About Us

The Moot Alumni Association of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (the “MAA”) was established in 1997 during the 3rd Willem C. Vis Moot Competition in Vienna. The MAA started with a handful of academics, students, and professionals and has expanded to over 5,000 members and continues to grow every year.

The purpose of the establishment of the MAA is to form an association to promote the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (“Vis Moot”) and the Willem C. Vis (East) International Commercial Arbitration Moot (“Vis East”) and to achieve its goals of educating the general public on the topics of international arbitration and international trade law.

The MAA also preserves and strengthens ties among former, current, and future participants (students, academics and professionals alike) of the Vis Moot and Vis East worldwide, establishing an international network that facilitates the continuing exchange of professional, social, and cultural experiences amongst members.

People.

Executive Board

Dr. Navin G. Ahuja

Co-President

Ipek Ince

Co-President

Evanthia Kasiora

Vice President

Vera He

Vice President

Anne Wang

Secretary

China Project Team

Nan Shu

Chair

Alice Wang

Vice Chair

Haowen Chen

Team Member

Wenru Rui

Team Member

Compliance Team

Maja Šutalo

Compliance Officer

Christian Johannes Wahnschaffe

Compliance Officer

Rafael Cavalini

Team Member

Conferences & Events Team

Yashraj Samant

Co-Chair for Conferences (Hong Kong)

Alicja Zielinska-Eisen

Co-Chair for Conferences (Vienna)

Charaine Ng

Co-Chair for Events (Hong Kong)

Fernanda Nemr

Co-Chair for Events (Vienna)

Arijit Sanyal

Team Member

Lia Harizanova

Team Member

Lucy Li

Team Member

Misra Yalcin

Team Member

Oleksandra Hnatiuk

Team Member

Salih Kartal

Team Member

Wanyan Pan Jiang

Team Member

Yan Yee Atta Chiu

Team Member

Yen Guo Alan Sham

Team Member

Diversity & Inclusion Team

Tess Bens

Co-Chair

Shashi Dholandas

Co-Chair

Hanna Shalbanava

Team Member

Isabela Godoy

Team Member

International Liaisons Team

Karina Sibilska

Chair

Ekaterina Petrenko

Team Member

Keeghan Urmann

Team Member

Media Team

Margarita Drobyshevskaya

Core Team Coordinator

Carolina Kresch

Co-Chair

Nina Rasljanin

Co-Chair

Aisha Bamahriz

Team Member

Angelica Dumaya

Team Member

Vitoria Kreutz Werle

Team Member

Mentor-Mentee Team

Andrea De Biase

Chair

Begüm Yilmaz

Team Member

Kleoniki Mastorakou

Team Member

Shreya Nair

Team Member

Regional Representatives Team

Maciej Durbas

Co-Chair

Rob Warzel

Co-Chair

Rupesh Gupta

Co-Chair

Aaron Tan

Team Member

Aina Hannisa

Team Member

Alejandra Carolina Huaman Cabrera

Team Member

Annie Maria Adikin

Team Member

Bettina Okinyi

Team Member

Christian Johannes Wahnschaffe

Team Member

Eduarda Vieitas

Team Member

Gwenllian Kern-Allely

Team Member

Maja Šutalo

Team Member

Margherita Ruiu

Team Member

Micha Schwartzshtein

Team Member

Rokaya Mosaad

Team Member

Sanjana Sachdev

Team Member

Spyridon (Spiros) Batzios

Team Member

Vindobona Journal Team

Derya Durlu Gurzumar

Senior Editor-in-Chief

Oguzhan Samanci

Editor-in-Chief

Jessica Rado

Administrative Editor

Marco Bottin

Administrative Editor

Daniela-Olivia Ghicajanu

Technical Editor

Julian Juhasz

Technical Editor

Louk Middelhoek

Technical Editor

Rinat Gareev

Technical Editor

Sneha Rath

Technical Editor

Advisory Board.

The MAA is grateful for the advice and guidance that it receives from the members of its Advisory Board consisting of the following members, listed in alphabetical order:

Ms. Louise Barrington, JD, LLM, FCIArb (Chartered)
Professor Eric E. Bergsten
Mr. Arno Eisen
Mr. Björn Gehle
Professor Dr. Christopher Kee
Professor Dr. Stefan Kröll
Professor Dr. Ulrich Schroeter
Professor Jeff Waincymer

Legal Information.

The website maa.net is owned and operated by the “Alumni Association of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot” (MAA).The MAA is a non-profit association (“eingetragener Verein”), established and existing under the laws of the Republic of Austria, registered with the competent Austrian authority at the Federal Police, District Vienna (“Bundespolizeidirektion Weien”) with its registered address at Semperit AG Holdings, Attn: Sherlin Tung, Modecenterstrasse 22, 1030 Vienna, Austria, and registry number ZVR 563556309. A registry excerpt can be obtained online from the Central Registry of Associations (“Zentrales Vereinsregister”) maintained by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Internal Affairs at https://zvr.bmi.gv.at/

The MAA is represented by the members of the Executive Board listed HERE.

A courtesy English translation of the MAA’s Articles of Association can be accessed HERE.

The German version of the MAA’s Articles of Association can be accessed HERE.

Our Date Privacy Statement can be accessed HERE.

