Vis International Commercial Arbitration Competition Hong Kong: www.cisgmoot.org

1. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Competition Hong Kong: www.cisgmoot.org October 5:    Problem Distributed December 6: Claimant’s Brief Due January 17: Respondent’s Brief Due March 3: Welcome Party March 4 – 7: General Rounds March 8: Eighth, Quarter, and Semi Finals Rounds March 9: Final Rounds Questions? Contact us! Kari Konikowski: kmkonikowski@uh.edu; Heleina L. Formoso Coaches: Professor Ben Sheppard: bsheppard@uh.edu, Ann Ryan Robertson: annryrob@aol.com

2. Last Year: Quarter Finals. This Year: Victory! Vis Competition 2008 What is the Format for the Vis Competition? • There are four preliminary rounds – the team argues once each day. Depending on how the team is constructed, as a speaker you could conceivably argue in each of the preliminary rounds. • Each round will include one person arguing jurisdiction and one person arguing the Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG). • The argument is delivered while sitting down. • The panel of arbitrators typically consists of 3 people. (In general, judges are international arbitrators representing various worldwide law firms.) • Last year, we argued against the following schools: • Deakin University, Australia • Padjajaran University, Indonesia • National University of Juridical Sciences Kolkata, India • Universidade de Coruna, Spain • University Law College Bangladore, India – Quarter-Finals

3. Last Year: Quarter Finals. This Year: Victory! Vis Competition 2008 What Did You Do for Fun? • Our first priority was the competition, of course! However, we did manage to find time for fun as well … • We took a pontoon boat to a remote island for a seafood dinner with other teams, and later, we danced the night away at the Closing Party downtown • We befriended a Hong Kong native who hosted us at his swanky karaoke bar (and sang in Chinese)! • We enjoyed dinner while watching the infamous laser light show along the Hong Kong coast • We bargained for fabric and souvenirs at the open air markets • The girls enjoyed Eastern spa treatments for amazing prices • We built great friendships with team members and coaches from both German teams

4. Last Year: Quarter Finals. This Year: Victory! Vis Competition 2008 What is Hong Kong Like? • Modern • Clean • Extremely hospitable • Almost everyone speaks English • Excellent food … but for those of you who are not “epicurious,” you can find McDonald’s and Outback Steakhouse everywhere

5. Last Year: Quarter Finals. This Year: Victory! Vis Competition 2008 What’s the Time Commitment? This competition is time-consuming, but any competition team you join will require hours of practice and preparation. You should focus on the experience you will have and the subject matter involved. Talk to a previous team member to hear about his or her personal experience with any competition, and I’m sure you’ll realize the time commitment is well worth it! Specifically, this competition begins on October 5 and ends on March 9. Depending on when you schedule classes and your flight, you will likely miss a little over one week of class (or 2 – 3 class sessions for each class). In addition, if Spring Break is scheduled for March 11 – 14, then you may want to spend the week traveling through China or visiting The Philippines! I hope to see you at tryouts on 9/29!