International Commercial Arbitration has been continuously growing in importance for the past decades. The goal of this course is to teach the aspiring students the basics of international commercial dispute settlement. The syllabus will touch upon all questions related to the increasing relevance of commercial arbitration.

Apart from highlighting the most relevant reasons why many business entities keep choosing commercial arbitration as preferred method to settle their international disputes, this course will also hone the skillset one needs when working in an international environment. All participating students will enhance their legal writing abilities, in particular with regard to skills that will be crucial on a day-to-day basis (such as writing business e-mails, preparing precise legal memoranda and talking with clients).

Furthermore, we also strive to provide all our students with the opportunity to meet leading figures in the international arbitration scene. This is not only a great learning opportunity on a personal and professional level, but also serves as a fantastic career opportunity for the students. For that reason, we invite external guest speakers every semester to our course to hold a guest lecture on a certain topic of their expertise. Our guest speakers of the past years have included inter alia:

Dr. Christian Dorda, Founding Partner of DORDA
Anne Joubin-Bret, General Secretary of UNCITRAL
Dr. Nikolaus Pitkowitz M.B.L.-HSG, Founding Partner of Pitkowitz & Partners and President of VIAC
Niamh Leinwather, Secretary General of VIAC
Dr. Veit Öhlberger M.Jur (Oxford), Partner at DORDA
Roxanne de Jesus, Partner at Pitkowitz & Partners
Dr. Gottfried Musger, Supreme Court Judge dealing with all arbitral matters at the Austrian Supreme Court
Leila Kazimi, Arbitration lawyer from Ukraine, currently working in London
Simon Rainey KC, Barrister from Quadrant Chambers in London

After completing this course, students will know the basics of international commercial arbitration. Students will know the practical differences between state court proceedings and arbitral proceedings. Thus, students will be able to discuss the possible advantages and disadvantages of choosing international arbitration as dispute settlement method.

Further, students are expected to drastically improve their legal writing abilities and their soft skills.

Full attendance is obviously recommended, but participants can miss a maximum of two sessions if absolutely necessary.

Interactive lectures, combined with class discussions and in-depth analysis of written texts. Further, case studies will be analyzed and there will be some written exercises.

The classes will always be held at the time that is indicated above. All participants will receive a detailed schedule in the first session.

The final grade will be determined by evaluating the participation in class (20%), the written assignments (30%) and the final exam (50%).

Places will be allocated on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis. Unfortunately, there only are few places available in order to maintain our personal learning atmosphere during our sessions.

In case you were successfully registered for class but will not be able to attend, we kindly ask you to withdraw your registration during the registration period.

After the registration period has ended, a very limited number of students will be registered by the university based on their study progress, i.e. students who are soon about to graduate.

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