General inquiries may be directed at: [email protected]

General inquiries: [email protected]
Membership inquiries: [email protected]
Vindobona Journal enquiries: [email protected]

Navin Ahuja

Navin earned his doctorate focusing on guerrilla tactics in international commercial arbitration. He is the author of “Taming the Guerrilla in International Commercial Arbitration: Levelling the Playing Field” and is a practice development manager at Pinsent Masons MPillay LLP. Navin is appointed to the Presidential Panel of Arbitrators of the AIADR. He is an editorial board member of the International Arbitration Law Review, an accredited tribunal secretary, and an accredited general mediator. Navin has contributed to several publications on the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and ADR. He co-coached Vis moot teams to winning the best memorandum in Vis East, receiving Honourable Mentions in Vis East and Vis Vienna for the written memorandum and individual oralists, ranking fourth out of 147 teams in Vis East, and advancing to top 16 out of 364 teams in Vis Vienna

Ipek Ince

Ipek has been working at Gedik & Eraksoy in their arbitration and litigation department for the past five years. She is the founder of Istanbul Very Young Arbitration Practitioners, holds a position on the board of the Young Istanbul Arbitration Week, co-organizer of ArbinBrief, and acts as the Turkey representative for the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations.

Evanthia Kasiora

Evanthia Kasiora participated in the Vis Moot as a mootie and arbitrator. She has studied and worked in Greece and the UK, and is a Greek qualified lawyer. Evanthia is an Associate in the International Arbitration Practice of White & Case in Paris.

Vera He

Vera He is the Deputy Director of ICC Arbitration and ADR for North Asia region. She specializes in international law, especially international arbitration. She joined the ICC International Court of Arbitration in 2019 to promote dispute resolution services of ICC in North Asia. She also has working experience in international organizations and international law firms.

Vera was a former mootie and continues to support the Moot by undertaking roles of arbitrator and mentor. She was the Executive Director of Moot Shanghai 2020 and 2021, responsible for organizing Vis international pre-moot in China.

Anne Wang

Anne Wang is an Australian qualified lawyer and is studying the Bachelor of Civil Law at the University of Oxford in 2023-24. She worked as a Deputy Counsel at the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Hong Kong. She has also practised as a solicitor in Sydney and has acted as tribunal secretary in international commercial and investor-state arbitrations.

Anne is a graduate of the University of New South Wales. While undertaking an LLB exchange at Stockholm University, she participated in the 27th Vis Moot. Prior to joining the MAA Executive Board, Anne was Co-Chair of the Mentor-Mentee Team.

Nan Shu

Nan Shu is an Assistant Legal Counsel at the Shanghai Arbitration Commission, focusing on managing arbitration cases. She participated in the 25th Vis Moot. Between 2020 and 2022, Nan served as a member of the organizing committee of Moot Shanghai and assisted in organizing the Vis International Pre-Moot in China. Nan continues to strive for promoting the Vis Moot, international arbitration, and international trade law in China.

Alice Wang

Alice is a senior associate in Pinsent Masons’ global international arbitration practice group.

Alice worked in Australia and Hong Kong with top tier international law firms, as well as with the in-house legal teams of multinational companies. Her practice area focuses on the contentious aspects of projects, acting for main contractors, sub-contractors and employers in arbitration and court proceedings on oil and gas, building and other civil engineering projects. Alice advises large infrastructure and energy projects located in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and South America. In particular, she represents clients in international arbitrations conducted in HKIAC, ICC, SIAC, LCIA, and other major arbitral institutions.

Haowen Chen

Haowen Chen is an associate at Global Law Office (Shanghai), in the fields of international and domestic arbitration and litigation. Haowen has qualifications in both PR.C and New York, US.

Wenru Rui

Ms. Wenru Rui is a Law and Business Operation Specialist at the transnational electronic design company Altium. She graduated from the East China University of Political Science and Law with a Master degree. Wenru is a former mootie, having participated in the 26th Vis Moot and several pre-moots in China. She was inspired by the spirit of the Moot and continued to support the Moot by coaching and organizing moot competitions. From 2020 to 2022, she was a member of the Organizing Committee of the Vis Pre-Moot in Shanghai and promoted the organization of the competition.

She has also interned in arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in 2020 and the Shanghai Arbitration Commission in 2022. She has accumulated a lot of experience in the organization of legal seminars, trainings and conferences.

Maja Šutalo

Maja is Croatian qualified attorney at law specialized in commercial law and data protection and a holder of Certified International Privacy Professionals/Europe certificate accredited by ISO and ANSI.

She is the founder of the Law Office Šutalo since 2018. Maja Šutalo was a Vis Moot participant in 2011./2012. She graduated from the Faculty of Law in Zagreb, Croatia.

Christian Johannes Wahnschaffe

Christian Johannes Wahnschaffe is a law clerk at the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg, Germany. After graduating in 2018, he served as Director of the Karina und Erich Schumann Centre for Advanced International Legal Studies at the University of Münster, Germany. In 2023, he obtained his doctorate in law (Dr. iur.) with a thesis on institutional arbitration. His published research focuses on commercial and investment arbitration as well as international sales law and contract law. He further acts as Editorial Reviewer for the Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration.

Rafael Cavalini

Rafael S. R. Cavalini is a dedicated lawyer with a thriving career since 2006. His passion for law led him to serve as a public servant in the municipality of Florianópolis. He is a prominent institutional procurator, arbitrator, and mediator at the Santa Catarina Court of Arbitration and Mediation. Rafael S. R. Cavalini’s expertise extends to internet law, evident in his authorship of the book “”Fundamental Right to the Internet””.

