Clifford Chance

A team from Turin University and one from Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University win the 8th Paris International Arbitration Competition

The final stage of the Paris International Arbitration Competition was held on Thursday 30st May 2013 at Sciences Po.

The Competition was organized for the 8th consecutive year by Sciences Po Law School and the International law firm Clifford Chance in partnership with Editions Lamy/Wolters Kluwer, the Total Group and the International Chamber of Commerce.

This competition is open to students preparing for a Master's degree-level qualification or a qualification crowning higher law studies and to pupils from bar training schools or lawyers' professional training centres.

The day before, Wednesday 29th May 2013, at the semi-final stage bringing together 8 teams, the members of the judging panel had selected 4 teams on the basis of the quality of their written submissions and pleadings. The four teams remaining at the final stage pleaded their cases before a simulated arbitration court made up of:

• Gérard Pluyette, Senior Counsellor of the 1st Civil Division of the Supreme Court;
• Raymond Ranjeva, former Vice-President of the International Court of Justice;
• Loretta Malintoppi, Vice-President of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC, Of Counsel,  Eversheds;
• Diego P. Fernández Arroyo, Professor at Sciences Po Law School;
• Jean-Pierre Grandjean, Partner, Clifford Chance.

After deliberation, the simulated arbitration court awarded the first prize to the team from Turin University (Laurea Magistrale in Giurisprudenza) made up of Federico Gatti, Diego Giovanni Ferrero, Isabella Cannata and Michele Ausiello. The team was supervised by Alberto Miglio. The team won 8,000 Euros from Clifford Chance, a six-month paid in-service training course at the Paris office, a medal from Sciences Po Law School struck by the Monnaie de Paris (Paris Mint) and works from Éditions Lamy/Wolters Kluwer.

The simulated arbitration court awarded the second prize to the team from Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University made up of Beatriz Restrepo, Christina Mangani, Lorène Zelikson and Sophie Laure and supervised by Thomas Clay. The team received 4,000 Euros from Clifford Chance, works from Éditions Lamy/Wolters Kluwer and a diploma.

The prize for best speaker was awarded to Beatriz Restrepo, a student in "Master Arbitrage et Commerce International" (MACI) at Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University and member of the Competition's 2nd-prize winning team.

The prize for best written submissions was awarded to the team from Rafael Landívar de Guatemala University (License Avocat Notaire) made up of Victor Lopez and Edwin Chavajay.

To access the video of the competition, please click on the following link.