Meet the NLU Jodhpur, runners-up at the ELSA WTO Moot

The ELSA WTO Moot Court Competition which was held last week saw strong performances by the Indian teams. Three out of four semi-finalists were Indian, with the lone exception being Harvard Law School..The team from NUJS winning the competition. The team from NLU-Jodhpur comprising of Vatsal Vasudev, Rhea Jha and Sudipt Parth were the runners-up at the competition..In this e-mail interview, Shreya Vajpei talks to Vatsal from the NLU-Jodhpur team on his experience at the competition..Shreya Vajpei: What made you choose this particular moot?.Vatsal Vasudev: I was keenly interested in International Trade Law before I took up this moot. I took part in the intra-University Moot Court Competition with the specific aim of getting this moot. Based on my rank, I could have picked other moots which are traditionally considered to be more prestigious that ELSA, but I stuck to it because it involved Trade Law..SV: What was the preparation phase like?.VV: The preparation phase was intense. We began preparing as soon as the team was formed. All of my teammates were my juniors who had not done a course on Trade Law yet, so I drew up a schedule of “extra classes” of sorts where some of my batchmates and I took lectures on important trade law topics so that everyone in the team was equipped with the basics before the problem released. In the vacations, I decided to give up a second internship so that I could focus on research..Ten days before the oral rounds were to begin in Manila, we shifted base to Delhi where we practiced before some of the alumni from our University who are working in the field of trade law..SV: How would you rate the competition?.VV: The competition is amazing. The kind of exposure it provides is unparalleled. I think it is somewhat underrated in the Indian mooting circles. It is the Wimbledon of Trade Law..SV: Any special moments that you would like to share?.VV: Beating Harvard in the semifinals and pleading at the World Trade Organization, before some of the biggest names in the discipline.