A member of the institutional Law Commission and the Data Protection Commission of the OAB SC (Brazilian Lawyers Association), he is also affiliated with the National Association of Data Privacy Professionals. Rafael holds specializations in Constitutional Law from the Brasiliense Institute of Public Law and in Legal Order and Public Prosecution from the Superior School of Public Prosecution Foundation do Distrito Federal e Territórios. Currently, he is pursuing a specialization in the General Data Protection Law (LGPD).

With a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Faculdade de Rondônia, Rafael’s expertise lies in Constitutional Law, Legislative Process, and Civil Law. His fluency in English enriches his practice as an attorney at VR|CAVALINI Attorneys in Florianópolis, SC.

Yashraj Samant

A former Vis mootie, Yashraj (Raj) is a practicing Advocate before the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts in India specializing in dispute resolution, civil, commercial, and writ jurisdiction matters. At present, he is an Advocate at the Chambers of Mr. Rajshekhar Rao, SC.

He has previously served as a Judicial Law Clerk to Hon’ble Mr. Justice B.R. Gavai (Judge, Supreme Court of India) and also has prior experience of working as an Associate at Advani Law, New Delhi as part of their dispute resolution team.

He has been a part of the MAA Core Team for about 4 years serving as the Chair/Co-Chair of the Conferences & Events Team during this time.

He is an alumnus of Queen Mary University of London (U.K.) and Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai (India) and has also attended the prestigious Cologne Academy on International Commercial Arbitration.

Yashraj is the Co-Editor of two books – ‘Specialized Arbitration: Emerging International Trends and Practices’ and ‘Commercial Arbitration: International Trends and Practices’ published by Thomson Reuters.

He regularly coaches teams for the Vis Moot and also acts as an arbitrator at both Vis East and Vis Vienna.

Alicja Zielińska-Eisen

Alicja is a Polish qualified advocate (adwokat) and Of Counsel at Queritius, a specialized law firm focused on international dispute resolution in Central and Eastern Europe. She is combining her attorney practice with an academic career as a lecturer and Academic Coordinator for the IDR LL.M. at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in Germany.

Alicja is involved in diverse initiatives for legal professionals, including recent teaching and speaking engagements in Warsaw, Berlin, Barcelona, Vienna, Riga, Paris, and Prague. She is a member of the Arbitration Commission of ICC Poland and serves as the ICC YAAF Representative for Europe (2021-2024 term).

For over 10 years, Alicja has been actively coaching, mentoring, and arbitrating numerous teams in moot court competitions, fueled by her passion for the field.

In 2022, alongside Prof. Patricia Shaughnessy, Alicja co-led the Safe Harbors 4 UA Mooties initiative, enabling over 70 internships and relocation packages for Ukrainian students and young lawyers in Poland, Germany, Sweden, Romania, the UK, and beyond.

Charaine Ng

Charaine is a vice president at AlixPartners in Hong Kong, and specializes in valuation, accounting issues and forensic investigation. Her projects include shareholder disputes and valuation of business, with clients in various industries such as healthcare, telecommunication, aviation and forestry in Greater China and the US.

Fernanda Nemr

Fernanda is a dispute resolution lawyer at Muriel Advogados in São Paulo, Brazil. She has a Bachelor’s of Law from the University of São Paulo (USP) and specialized in Energy Law by the Brazilian Energy Law Institute. She is the founder and coordinator of the Brazilian Arbitration and Technology Moot (CoDiTech). Fernanda is also the founder and director of USP’s Arbitration Study and Research Group. Researcher at USP’s Center for Arbitration Research. She represented USP at the Vis Moot in 2019 and 2020 as an oralist, and coached the team in 2021, 2022 and 2023. She also represented USP at the Brazilian Arbitration Moot in 2017 and 2018, and coached the team from 2019 to 2022.

Arijit Sanyal

Arijit is an Associate (International Disputes and Arbitration) with Skywards Law, New Delhi. He is registered with the Bar Council of New Delhi, India and works on domestic and international arbitrations including arbitrations administered by ICC, SIAC Rules, enforcement and set aside proceedings, client advisory etc.

He has represented his University at the Philip C Jessup Moot (India Rounds), the 18th Vis East, Hong Kong and the 29th Vis Moot, Vienna, where his team was awarded an Honourable Mention for the Claimant Memorandum. Additionally, he actively coaches teams for the Vis Moot, Sports Arbitration Moot and the FDI Moot.

Apart from his work and mooting activities, Arijit has attended the Arbitration Academy in Paris, France where his essay on Investment Arbitration & Climate Change was awarded Laureate of the Academy Prize. He was also a part of a team which advised Singapore International Arbitration Centre during their rules revision. He writes frequently on issues concerning Investment and Commercial Arbitration, Public International Law, and Environmental Law. In his free time he likes to hike and read spy stories.

Lia Harizanova

Lia is a qualified solicitor in England & Wales, and an attorney in the State of New York and her home jurisdiction of Bulgaria. In 2019, she graduated first in her class from Georgetown University Law Center’s International Business and Economic Law LL.M., specializing in international arbitration and project finance. Since then she has been working with leading law firms in France, focusing on international arbitration and projects in the Energy and Infrastructure sphere.

Since 2014, Lia has competed, coached, and judged in the international competitions Telders, Philip C. Jessup, and the Willem C. Vis Moot. In 2020, she became a coach for Sofia University’s Willem C. Vis Moot team, winners of the 29th Vis Moot (2022).

