In conversation with GNLU team that won Fali S. Nariman Award at Vis East

The team from GNLU was adjudged as the winner of the Fali S. Nariman Award for the Best Respondent Written Submission at the 18th Willem C Vis East International Arbitration Moot.

The team was also awarded with an Honourable Mention for the David Hunter Award for the Best Claimant Written Submission.

The team consisted of Yash Khanna and Kunal Parekh as the speakers for merit and procedure respectively.

The researchers were Ananya Mohapatra , Sanjali Rupnawar, Hritvik Mohan and Khushi Parekh. All the team members were from the batch of 2019-2024.

The Vis. Moot deals with the realm of Commercial Arbitration Law discussing issues contemporary to procedure of arbitral proceedings and the substantive merits of contracts.

This year’s problem dealt with a commercial dispute between vaccine developers who are striving to make a vaccine to combat the Covid-19 virus. Interestingly, this year’s problem involved an element of IP Law and third-party rights over patents and its relation to the Convention on the International Sale of Goods.

Campus Ambassador Gyanda Kakar conducted an interview with GNLU team. This is what they had to say.

(Edited excerpts)

Moot Courts Competitions are indeed a team effort and positive team dynamics go a long way, how were you able to handle your differences especially since it was challenging to work remotely?

It is undeniable that an offline moot has a different feel than a virtual moot. However, our preparation and coordination through the virtual medium proved to make the experience a fruitful one. In any moot - whether offline or online – communication is key.

The team members had meetings almost every day to discuss the multiple facets of the problem and strategize our arguments. While confusion is bound to arise due to teammates working from different locations, the key to overcome that is constant contact with our teammates. This was our team’s belief from the get-go and helped in us maintain clarity with one another.

Owing to the pandemic, the moot was conducted virtually. Can you elaborate on how was the virtual mooting experience different compared to your previous in person moot court experiences?

Virtual mooting was a new experience for most of us. Instead of a traditional set up where all teammates could sit together and prepare for the moot, we were in 6 different places. So, the entire process of preparation was a lot different as compared to in-person moots. Discussion of moot problem, drafting of memo, practice rounds, everything happened online over Zoom calls.

Attending the oral rounds virtually also added to this new experience. An important part of the experience of in-person moots is to interact with other teams and judges.

Although virtual breakout rooms made it possible to have some interaction, it was limited due to the virtual format.

How did you approach the moot? What were your strategies towards approaching the moot problem?

I think the main strategy that really helped us is to fully explore and understand the moot problem. Dissecting every paragraph, and reading them over and over again really gave us an insight into what is demanded from it.

Furthermore, we listed out what was needed over and above what Indian moots usually expect. For example, sorter and crisper arguments, combination of civil and common law authorities, etc. One thing all of really prioritized is to learn how to organize our approach to the moot. We set internal and external deadlines for the team, divided the formatting work and figured out a way to work together while being hundreds of miles away.

This is essential when 6 people are working together. I think what really helped us strategy-wise is to meticulously study memorandums from past winners, combine our style with what is tried and tested, and find our own groove.

How were you able to balance the rigorous preparations, internships, and the mounting academic pressure?

All of us had various internships during the Vis process and we also had to give 2 sets of end-semester exams close to the Claimant as well as the Respondent Memo submission deadlines.

Considering the number of parallel commitments, we had, it became imperative for us to understand each other’s schedules and learn to work around it.

Sticking to our internal deadlines and timings of team meetings or calls was extremely important.

Through this process, we learnt the crucial skill of time management, team work, and the significance of having trust in each other’s capabilities.

How did the seniors, and faculty at GNLU contribute to this win?

Our seniors have gainfully contributed to our prep. We found the aid of our seniors rather helpful while prepping for oral rounds.

With regards to memo-making, we were provided comprehensive inputs on the quality of our arguments and drafting style. Overall, those seniors who had formerly participated in Vis recounted their experiences, learnings and even failings which gave us a flavor of all that Vis encompasses.

In your opinion, how important is doing proper legal research and how can law students equip themselves with legal research skills?

Good and proper legal research lies at the heart of a mooting experience and is indispensable to doing well in a moot. The quality of the legal arguments is the primary touchstone on which the performance of the team in assessed.

Few ways to build up on research skills are, as per our experience, knowing one`s field of interest and constantly reading and staying up to date about it, doing research-based internships, reaching out to people specializing in the area of interest and learning from their works.

Lastly, are there any tips/pointers you could share with the future participants and aspirants, especially for the drafting the written submissions?

When it comes to drafting, identify the various lines of argument that you wish to explore and flesh each one of them out completely. Follow IRAC in each paragraph and ensure that the “law” and the “facts” are drafted in such a manner that they flow logically.

This ensures that the reader can easily understand what you are trying to express. Ensure that there is uniformity in terms of the language and style used. With multiple people working on the same memo, it is inevitable for differences in drafting to creep up.

Dedicate at least two days before submission in ensuring uniformity in drafting.

Finally, use Word well. Fidget with the para spacing options, header and footer, indentation, and margins to ensure that your memo looks good on first glance. This will always give you brownie points.