Berlin Premoot 2015

The Berlin Premoot 2015 took place from 5 to 7 March 2015 at the Faculty of Law of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 9, 10117 Berlin, and at nearby law firms. More than 20 teams from universities in over ten countries prepared there for the oral hearings of the Willem C. Vis Moot in Hong Kong and Vienna. The Premoot began on Thursday, 5 March, at 11:30 a.m. and ended on Saturday, 7 March, with a farewell event. The programme is available below under “Documents”.

• The following teams participated in the Berlin Premoot 2015:

  - Amsterdam (NL), Universiteit van Amsterdam
  - Berlin (D), Freie Universität Berlin
  - Berlin (D), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
  - Brno (CZ), Masarykova Universzita
  - Budapest (HU), Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem
  - Edinburgh (GB), University of Edinburgh
  - Freiburg (D), Albert-Ludwigs-Universität
  - Göttingen (D), Georg-August-Universität-Göttingen
  - Hanover (D), Leibniz Universität Hannover
  - Katowice (PL), Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach
  - Kiev (UA), National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv
  - Krakow (PL), Uniwersytet Jagielloński
  - Ljubljana (SLO), Univerza v Ljubljani
  - Lucerne (CH), Universität Luzern
  - Mainz (D), Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
  - Maribor (SLO), Univerza v Mariboru
  - Moscow (RU), Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова (MSU)
  - Nijmegen (NL), Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
  - Prague (CZ), Univerzita Karlova v Praze
  - Warsaw (PL), Uniwersytet Warszawski
  - Zurich (CH), Universität Zürich

We thank the arbitrators who heard the teams’ arguments and provided feedback to support their preparation for the Willem C. Vis Moot competitions in Hong Kong and Vienna.

- Organisational:

• Arbitrator Registration Form
• Schedule/Programm (as of 03.03.2015)
• Hearing Schedule (as of 05.03.2015 01:26)
• Location Plan - Buildings (2014, will be updated)
• Location Plan - Faculty Floor Plan (2014, will be updated)

- Case materials:

• The Problem
  The actual case materials. It essentially contains the correspondence between the Parties prior to the oral hearins.
• Analysis of the Problem
  The official analysis of the Problem for the arbitrators. It contains a summary of the facts as well as a rought outline of the arguments.
• Arbitrator Guideline
  A short description of the course of the hearings to give guidance to „newcomers“ at the Moot.

• ICC Arbitration Rules
  The main procedural rules.
• UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration
  It reflects the national procedural law of the participating states and supplements the ICC Arbitration Rules.
• New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards
  It governs the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, but is only of marginal relevance for the oral hearings.
• UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts
  They generally have a gap-filling function for the substantive law and represent the countries national law this year.
• CISG - United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods
  The CISG is the substantive law. This year, the Parties conflict mainly revolves around their applicability.

On Friday, 6 March 2015, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the conference session featured the following speakers,
Viktor von Essen (ICC Paris),
Lotta Knapp (Vinge Helsingborg, formerly SCC Stockholm),
Meike von Levetzow (Noerr Berlin) and
Amélie Skierka (WilmerHale London),
who will share their expeience with emergency arbitration and joinder in their arbitration practice.

Viktor von Essen is a Deputy Counsel at the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration since 2013. He works in the case management team dealing mainly with cases from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux and Nordic countries and manages up to 70 pending arbitration cases at any given time.
Viktor is a qualified German lawyer and is admitted to the bar in Frankfurt am Main. Prior to joining the ICC, he worked at the Institute of European and Comparative Law in Oxford (2009-2010) and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg (2007-2009).

Lotta Knapp is an associate at Vinge who specialises in the field of dispute resolution. She has an LL.M. from the University of Lund (2010) and joined the firm two years later after service as a law clerk in a district court. During her studies, she contested for Lund University in the Nordic Moot Competition on Human Rights.
Lotta Knapp has recently served as Legal Counsel at the Secretariat of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. She is the author of the updated report SCC Practice, regarding Emergency Arbitrator Proceedings at the SCC during 2014. She is also co-author to The International Comparative Legal Guide, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Sweden Chapter, 2013 and 2014. At Vinge, Lotta Knapp acts as counsel in litigation and arbitration proceedings.

Meike von Levetzow has many years of experience in national and international arbitration law and as a litigation lawyer before state courts. She specialises in commercial arbitration in the area of complex civil, commercial and corporate law disputes (e.g. supply relations, post-M&A disputes). In addition, she represents German and international companies before state courts, particularly in disputes under contractual and liability law and anti-trust damages cases. She also comprehensively advises and represents financial institutions in banking law.

Amélie Skierka is a counsel in the Litigation/Controversy Department of WilmerHale, and a member of the International Arbitration Practice Group. She joined the firm in 2008.
Ms. Skierka has experience with international arbitral proceedings with seats in Austria and Switzerland, and governed by various substantive and procedural laws.
Prior to joining WilmerHale, Ms. Skierka was an associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions Department at Jones Day in Paris, where she practiced across a range of industries including energy, mining and manufacturing.

Further information, updates as well as photos from the event can also be found on our facebook page under www.facebook.com/hma.berlin.