Lucy Li

Lucy Li is an attorney-at-law registered in the New York State. She currently practices with King and Wood Mallesons in Hong Kong.

Ms. Li holds B.S. degrees in Economics and Political Science from University of California, Berkeley, a J.D. degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and LLM degree from Northwestern University.
A former mootie, Ms. Li participated in the 27th Vis Moot as a member on the Chinese University of Hong Kong team and the 28th Vis Moot as a member of Northwestern University team. She also participated in other international moot competitions such as the Nuremberg Moot Court in 2020. She also helped coordinate moots like the Moot Shanghai in 2021.

Misra Yalcin

Mısra Yalçın is a qualified lawyer in Istanbul, Turkey, specializing in international dispute resolution. Her practice area focuses on international trade law and maritime arbitration. She participated in the 28th Vis Moot in Vienna during her LL.B and she has been coaching the participating teams ever since.

Oleksandra Hnatiuk

Oleksandra is a Ukrainian-qualified lawyer working in investment and commercial arbitration at Squire Patton Boggs (Berlin). She obtained her LL.M in Alternative Dispute Resolution at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and finished her law degree at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Despite being located in Germany, she is still connected with Ukraine professionally by being an ambassador of Arbitrator Intelligence in her home country. Oleksandra participated in the Vis Moot as mootie and arbitrator. Her mooting experience includes other competitions as well, such as the FDI and Nuremberg Moot Court.

Salih Kartal

Salih Kartal is a Turkish qualified attorney-at-law working in the Istanbul office of Çakmak Attorney Partnership. He primarily focuses on M&A projects, corporate law matters and commercial disputes. He is experienced in international commercial arbitration and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb). He graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 2018 and is currently pursuing a Private International Law LLM in Istanbul University.

Wanyan Pan Jiang

Wanyan is an aspiring lawyer who is currently preparing for the bar exam. Her passion lies predominantly in the field of international arbitration, and she is enthusiastic about making significant contributions in this area of law. Presently, Wanyan is gaining invaluable experience working at a law firm, where she continues to enhance her legal skills and knowledge.

Wanyan participated in the 29th Edition of the Vis Moot Competition and continues to involve herself actively competition as a coach, where she guides and mentors aspiring competitors, refining her advocacy and research abilities, and fueling her dedication to effective dispute resolution.

Yan Yee Atta Chiu

Atta Chiu recently graduated from the Bachelor of Laws programme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and is an incoming PCLL candidate. She participated in the 29th edition of the Vis Moot, representing the Chinese University of Hong Kong and was a student coach of the team in the 30th edition of the competition.

Yen Guo Alan Sham

Alan is a Trainee Solicitor at MinterEllison in Hong Kong. He was a Regional Representative of the MAA in the 30th Vis Moot and represented the Chinese University of Hong Kong in the 29th Vis Moot as a researcher and an oralist.

During his studies, Alan assumed position as a research assistant contributing to “Lex Atlas: COVID-19”, a global academic project led by the Max Planck Institute of Comparative Public Law and International Law. He is a published author of the Hong Kong Journal of Legal Studies (Volume 15).

Tess Bens

Tess Bens is a Research Assistant at the Institute for Civil Procedural Law at the University of Vienna. She holds an LLB in Dutch Law, an LLB in International and European Law, as well as an LLM (research) in Business and Law from Radboud University. During her studies, Tess participated in the 22nd Vis Moot and attended summer courses at National Taiwan University, Bucerius Law School and The Hague Academy for International Law. She worked as a Student Trainee at NautaDutilh and as a Legal Assistant for the Arbitration Practice Group of De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, both in Amsterdam
Before joining the University of Vienna in October 2023, Tess was a Research Fellow in the Department of European and Comparative Procedural Law at the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg (2022-2023) and a Lecturer in Private International Law at Radboud University (2018-2021) and Tilburg University (2022). She regularly publishes on topics in the field of private international law, commercial sales law, international civil procedure and international arbitration. She is very passionate about diversity and inclusion and has been co-chair of the MAA’s D&I Team since 2020.

Shashi Dholandas

Shashi K. Dholandas is Co-Chair of the MAA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and participated as a “mootie” in the 17th and 18th Vis Moot as a member of the Rutgers Law School team. He thereafter continued his participation with the Vis Moot as a coach and as an arbitrator. Professionally, Shashi is a litigation and arbitration practitioner with the firm of Bailey Duquette P.C. where he provides counsel to clients in both international and domestic matters. He is experienced in all aspects of commercial dispute resolution, including acting as counsel in international and domestic arbitrations under the rules of the AAA/ICDR, ICC and JAMS. He previously served as a Director and as International Case Counsel with the AAA/ICDR and ICDR Canada. Prior to joining Bailey Duquette P.C., Shashi was Associate General Counsel with an international specialist broker of litigation and arbitration third party financing and risk insurance.

Hana Shalbanava

“Hanna is an international arbitration practitioner with 5+ years of experience working closely with prominent firms and arbitration practitioners in both Germany and Belarus. Currently, she is based in Düsseldorf. Besides international arbitration, Hanna is passionate about human rights, public international law, and international relations.

Hanna’s Vis Moot journey began from her participation as a team member in 20th and 21st Vis Moots. Building on her passion for the field, she now eagerly contributes to the competition as a mentor and arbitrator.”

Isabela Godoy

Isabela Godoy is a queer legal designer, content creator for Aclara Legal Design (Netherlands), UX/UI Designer for Suitcase (Germany), former case manager at CAM-CCBC (Brazil) and litigation lawyer in different law firms (Brazil).

