The first Spanish Moot Court competition

The first Spanish Moot Court competition brings an opportunity to law students to demonstrate their ability to face complex cases

Each year, European moot court competitions, managed by notable organizations such as Telders International Law Moot Court, ELSA Moot Court Competition, the Willem C. Vis among others, host dozens of teams from prominent law schools in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Typically, the cases involve intricate conflicts under international laws or treaties that, because of their wide-ranging application, are known to all participating teams. These conflicts generally relate to matters associated to Public International

Law, International Commercial Arbitration, WTO laws, International Criminal Law, Human Rights, Intellectual Property, International Environmental Law, Maritime Law European Competition Law and others areas of the law.

In Spain Thomson Reuters Aranzadi (TRA) and the Escuela de Técnica Jurídica (ETJ) recently joined efforts and resources, and started in Spain a moot that will confront Spanish law school teams made up of Spanish students on a case governed by substantive Spanish law to be heard before Spanish judges.

There are 12 universities involved – A Coruña, Deusto, Granada, ICADE Comillas, Jaen, Loyola, Málaga, Rey Juan Carlos, Rioja, San Pablo CEU, Sevilla and Valencia supported by law firms such as Allen &Overy, Baker McKenzie, CMS Albiñana y Suarez de Lezo, Corporate Defense, Eversheds Nicea, Fortuny Abogados, Herbert Smith Freehills, Hogan Lovells, Linklaters, Osborne Clarke, Perez Llorca and Ramon y Cajal.

By mid- March the hearings will take place at ETJ’s premises in Madrid, which features an exact replica of a Spanish courtroom, including its recording system and a gown chamber like in real life. The organizers asked the judges to decide the best team for the accusation and the best team for the defense.

The project caught the attention of companies with a large in-house counsel capability such as Gamesa, Mutualia and Aenor, and these have volunteered internships to the winning teams.

In sum, a great start to boost the talents of today’s most demanded lawyering skills. According to Delfina Ayerza, Professional Development Director of Thomson Reuters in Spain, “this initiative will hopefully set the tone for the development of internal mooting departments in all Spanish law schools, a project in which we are already working.”