Congratulations, Dispute Resolution Board and Vis Team!
For the fifth year in a row, Stetson’s Dispute Resolution Board has won the Florida Bar International Law Section’s Richard DeWitt Memorial Vis Pre-Moot in Miami. In fact, Stetson swept the awards this year, with our team taking first place and team member Taylor Simonds receiving the Best Oralist award. This marks the thirteenth time Stetson has won the competition and the eighth time we have won the Best Oralist designation during the 17 years that the Florida Bar International Law Section has sponsored the competition.
Don’t be fooled by the word “Florida” in the name: this year, teams representing fourteen schools from around the world competed, including schools from Hong Kong, Brazil, India, Germany, and China as well as Canada and the United States. So the DR Board banner will be proudly waving again this week to recognize student coach Joseph Kim and team members Pedro Jimenez Lopez, Sierra Demartino, Mario Makram, Ben Lazarus, Jessica Zelitt, and Taylor Simonds. Notably, all of the team members were competing for Stetson for the very first time; what a great debut!
This competition is in preparation for the 29th annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot and the 19th Vis East Moot. Although these competitions normally take place in Vienna and Hong Kong respectively, this year our teams will be competing virtually. These competitions are enormous events on the world stage; our teams will be facing off against hundreds of teams from all over the world.
Great job, team, and a very special thanks to Coach Matt Ceriale and Professors Vaughan and Morrissey, who have invested countless hours coaching and mentoring these students, giving them feedback, guiding them through the memorandum-writing process, and getting them ready to compete! We look forward to cheering you on for “the big show” in a few short weeks.