She participated in the Vis Moot as an oralist, coach and arbitrator, as well as other Moot competitions worldwide. Isabela is a PhD student in Intelligence Technologies and Digital Design at PUC-SP (Brazil) and an LLM Candidate at HU (Germany). She holds a master in ADRs by EPD (Brazil) and graduated in Law by PUC-Campinas (Brazil).

She is a D&I specialist and advocate for the MAA, a legal innovator and a fighter for better legal world.

Karina Sibilska

Karina Sibilska holds an LL.B. from the Hague University and an LL.M. from the University of Vienna and has recently completed an internship at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), where she assisted in drafting various working papers in Working Group II and III. Karina is a former moot participant and continues to act as an arbitrator for the Vis Moot. She is currently preparing for the bar exam in New York as well as the UK, while participating in various speaking engagements at international conferences.

Ekaterina Petrenko

Ekaterina is a Legal Counsel at the Russian Arbitration Center (RAC), a leading arbitral institution in Russia, where she administers arbitrations and acts as a tribunal secretary in complex disputes under various applicable laws. She is actively working to strengthen the RAC rules and procedures (e.g. has contributed to the adoption of the 2021 RAC Arbitration Rules and prepared guides for arbitrators on different aspects of arbitration). Besides RAC, Ekaterina is an Expert on public international law at the International and Comparative Law Research Center (ICLRC), where is analyzes the ISDS reform and drafts legal opinions as well as participates in research projects on various issues of public international law. Previously, she interned at AIAC and a high-ranking law firm in Malaysia, where she gained skills in working with English law, commercial and investment disputes.

Keeghan Urmann

Keeghan is currently based in Stockholm, where he is entrolled in the Stockholm University LLM in International Commercial Arbitration Law programme. He is originally from South Africa, where he completed his LLB and BCom Law degrees at the University of Pretoria. He has been involved in the Vis Moot competition for the last three years, as a competitor at the 27th Vis and a coach for the University of Pretoria team in the two most recent years. He is also a part of the Africa in the Moot organization that seeks to promote international arbitration in the African continent by supporting universities’ participation in the Vis Moot.

Margarita Drobyshevskaya

Margarita Drobyshevskaia is a Case Counsel at the Russian Arbitration Center at the Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration, which is the leading arbitral institution in the country. With experience in both domestic and international commercial arbitration, she manages a significant number of arbitration proceedings and participates in organizing events and other projects currently undertaken by the institute. Margarita holds an LL.B from the Higher School of Economics and an LL.M from the Russian School of Private Law. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the Department of Civil Law of the Faculty of Law at Lomonosov Moscow State University. Margarita participated in the Vis Moot as a mootie, coach, and arbitrator. She is also a member of the Steering Committee of Russian Women in Arbitration (RWA), an initiative that aims to promote women leadership and gender equality in the field. This is her third term at MAA Core Team.

Carolina Kresch

Carolina Kresch is a Brazilian lawyer currently working in the arbitration team at Padis Mattar Advogados, in São Paulo. She has participated in the 27th Vis Moot as a researcher and speaker and coached her university’s team in the 28th and 29th editions of the moot. Carolina joined the MAA in 2020 and became a member of the Media Team. In the 2021/2022 MAA term, Carolina took the leadership of the Media Team.

Nina Rasljanin

Nina Rašljanin is as an attorney at law from Belgrade, Serbia. She has been working for an international law firm, Schoenherr attorneys at law, since 2021.

She obtained her LLB degree, as well as LLM degree in international commercial law from the University of Belgrade.

Nina participated in the 28th Vis Moot, where she won an Honorable Mention for the Martin Domke Award for Best Individual Oralist. She was also one of the assistant coaches to the Belgrade Vis Moot team for the 29th Vis Moot.

She has been a part of the MAA Media Team since 2021.

Aisha S. Bamahriz

Aisha completed her studies at Dar Al-Hekma University, majoring in Law and minoring in Diplomacy and International Relations. Currently, she is working as a trainee solicitor and is following the SQE route to become a qualified Solicitor in England and Wales.

Playing a vital role as an oralist in the 29th Vis Moot, Aisha and her team achieved exceptional results, breaking two regional records during the qualifying rounds and ultimately ranking 12th overall.

In addition to her legal pursuits, Aisha is an associate member at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and has actively contributed to the MAA Media team since 2022.

Angelica Dumaya

Angelica was born in the Philippines and has lived in Singapore, Germany and the Netherlands. She holds an LLB in International and European Law from Groningen University and will soon graduate from Maastricht University with an LLM in Globalization and Law. Angelica represented Maastricht University in the 30th edition of the Vis Moot.

Vitoria Kreutz Werle

Vitória Kreutz Werle is an undergraduate student at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and an Alumni at Roma Tre University, in Italy. She participated in the 27th and the 28th editions of the Vis Moot as an oralist.

Vitoria currently works at Thiago Marinho Nunes Arbitration as secretary to numerous arbitral tribunals. She is also the editor of the domestic arbitration case law platform Arbipedia and a member of the Brazilian Arbitration Students Association (ABEArb).

