We are pleased to announce that the Competition Law Association assumed patronage over the second edition of Lewiatan’s Arbitration Competition, the first moot court competition to be held in Poland.

The competition is organized by the Court of Arbitration of the Lewiatan Confederation and Young Arbitration Practitioners in Poland (YAPP) and is aimed at all advocate and legal advisor trainees in Poland. It consists of a written and oral stage. The competition participants act out the roles of attorneys of litigation parties, they develop litigation strategies, draft submissions and represent parties at mock hearings. More information is available on Lewiatan’s website (http://www.sadarbitrazowy.org.pl/pl/Konkurs-Arbitrazowy-Lewiatan).

The first edition of this competition met with a huge response. This is cause for optimism and shows that there is a great need and interest in exploring the available alternative dispute resolution options. This year’s edition will concern a competition law dispute, offering the younger generation of lawyers an opportunity to get closer to competition law and improve their knowledge of complex theoretical issues relating to competition protection.

To boost the educational potential of this event, the organizers invite our Association members to act as arbitrators in this Competition. At the written stage, the arbitrators will be expected to grade two statements of claim and two statements of defense (each of which shall be no more than 20 pages long). The statements of claim will be delivered to the arbitrators after March 11, 2013 and the statements of defense after April 8, 2013, and we expect the graded submissions to be returned by April 26, 2013. Next, the arbitrators will grade the participants’ appearances at the mock trials which are scheduled to take place on May 23, 2013. At the hearings, the arbitrators will be allowed to question the participants and afterwards they will comment on their appearances in court, thus adding to the educational dimension of the event. In order to help arbitrators prepare themselves, the Competition organizers will provide them with useful materials, including a summary of the facts of the case and of the principal legal issues tackled in the dispute.

The participants of last year’s edition of the Competition emphasized the educational value of the event. The Competition offers and opportunity for face-to-face contact with experienced lawyers, whose comments and advice are invaluable in the process of self-education. We strongly encourage you act as arbitrators in our Competition. You have to meet just one formal requirement: arbitrators must be advocates, legal advisors or must hold a Ph.D. in law.