Dar Al-Hekma University's law team has won five of the seven awards, including the Champion Team prize, at one of the Middle East's legal debating competitions that took place in Bahrain over the weekend. The Sixth Annual Willem C. Vis Middle East International Commercial Arbitration Pre-Moot competition is a chance for legal students to practice their skills in a series of moots, or mock-court proceedings. "I feel so proud of the outstanding achievement that not only gives pride for Dar Al-Hekma University but for the whole Kingdom. The excellence and enthusiasm of the law program leadership is evident in this historic accomplishment. Dar Al-Hekma University students in the law team challenged themselves and became role models to their fellow students," Dar Al-Hekma President Suhair Hassan Al-Qurashi said. This was the fourth year in a row that the Dar Al-Hekma law team participated in the Pre-Moot Middle East round. The competition is held in the lead up to the main international round of the annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot held in Vienna for the past 23 years. Dar Al-Hekma's team comprising senior law students Lamia Al-Otaibi, Lina Bugshan, Diala Al Kabani, Ghaidaa Mohamed, Lynn Sharbatly and Majdoleen Yamani, along with their coach Jude Jamjoom, Dar Al-Hekma law alumna and a member of last year's winning team, won the Champions Team trophy, Best Claimant Memorandum, Best Respondent Individual Oralist and two Mena Chambers awards. Diala Al-Kabani received Best Individual Oralist, and Ghaidaa Mohamed and Lynn Sharbatly received the two Mena Chambers awards for their exceptional performance in the competition. According to the university, the team of students worked for five months to prepare for the competition and had been mentored by the chair of the Dar Al-Hekma's law department, Olga Nartova. "Given the large scale of this competition, we can say that winning five out of seven available awards highlights Dar Al-Hekma University as the best law school in the region," Nartova said. "I introduced this competition to Dar Al-Hekma University law students in 2011 because I was amazed how smart, articulate and dedicated the law students were. The moment I mentioned that law schools have their own Olympic games, Nada Al-Ostaz, Nada Bashammakh and Shaima Atabani volunteered to participate and they were the first Saudi team ever joining this competition in its 23 years of existence." Over 90 students from 13 universities located in eight different Middle Eastern countries participated in this year's competition.