Andrea de Biase

Andrea is a disputes practitioner based in London. She has extensive experience acting on a diverse range of international construction and commercial disputes for clients operating in the oil & gas, construction & engineering and infrastructure sectors, among others. Andrea has represented global clients in numerous large, complex and high value arbitrations under the LCIA, ICC, UNCITRAL Rules and more. Previously Andrea worked as a Senior Associate at King & Spalding in London. She is now assisting the team representing the Republic of Mozambique in the US$2 billion “Tuna Bonds” English Commercial Court proceedings against Credit Suisse and Abu Dhabi-based shipbuilder Privinvest. Andrea is qualified as a solicitor in both Australia and England & Wales. She participated in the 18th Vis Moot where her team received multiple awards for their memorandum and proceeded to the knock-out rounds in Hong Kong, where she also received an Honourable Mention for best oralist.

Begüm Yilmaz

Begüm Yılmaz graduated from MEF University, Turkey in 2022. She is currently working as a trainee lawyer. Begüm has participated as a team member and an oralist in the first Virtual Vis Moot, 27th Vis Moot, representing MEF University. She has acted as a Jr. Coach for her University’s 28th Vis Moot Team. She has also been acting as a volunteer arbitrator for pre-moots. Begüm was a mentee in the 2021-2022 MAA Mentor-Mentee Programme and she has been in the MAA Mentor-Mentee Team since 2022.

Kleoniki Mastorakou

Kleoniki Mastorakou just graduated from King’s College London (KCL) with a Law LLB degree and will now commence a Master of Laws (LLM) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She will later embark on the Solicitors Qualifying Examination route before commencing her training contract at the Reed Smith London office. She was a mootee in the 29th Vis Moot, representing KCL. In the 30th Vis Moot, she was the Head of Procedure Coach of the KCL team and this year she will be the team’s Head Coach. She was a mentee during the 30th Vis Moot and is honoured to have been mentored by Ms Andrea De Biase. She is grateful for this invaluable mentorship and the opportunity to contribute to the Mentor-Mentee team in her new capacity.

Shreya Nair

Shreya is a member of the MAA Mentor-Mentee Team. Currently, she is a practising lawyer in India. She recently graduated from the National University of Singapore, specialising in International Arbitration & Dispute Resolution. Shreya is also a former Vis participant and her experience strengthened the belief that community building and networking are the core tenets of international law. Last year she was a team member of the Mentor-Mentee Team and prior to that, she was engaged with the MAA in the capacity of a mentee for the 2021-22 MAA Mentor-Mentee Program. Her areas of interest are International Arbitration, International Dispute Settlement & Public International Law. In her free time, you would find her watching “Debating 101” or some other skill development videos.

Maciej Durbas

Maciej is a partner and co-leader of the arbitration practice at Kubas Kos Gałkowski. Maciej has extensive experience in arbitration as an arbitrator and counsel in numerous proceedings before Polish and foreign arbitral institutions. Maciej is a member of the Arbitration Committee of the Confederation Lewiatan Court of Arbitration. He is also listed on the VIAC practitioner list and the list of Recommended Arbitrators of the Court of Arbitration at the Polish Chamber of Commerce in Warsaw, the Court of Arbitration at the Polish Confederation Lewiatan, the Construction Court at the Association of Consulting Engineers and Surveyors in Warsaw, as well as the arbitration database of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA).

Maciej’s involvement in the Moot started over a decade ago when he participated in the 17th Moot, since then he has been coaching Jagiellonian University of Kraków’s team and has been participating in the Moot and premoots as an arbitrator.

Rob Warzel

Rob Warzel is a Canadian-born lawyer practicing with Spencer Fane in Phoenix, USA. Rob is licensed to practice in Arizona, Colorado, and Washington state. He participated in the 24th Vis Moot, and was a Quarter-Finalist at the 15th Vis East Moot, where he received an Honourable Mention for Best Oralist. He is an assistant coach for the Arizona State University Vis team, and focuses his practice on labour and employment matters.

Rupesh Gupta

Rupesh Gupta is a qualified practitioner in India, having vast experience in handling international commercial arbitrations, white-collar crimes and employment related disputes. He is leading his law firm named AAA Legal, with its office in New Delhi, India. Rupesh has been empanelled with international institutional arbitration organisations as an arbitrator. Rupesh has been part of various moot events in the past and has endeavoured to share his knowledge and experience with the young law students. He is a recipient of the Lex Falcon Award for the year 2022 and has been consistently working on enhancing his experience and practice within and outside India.

Aaron Tan

Aaron is presently working at Drew & Napier LLC in Singapore in the Dispute Resolution Team. His first experience with the Vis Moot was highly memorable as he had the opportunity to meet and compete with many other inspiring mooties from around the world. The experience opened his eyes to the importance and the spirit of camaraderie behind the Vis Moot community which has served as a potent reminder of the friendships that can be formed through this moot. The Vis Moot was also key in furthering his interest in international arbitration which has remained a keen area of his up to the present day. In keeping with the spirit of passing on both his experiences and knowledge of moots, he have taken a keen interest in coaching my juniors for moots not only as a good experience but as a way to continue serving future generations. Aaron looks forward to continuing to connect with people and building the community!

Aina Hannisa

Aina Hannisa is based in Berlin. She is currently writing her PhD thesis as a fellow of the DFG Graduate School “DynamInt” at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Aina was educated in Ireland and studied law at University College Cork (UCC), which included a year studying abroad at Université de Montréal, Canada. During her time at UCC, she was a part of the Quercus Talented Students’ Scholarship Programme, which enabled her to continue playing piano, violin, harpsichord and organ in parallel with her law studies. On graduating with a BCL Degree, she completed an LL.M. in International Dispute Resolution at Humboldt University of Berlin. Aina participated in the Vis Moot in its 27th edition in 2020 and coached the Humboldt University team for the 28th and 29th Moots. She has been a member of the MAA Core Team since 2021.

