For the first time in its history, the Durham Vis Moot Team achieved two honourable mention awards in the Willem C. Vis and Vis East International Commercial Arbitration Moots, with Oralists being LLM students Cariana Jones, Haya Farid, and Jack Pham, and LLB students Harry Pearcy and Taiga Matsushima.
As part of our preparation, the team competed in a total of four Pre-Moots in Helsinki, Stockholm, Budapest, and London, before finally mooting either in Vienna or Hong Kong. They also took part in a number of informal practice sessions, including the opportunity to plead in the Scottish Court of Session.
The Durham team was led by Dr. Can Eken, Assistant Professor in Commercial Law and co-director of DIDRI and Tom Allen, emeritus professor at Durham, whose extensive experience in the field of commercial law and arbitration was key.
Responding to the team’s results in 2025, Dr. Eken said, “It is an honour to coach a Durham team every year and see the students improve as they progress throughout the year.”
The team’s performance was enhanced by help from a team of student coaches, all Durham students and alumni. Jodie Tan, Ahmed Ibrahim, John Abraini, Lexie Gao, Klaudy Cheung and George Beglan all utilised their experience of participating in the moot in previous years to push the team to success in 2025.
Through rigorous training over the course of 6 months by a team of talented professors and student coaches, and supported by funding from Simmons and Simmons LLP, the Hong Kong team achieved an Honourable Mention Award for best Claimant Memorandum, and Taiga Matsushima achieved an Honourable Mention Award for best Oralist for his advocacy in the Vis East Moot.
In Vienna, Oralists Cariana Jones and Haya Farid were able to push the team into the top 140 teams out of nearly 400 attending the competition.
Commenting on his award and general experience of the moot, Taiga said, “The Vis Moot is by far the most rewarding experience I’ve had at my time in Durham. Getting to moot in front of world-renowned arbitrators and barristers was incredibly beneficial to my advocacy development. I felt incredibly proud to be awarded an honourable mention for best advocate, especially considering it is the first personal award received by a member of the team”.
Durham’s students also made the most of the networking opportunities that the Vis Moot competition provided. Reflecting on the experience, Harry said, “I was able to meet so many incredible students and practitioners from all over the world.”
Haya, celebrating the driven culture that the team members and coaches brought, added that the team, “built a strong foundation that consisted of determination, perseverance, and a dedication to try one’s utmost to be the best Oralists and researchers that we could be.”
This year’s results mark an exciting turning point, serving as a testament to the hard work, talent, and ambition of the students driving Durham Law School’s presence in the Vis Moot. The experience has laid a strong foundation for the team to continue growing, evolving, and achieving greater success in the years ahead.