR enthusiasts. A wide variety of disciplines are represented including conflict resolution, labor relations, industrial relations, law, and general business. Participants negotiate the outcomes of a number of pre-defined issues in a hypothetical negotiation case.

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