Alejandra Carolina Huaman Cabrera

Carolina holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP). She is the founder and President of the student organization ARBITRI. Carolina worked as a legal assistant at the law firm Martínez Coco & Abogados. She chaired the Visual Arts area of the Art and Law Commission, an association attached to the Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Law of PUCP. Carolina was a speaker representing the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences in the 30th edition of the Vis Moot competition.

Annie Maria Adikin

Annie Maria Adikin is a law student at Makerere University, Uganda whose interests primarily lie in international arbitration and legal academia.

She participated in the 30th Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. Annie emerged as the best individual oralist in the 2nd Edition of the East Africa Vis Pre-Moot in Nairobi, Kenya.

Annie wants to contribute to a truly global arbitration community with appropriate representation and opportunities for African students. This has prompted her to join the Education and Training Committee, Africa in the Moot, a non-profit company that fosters the diversification of the global arbitration community by supporting students from African universities..

She is also the local coach of the 31st Vis Moot Team, Makerere University and the Deputy Editor-In-Chief of the Makerere Law Journal.

Bettina Okinyi

Bettina Okinyi is a distinguished LL.B graduate from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Bettina is a Trainee Lawyer at ALN Kenya | Anjarwalla and Khanna LLP and brings her expertise as a Certified Public Accountant in Kenya, combining legal and financial prowess.

Bettina participated in the 28th Vis Moot in 2021 and was a mentee at the MAA Mentor-Mentee programme. Inspired by her experience, she actively volunteers at Africa in the Moot and wholeheartedly mentors and coaches the University of Nairobi Law school teams in International Commercial Arbitration Moots, fostering the ambitions of young legal minds. Additionally, she generously volunteers as an arbitrator in the Nairobi and Alexandria Pre Moots.

Christian Johannes Wahnschaffe

Eduarda Vieitas

Eduarda is an attorney at Finkelstein Advogados. Eduarda holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo São Paulo (Brazil). Eduarda is a former mootie and current coach of the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo São Paulo’s Vis Moot team.

Gwenllian Kern-Allely

Gwenllian participated in the 25th and 26th Vis Moots in Vienna and is presently Deputy Counsel at SICANA, Inc., the New York based Case Management Team of the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration. Interested in both commercial and investment arbitration, she holds an LLM, with distinction, in International Business and Economic Law and a Certificate in International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution from Georgetown University Law Center as well as a JD from the University of San Diego with a concentration in International Law.

Maja Šutalo

She is the founder of the Law Office Šutalo since 2018. Maja Šutalo was a Vis Moot participant in 2011./2012. She graduated from the Faculty of Law in Zagreb, Croatia.

Margherita Ruiu

After multiple experiences between Germany and the UK, Margherita decided to pursue her academic education in the field of international law. Margherita obtained an LLB in European Law with a minor in Business Law from Maastricht University, and an LLM with a specialisation in International Arbitration and Business Law from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. During her LLM studies, she had the chance to participate in the 30th Vis Moot as a team member and later took part in the 2022-2023 MAA Mentor-Mentee Programme. Margherita maintains a strong interest in the field of arbitration.

Micha Schwartzshtein

Micha Schwartzshtein works at Clifford Chance (Perth, Australia). She has previously worked as a legal assistant to the former Chief Justice of Victoria, the Honourable Marilyn Warren AC KC, and to Dr Gavan Griffith AO KC, a leading international arbitrator. In 2022, Micha undertook an international arbitration internship at a global law firm in Hong Kong. She also assisted with the publication of an arbitration textbook titled ‘International and Australian Commercial Arbitration’. Micha competed in the Vis Moot in 2021, where she was awarded an Honourable Mention for ‘Best Individual Oralist’ and was ranked 16 out of the 456 participants of the Hong Kong arm of the competition.

Rokaya Mosaad

Rokaya is an Egyptian qualified lawyer. She has participated in various international and national arbitration moot court competitions.

Sanjana Sachdev

Sanjana is an India-qualified Lawyer and a practicing Advocate before the Supreme Court of India and other jurisdictional courts, primarily dealing with Civil and Commercial Matters.

She has previously assisted in a variety of Construction Arbitration Matters while representing Construction Companies, Businesses and Individuals in their disputes and claims arising out of EPC Lumpsum Contracts, General Contracts, Insolvency Disputes and other contractual disputes governed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

Sanjana has represented her university in various National and International Moot Court Competitions including the prestigious ICC Moot Court Competition 2021 and the 29th Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot Court Competition. Apart from this, Sanjana also holds an Advanced PG Diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, India.

Sanjana frequently coaches teams for various Domestic and International Moots, Trial Advocacy Competitions, Mediation and Negotiation Competitions, Client Counselling Competitions and is now actively associated with the Vis Moot Community as an Arbitrator and Coach.

Spyridon (Spiros) Batzios

Spyridon is a Greek dispute resolution Lawyer. He has acquired multidimensional working experience, as he has worked both in Germany and Greece, handling major commercial litigations, mediations and arbitrations under a variety of laws and rules. He is currently a foreign lawyer at the dispute resolution team of Dentons international LLP (Frankfurt office).

