LSU Law Professors Nick Davrados, left, and Tom Galligan, right, with members of the LSU Law Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Competition team in San Diego, Califonia, in early March.
Aside from his new office, one of the first things LSU Law Professor Nick Davrados looked for after arriving at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center in the fall of 2023 was the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Competition team.
“I asked around and was surprised to learn that we didn’t have a Vis team,” recalled Davrados, who also serves as LSU Law Assistant Director of the Center of Civil Law Studies. “I decided that was one of the first things I wanted to do at the law school—bring back the Vis team.”
In a short time, LSU Law assembled a team consisting of students Tyler Chance, David González, Andrew Kuebel, Christian Lacoste, and Grant Murphy. This new LSU team achieved remarkable success, winning first place at the Michael Thorsnes International Commercial Arbitration Pre-Moot at the University of San Diego in early March. Chance and Lacoste secured first place honors in the final round against UCLA, where they represented the claimant team, and Lacoste was named the best oralist. Meanwhile, González and Murphy argued for the respondent team and placed as semifinalists.
Later, in mid-April, the LSU team participated in the international preliminary round in Vienna, Austria, where they competed against teams from Iran, France, Turkey, and Finland over the course of a week. The team’s travel was supported by the Preis PLC Director of Advocacy Professorships.
The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Competition promotes the study of international commercial law and arbitration, providing students with practical training for resolving international business disputes. Before this year, LSU Law had not fielded a team in the competition since 2010.
Davrados and Carroll coached the team alongside LSU Law Professors Tom Galligan, Olivier Moréteau, and Kenya Smith. LSU LLM students Romane Demaret and Gabriella Belaiche also assisted the team as student coaches. Associate Dean of Student and Academic Affairs Andi Carroll accompanied the team in Vienna as one of the faculty coaches.
