Law students’ interest in arbitration competitions and other dispute resolution methods grows in several regions of Brazil and the world with CAM-CCBC’s support

By Estela Cangerana

The weekend of February 15th and 16th promises to be intense for around 300 students from 36 Law schools from different regions of Brazil and countries such as Argentina and Germany. The teams will be gathered in the capital city of São Paulo for one of the largest Brazilian academic arbitration competitions in 2020, the São Paulo Pre-Moot. The increasing success of the Pre-Moot promoted by CAM-CCBC ten years ago shows the exponential increase in the interest of future Brazilian professionals in the appropriate methods of dispute resolution (ADR), in a movement that is increasingly spreading to other regions of the country and impacts national performance in the most important international disputes.

In 2019, Brazil was the second country with the highest number of universities participating in The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, the Vis Moot of Vienna (Austria), the main global arbitration competition, which takes place every year in April. 34 Brazilian teams participated in it, behind only the United States. According to the event director, Prof. Stefan Kröll, Ph.D., this impressive Brazilian presence was mainly due to the support and promotion that CAM-CCBC has been dedicating to the development of these young professionals.

The effort began in 2009 and includes organizing Pre-Moots, team sponsorships, training, and publicity activities. In 2017, the CAM regulation was even used as a rule in the Vienna and Hong Kong Vis-Moots. Regarding this year’s competition, the Center is sponsoring the participation of eight Brazilian teams that will go to the Vienna Vis Moot and three teams that will participate in the Hong Kong Vis Moot.

After the São Paulo event in February, the calendar of academic battles remains intense. It includes the Corporate Arbitration Competition – CAEMP, from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul – PUC-RS), which has the support of CAM and uses its rules in the case, and the IBA-VIAC CDRC Vienna (The Consensual Dispute Resolution Competition), which deals with mediation and negotiation and takes place in July.

Regionalization and opportunities

One of the highlights of the year will be the first edition of the North-Northeast Mediation and Arbitration Competition, which will take place in João Pessoa (State of Paraíba), at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), on June 6 and 7. The dispute, which is open for registration, should bring together teams from at least eight states.

“We want everyone to have the opportunity to have this experience, which is of paramount importance for students in several aspects as it takes into practice the theory learned in the classroom”, says the attorney Maria Roseli Candido Costa, partner of Candido Costa & Cancio Advogados Associados, coach of the UFPB students and organizer of the North-Northeast Competition, alongside Prof. Ana Paula Correia de Albuquerque da Costa, Ph.D.

In addition to the practical aspects of the training, such as the students’ posture and oratory, the ADR academic disputes also reflect on other ways of thinking about dispute resolution, as explained by Candido Costa. “With this, we prepare the professional not only for arbitration but also for litigation. There is a lot of research, a lot of writing. Young people who participate in these competitions acquire different skills and are much better prepared for the labor market. Usually, they are quickly employed”, she points out.

Due to the physical distance and lack of access to resources, many students from outside the big cities in the Southeast and South regions of Brazil did not have access to this type of development opportunity. This shortage is now being remedied with actions such as the regional event, which has CAM-CCBC’s support. “CAM-CCBC’s help was essential. Without it, I don’t know if the competition would be possible, not only for the financial assistance but also for the support and credibility of the most important Brazilian institution in the sector”, says the organizer.

In this first edition, the dispute pays tribute to the 11^th President of Brazil, Epitácio Pessoa, the jurist from Paraíba who used arbitration in 1920 to resolve a dispute between the States of Piauí and Ceará.

 

To learn more:

CAM-CCBC Pre-Moots: https://www.mootcam.com.br/
Vienna Vis-Moot: https://vismoot.pace.edu/
Vienna CDRC: https://www.cdrcvienna.org/
CAEMP: https://www.facebook.com/competicaodearbitragem/
North-Northeast Mediation and Arbitration Competition: https://www.congressomedarb.com.br