Tallinn University Law Students’ Experience at the 2026 Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Competition
Tallinn University Law Students Harshita Mardikar, Sabina Sawicka, Laura Taklaja, Hitesh Bhaskar, Anna Debora Lohoff, Aku Petteri Karjalainen participated in the 2026 Vis Moot. They were expertly coached by Dr Phillip W. Graves (Lecturer of Private Law) and Emilia Celina Miller (President of the Tallinn University Mooting Society).
Participating in the 33rd Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot was deeply enriching and valuable for the Tallinn University Law students’ team. It was exciting, and it brought us a lot of joy and became a meaningful experience! For almost 9 whole months, we restlessly worked on a delivery of the best performance we could give on a case, which didn’t even exist! It challenged us, improved our research skills and oral advocacy greatly, and allowed us to network and meet a variety of legal professionals, partners at law firms and arbitrators from all over the world.
Our team arrived in Vienna on 27.03.2026 with an early flight connecting via Riga, as half of the team was travelling from Helsinki and the other half from Tallinn. Besides meeting each other in Riga we met three other Baltic Teams. Sharing the same plane, we all together successfully landed in Vienna, after figuring out the local transport and arriving at the hotel.
In the evening of the same day, we visited the opening ceremony of the Vis Moot competition held at the Vienna Konzerthaus. Wonderful chandeliers, huge open spaces were overfilled with the ambitious students who couldn’t believe that they had finally made it. Having heard the inspiring speeches of the organizers, followed by the creative video explaining the case and the hilarious songs about the case we had worked on endlessly, we felt our anticipation building at the fact that we had finally made it.
The general rounds of the competition consisted of 4 sessions at which the team got to represent both sides to the dispute at hand. The rounds proved that all the research, drafting and practice sessions paid off and led to the success in the competition. The opportunity to not only demonstrate our skills and knowledge but to also meet the opposing teams, hear their arguments and connect with fellow participants was an amazing experience that every law student should strive to obtain.
Sabina and Hitesh: The first day of the pleadings, 28.03, we went up against MA students from the University of Lorraine. The panel of arbitrators was composed of friendly professionals, however the nerves were still quite high - after all, this was truly it! We pleaded on behalf of the Respondent, and demonstrated exceptional team work and confidence, which the arbitrators complimented us on. It was definitely great to have them notice all the work we had put in.
Harshita and Laura: The second day, 29.03, we represented the Claimant, and had early pleadings at a different campus of the University of Vienna, against the University of South China. It was a never ending maze, however, not only did our team arrive ahead of time, but delivered well prepared speeches and answered the complicated questions confidently. After a successful pleading, we had a little celebration with some lunch. We felt quite relieved, yet excited for the next session. It showed just how much effort we had taken, and emphasized how this case had truly developed our interest in arbitration.
Sabina: On the third day, 30.03, we met the Nirma University. At this point of the competition, we were fairly confident that we could deliver a good pleading regardless of any panel - we even found it to be a pity that the speeches were restricted to a 14 minute timelimit!
Laura: On the final day of pleadings, 31.03, we represented the Claimant and went up against UCLA. Though the nerves were high, our team can honestly say that it was one of the most memorable rounds we had.
Hitesh: Of course, it wasn’t all work, and we had our fair share of play. Apart from the oral rounds, the team attended various social events, including parties at the Moot Bar Aux Gazelles, that allowed us to connect with the arbitrators, partners from all over the world, coaches, and participants in a much more informal way which contributed to the spirit of the competition, and allowed us to form strong connections that will no doubt prove invaluable for our future careers.
We are extremely grateful to the competition also for offering us a special chance to meet the Vis teams from the Baltic countries, at the Baltic Vis Moot Meeting on the 1st of April. We exchanged our experiences at the moot with the teams from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and also got to hear from His Excellency, the Estonian ambassador to Austria. This event allowed for better cooperation between the universities in the Baltic countries, and these connections are extremely valuable for the future participants of the Vis Moot.
Harshita: All in all, it was such a rewarding experience - being able to travel to Austria, representing our own University, and by extension, our country - meeting students who had also spent hours every day poring over the case, and visiting beautiful venues where the events were held.
We encourage all law students to get this experience of participating in an international moot court competition as it truly makes you an experienced future legal professional, allows for strong international connections, and develops skills that are quite hard to gain in the classroom. We are grateful to have had this opportunity, and proud to represent Tallinn University!