Student Testimonials

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Jessica Marroquin

In preparation for the Moot Madrid competition our team invested a great amount of time and effort, which culminated in an exciting week of oral rounds at some of the most prestigious law firms in Madrid. Representing our school in the competition gave us the opportunity to network with distinguished professionals in the field of international arbitration and compete alongside students from around the world also interested in this field of law. All in all, the competition was a thoroughly rewarding experience.

Diogo Pereira

My experience with the UM International Moot Court Board gave me unparalleled practical experience. Through the competitions with the board, I strengthend my substantive knowledge of international law and sharpened my litigation skills. The training recieve through the program gave me a greater awareness of my body language and vocal style and taught me to play to my strenghts in order to persuade. These skills were essential in bieng honored in International competitions but are also skills that are usefull in an interview settings. The board furthermore gave me an opportunity to meet many like-minded students from around the world and to meet impressive professionals in the fields of law that most interest me. The two competitions I participated in (VIS and MootMadrid) were essential in helping me secure my current employment. They allowed me to demonstrate my knowledge of International Arbitration in a global setting in both English and Spanish. I am currently working for the International Arbitration group at the Paris office Shearman & Sterling LLP where I have been hard at work dealing with real matters in English Spanish and Portuguese. The training I received through my coursework and my Mooting experience has made me very comfortable in this environment and comfortable with cutting edge issues in International Arbitration.

Juliana Lopes

It was a tremendous experience. Mainly for me, to have a chance to argue in a language other than my primary language which is portuguese. I have learned during the entire process, since we started to do the research, we really studied in depth the international conventions like the CIGS, the Ottawa Convention, the UNCITRAL Model Law, among others. In Madrid, we met students from all over the world and were able to fell what it is to be part of an international arbitral proceeding. The arbitrators were very professional and in certain occasions even tough on us, but it is all part of the learning experience. Unfortunately we did not win the competition, but we certainly won a very large amount of practical experience. Simply awesome!

Eloris Snyder

Participating on the IMCB's Jessup International Moot Court team was my most valued experience throughout law school. I was given the opportunity to develop strong relationships with professors, students, and attorneys in the South Florida community that are passionate about Public International Law. I gained valuabe experience researching law, drafting legal arguments, and advocating. It was a rewarding experience that I am grateful to have been a part of for two years, and I will continue to draw upon the skills I learned.

Kevin Huber

My experience with Vis this past year was also the best experience of my law school career. When I was selected to the team in September I joined a team with some experienced competitors and I have to say I was a bit intimidated. However, with months of practice from three stellar coaches as well as learning from and being encouraged by my teammates we eventually formed into a very strong group of competitors. A group in which all 5 participants became an interchangeable team. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more and more about arbitration and dissecting the problem. I thought it was the best way to learn a subject, because it was through practical application.

However, beyond the academic endeavor, what I loved most about participating in Vis was competing with, interacting with and becoming friends with fellow competitors from around the world. Having participated in 3 pre-moots before the competition in Vienna we were able to become very comfortable arguing the problem in a formal setting. We also we able to meet numerous teams again and again and establish lasting relationships with them. It was a wonderful experience to be able to learn from students who may be studying law in a different way or different place but going through many of the same trials and tribulations we were.

Julia Kosinski

I felt very excited and proud of our performance in the Inter-American Competition in D.C., and we left the competition with the confidence that we represented ourselves, our school, and even our country, in a wonderful light. The comments from the judges in each of our 3 preliminary rounds also supported our confidence - we were told we had great poise, knew the arguments very well, made excellent eye contact with the judges, were respectful and yet, forceful and confident with our arguments.

I had an overall wonderful experience and we were very pleased with our performance at the competition. We also met many great and interesting students and even made some truly great friends.