Presenting the Southampton Law School team for the 15th International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot (IMLAM)
Having hosted IMLAM in July 2013, the University of Southampton is proud to continue its support to this competition this year, by sending a team to the competition in Hong Kong. The IMLAM moot is well established as the preeminent maritime law moot globally. It is well supported by the maritime industry and maritime law firms. In Hong Kong, the ‘mooters’ are looking forward to a challenging event as well as some opportunities for networking with colleagues from all around the world.
The 14th International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot Competition (IMLAM) attracted a record number of universities who competed on Highfield Campus to reach the grand final held in London at the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and chaired by Lord Phillips of Worth-Matravers with Jane Andrewartha (Clyde &Co) and Charles Debattista (Stone Chambers). Southampton has become a regular participant in IMLAM moot, having participated since 2010. Its teams have come second in the competition and reached the quarter finals; winning prizes including Best Speaker and Spirit of the Moot. However the real reason to participate in this great competition is the intensive development of mooting skills and the practical application of the knowledge of maritime law in a safe, but competitive setting. Valentine Chatelier, of the mooters this year, says: "Preparing for the moot while completing my LLM significantly improved my time-management skills, and was a great opportunity to put what I learnt on the courses into practice."
Mooting skills are highly valued by employers. Spiros Papadas, also in this year's team, says: "Having done some mooting during my undergraduate course, I declared my interest for the competition, because I wanted to have a mooting experience in my field of expertise. However IMLAM has nothing to do with any other mooting competition: the complexity of the issues, the level of detail required, and the innumerable ways to argue the issues create an intriguing riddle for any maritime law enthusiast. The necessity for constant collaboration within the team and with the coaches increases as the competition comes closer."
Valentine's and Spiros' team mates are Sophie Runhua Li and Giorgos Rigoutsos. The team has been expertly coached by Mateusz Bek and Jack Steer, the IML Senior Research Assistants. They are both Southampton graduates and experienced mooters. Mateusz was part of the IMLAM team reaching the IMLAM quarterfinals in 2012.
Giorgos says: "At the beginning of this whole experience, we were four individuals extremely excited to representing our University to the 2014 IMLAM in Hong Kong. Today, we are one team of four friends, brought together through long hours of hard work and endless communication, planning, producing and reviewing legal arguments. One relying upon the other, we have come this far and we are ready and psyched for the challenge. The time has come! Thanks to everybody involved, but first and foremost to our coaches, Jack and Matt, who have been with us from the very beginning, providing invaluable advice and always pointing us towards the right direction, always with a smile, always on the point. No more words, time for the experience of a lifetime. Bring it on!"
The School has shown its appreciation to the mooters by organising internships after the competition for the mooters in Sydney (2010), Singapore (2011) and Brisbane (2012). This year, the mooters will undertake internships with the Swedish Club, two other firms in Hong Kong and Piraeus. These arrangements are possible through the excellent network of alumni all over the world.