Spyridon has been trained in different jurisdictions, since he holds an L.L.B from the Aristoteles University of Thessaloniki, an L.L.M in private international law from the Democritus University of Thrace, an L.L.M in German Law from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and an L.L.M in international Dispute Settlement (MIDS) from the Graduate institute of International and Development studies and the university of Geneva. He has also attended specialized training courses across Europe (Athens, Paris, Rome, Munich, and the Hague) spanning a wide range of topics on private and public international law and arbitration.

Spyridon is a moot court devotee since he regularly participates in moot court competitions as an arbitrator while he is an active member of various arbitration related organizations.

Derya Durlu Gürzumar

Mrs. Derya Durlu Gürzumar is an attorney-at-law registered at the Istanbul Bar Association.
She holds LLB and LLM degrees from Bilkent University Faculty of Law, in Ankara, Turkey, and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland.

Being an ardent Vis-mootie since 2007, Mrs. Durlu Gürzumar has been one of the few law students to receive two successive Honorable Mentions in the Martin Domke Best Oralist Award in the 16th and 17th Willem C. Vis Moot competitions.

She has been coaching teams and arbitrating in many international and domestic arbitration competitions for their written and oral phases since 2010. Her team became the first Turkish team to have reached the semi-finals in the 18th Vis East and the octo-finals in the 28th Vis Moot, with her students receiving Neil Kaplan best oralist awards, as well as speaker and team awards at various pre-moots held in 2021. Her ISTAC moot court team in 2020 also won the 4th Future Arbitration Practitioner Moot Court Competition held by ISTAC, in Turkey.

Oguzhan Samanci

Oguzhan is a Research Fellow at Humboldt University of Berlin and the Academic Coordinator of its International Dispute Resolution (IDR) LL.M. program. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration. Having studied at Humboldt University of Berlin and King’s College London and after working in the dispute resolution department of an international law firm, he is currently pursuing his PhD in arbitration. Oguzhan has been part of the MAA Core Team since 2021. He participated in the 26th/16th Willem C. Vis (East) International Commercial Arbitration Moot and coached his university’s teams for the 28th/18th and 29th/19th Vis (East) Moots.

Jessica Rado

Jessica is a litigation associate based in New York and a recent LL.M. graduate from Fordham Law School. She is an active member of the international arbitration community, as she regularly volunteers in ADR committees and organizations, both in New York and internationally. She recently launched the webinar series “1,000 Paths to a Career in Arbitration” in collaboration with Careers in Arbitration and its founder, Amanda Lee.

Marco Bottin

Marco has been involved with the Vis Moot since 2020, when he founded the Team that is now regularly representing the University of Padua (Italy). He participated to the 28th Vis Moot, winning an award for best memorandum at the AIAC Pre-Moot. Thanks to the MAA, he took part as an Observer to the 59th Session of the UNCITRAL Working Group V.

Daniela-Olivia Ghicajanu

Daniela is currently part of the international arbitration team of Quinn Emanuel law firm in Paris. Before joining Quinn Emanuel’s international arbitration team, Daniela was a fellow researcher in investment law and dispute settlement at the Center for the Advancement for the Rule of Law in the Americas (CAROLA) within Georgetown Law School in Washington,DC, and worked with the international arbitration team of a law firm in DC. She trained in both civil and common law. Daniela specialised in international arbitration at Georgetown Law Center and in EU law at the College of Europe. Daniela’s main interests focus on international arbitration, investment law, trade law, and economic policy.

Julian Juhasz

Julian participated in the 24th Willem C. Vis Moot Court and 17th Willem C. Vis East for the University of Basel. He also coached the Basel team in the 28th Willem C. Vis Moot Court.

Julian is currently writing a PhD thesis on the CISG and working as a Research Assistant at the University of Basel in Switzerland.

Louk Middelhoek

Louk is in her final year of law studies at Humboldt University of Berlin.

After being a participant in the 28th/18th Vis Moot in 2020/21, she completed her specialization in legal policy and legislative procedures in the national and international context. In 2022/23, she returned to the Vis Moot to coach the team of Humboldt University for the 30th/20th competition.

Currently, Louk is working with Prof. Dr. Giesela Rühl, LL.M. (Berkeley) at the Chair for Civil Law, Civil Procedure, Private International Law, International Civil Procedure and Comparative Law.

She has been awarded several scholarships and literary awards, inter alia by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation and the federal competition of the Berliner Festspiele.

In her spare time, Louk enjoys microscopy, poetry, and going on sunrise hikes with her dog.

Rinat Gareev

Rinat Gareev is a US-qualified attorney (admitted in New York), holds civil and common law degrees. In his current role of a Legal Consultant at a New York based law firm, Rinat represents domestic and international entities on a variety of general corporate matters and cross-border transactions, as well as assisting clients in navigating complex compliance issues.

Prior to returning to legal consulting, Rinat has gained experience by working and training in leading arbitral institutions in Malaysia, South Korea, Russia, international organizations (UNCITRAL) and law firms.

Through Rinat’s professional and educational experience, he has developed expertise in trade law, aviation law, arbitration and cross-border dispute resolution. He has published several papers in international and local journals on issues relating to cross-border dispute resolution and also provides expert opinions on various domestic and international law-related issues.

Sneha Rath

Sneha is a Technical Editor for the Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration. She is currently completing her final year of her B.A.LLB (Hons) degree at National Law University Odisha, in India. She also represented the National Law University Odisha in the 18th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration (East) Moot Court Competition, Hong Kong.