Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance contributes to the momentous success of Prague's Charles University at the FDI Moot Global Finals 2017

A team of law faculty students from Charles University, Prague, sponsored by Clifford Chance's Prague office, have claimed a historic triumph at the 2017 FDI Moot International Investment Arbitration Competition, held at Suffolk University Law School, Boston, USA.

Charles University has been represented at the competition for many years, but this was the first time a Czech team has managed to place at the very top end of the leaderboard. Out of a total of forty-eight teams of students from more than 100 law schools from all over the world, the Czech team came second in the Oral Hearing Round and finished fourth overall, beating teams from the prestigious Harvard Law School, Paris Bar School and Lomonosov Moscow State University. The winning team hailed from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.

The Czech team comprised students Helena Švandová, Nikola Klímová, Zuzana Strnadová and Katarína Kruľová, who were expertly coached by Veronika Kinclová from Clifford Chance and Michal Stanek from Allen & Overy. Clifford Chance has been sponsoring the Charles University team since 2014.

As well as representing their country at the competition, this well-balanced team also got to highlight the quality of teaching at one of Europe finest universities. The students attributed their success to a high level of teamwork, which stood them apart from other more individual-centric teams, as well as emphasising their ability to improvise, a skill honed through a lack of adequate time to better prepare their arguments due to the demands of their studies!