Coral Gables, FL (June 30, 2009) – LawFuel.com – University of Miami School of Law students earned high honors at the inaugural Spanish-language International Arbitration and Commercial Law Competition (Competición Internacional de Arbitraje y Derecho Mercantil) held in Madrid, Spain from June 21-26, 2009.
Magaly Cobian, a graduate student in the Law School’s Comparative Law LL.M. Program, and rising 3L Diogo Pereira went up against several teams from Spain, Colombia, El Salvador and France to finish third in the competition.
“It was an amazing experience,” expressed Pereira. “It confirmed my intention to work in the field of international arbitration.”
Adding to their team victory, Cobian was awarded the “Eric Bergston Award” for Best Orator, entitling her to a paid internship at the prestigious Madrid law firm Uria Menendez. In addition to this, Pereira received Honorable Mention for Best Orator. The duo was coached by attorney Luis O’Naghten, a partner at the Miami office of Akerman Senterfitt. Both students are members of the Law School’s International Moot Court Board, where Pereira serves as president.
The International Arbitration and Commercial Law Competition, like the long-established Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition held in Vienna, is based on a case involving the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The goal is to foster the study of international commercial law and arbitration for the handling of international business disputes and to train future law leaders in alternative methods of resolution.
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