Associate Tenants of Littleton Chambers coached two teams for the Vis Moot in Vienna. Anthony Daimsis coached the Ottawa Team and David Hacking the Cambridge Team having for the last nine years also coached the Middle Temple Team.
Anthony took to Vienna four members for the Ottawa Team, Quinn Giordano, Rida Malik, Anna Katyk and Avery Ross. His principal advocates in Vienna were Quinn and Rida. David took seven members of the Cambridge Team to Vienna and for both the General Rounds and the Elimination Rounds the advocates were Katherine Boucher (Jesus), Kathryn Handley (Lucy Cavendish), Rabin Kok (Peterhouse) and William Moody (Clare).
Ottawa did outstandingly well. It was graded first in the General Rounds out of 372 law schools participating in Vienna and in the Elimination Rounds reached the Final itself where it was beaten by Penn State University from the USA. Cambridge was graded 28th in the General Rounds and got into Round 16 in the Elimination Rounds – in other words was in the last 16 of the 372 Teams in Vienna. More than that the Ottawa Team got an Honourable Mention for its written Claimant Memorandum and Cambridge got Honourable Mentions for both its Memoranda for the Claimant and the Respondent. On the advocacy side in the General Rounds Ottawa got the two Honourable Mentions (Quinn Giordano and Rida Malik) and Cambridge one Honourable Mention (William Moody). These Awards placed both Teams within 7.5% of all the Memoranda submitted in the Vis Moot and their advocates within 3 % of all the students participating in the Vis Moot in Vienna!
The successes this year in Vienna of Ottawa added to it further distinction, where under Anthony’s coaching of the last 15 years, Ottawa has got into the Final on five previous occasions – in three of which being declared the winner! No other team participating in the Vis Moot has got anything near this amazing record!!
Although of a shorter record, as a coached team in the Vis Moot, Cambridge got into the Quarter Finals in 2017, into the Final itself in 2018 and this year in Vienna to the Round of 16. This year’s Team was more evenly talented than last year’s Team and it was, therefore, a great disappointment to have been eliminated in the Round of 16. They had, however, the solace of being placed third in the Fox Williams/Chartered Institute Pre-Moot in London and first in the White & Case Pre-Moot in London and in both Pre-Moots getting first Advocate’s Prize – in the Fox Williams/Chartered Institute Pre-Moot, William Moody got the First Prize Advocate’s Prize and in the White & Case Pre-Moot it was Glen Tay with this prize.
Above all the whole Moot process: the writing of the two Memoranda, the participation in the Pre-Moots and the taking part in the Vis Moot itself in Vienna was a marvellous learning process for every member of both teams. The special connection between the two Teams was Anthony’s generous willingness, on his way to Hamburg, to spend a whole day in Cambridge with the Cambridge Team.
