ASU law students place 2nd in international moot competition

ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law students won second place this month at the Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot competition in Hong Kong. ASU law students competed in a field of 100 teams from around the world.

Josh Offenhartz, Christopher Steckbauer, Sebastien Bauge and Ashley Ring comprised the ASU law team. They set a record as the highest placed ASU team in a Hong Kong or Vienna Vis competition after only five years of ASU participating. ASU advanced further than all other U.S. teams, including Harvard, Yale, NYU, University of Chicago, Georgetown and many others. ASU law students also earned Vis awards honors for brief writing and individual advocacy during the general rounds.

ASU professors Charles Calleros and Laura Coordes served as coaches for the team, with the assistance of several ASU graduates who formerly competed in the Vis. However, they credit the talent and hard work of the student advocates for their steady advance to the final round of the competition.

The team’s travel was funded primarily by the law firm of DLA Piper and secondarily by ASU's Graduate and Professional Student Association.

In the Vis moot, advocates argue questions of law and fact before a panel of three arbitrators, based on extensive research of international arbitration and sales law, and a very detailed factual record covering more than 60 pages. The argument format is much like that of any appellate judicial moot.