Meet the NLU, Delhi team, second runners-up at Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot

The 8th Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot was held in March this year. Jindal Global Law School’s Asmita Singhvi, Kanika Mishra, Mallika Singh and Madhav Rangrass were the winners of the competition, with Mallika Singh also receiving the award for the Best Advocate. Singapore Management University were the runners-up..The team from National Law School, Delhi comprising of Marilyn JoannaKhakha, Akshaya Parthasarthy and Ravishankar M. were adjudged the second runners-up along with National University Singapore at the competition. In this e-mail interview, the NLU-D team shares their experiences with Bar & Bench’s Shreya Vajpei..(Excerpts).Shreya Vajpei: What made you choose this particular moot?.NLU, Delhi: Of the different options we had, we felt Frankfurt was the best since our seniors who had participated in the moot previously told us that it would be a rewarding experience..SV: What was the preparation phase like?.NLUD: The case study released on the last day of September and the National Rounds were in February. This gave us sufficient time to become familiar with the field of law- investment arbitration-as well as research on other areas of international law highlighted in our case study. We started preparing for the moot well in advance since we found investment arbitration intimidating at first. At that stage, qualifying to the international rounds itself was just a dream. However, as we researched more, we grew fond of investment arbitration..Our preparation was systematic. Each of us dealt with 3 issues and we regularly discussed our portions. We were ably guided by our faculty member who takes a seminar course on investment arbitration and our very helpful seniors. Once the research was done, we had many practice pleadings in order to perfect the tone of speaking, mannerisms, ability to answer questions, etc..SV: How would you rate the competition?.NLUD: It was an amazing experience. The wealth of experience the arbitrators brought to the table was overwhelming. Their feedback helped us evaluate our research and improve our speaking skills. Our competitors were very strong and each round of pleadings made us look at the problem and the law from a different perspective. The moot was a great learning platform..SV: Any special moments that you would like to share?.NLUD: Two special moments for us in the competition: When they announced that we broke first. It felt like all the hard work we had put in for the past five and a half months had finally paid off. Another memorable experience was when the author of the moot problem teared up after our semi-final pleadings because we were ‘living the problem’. It was a rewarding experience for us.