Jessup International: Two Ukrainian teams in Washington DC final
The Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the Olympics of lawyers. The largest and oldest student moot court competition in the world, it attracts around 700 teams from over 100 countries each year to compete in October. After months of hard work and demanding national qualifiers, the best of the best, just over a hundred students, begin to dream of the finals, which this year is being held in Washington DC in March/April. This year’s edition has just begun.
And we are rooting harder than ever for two teams – of course, the team from the University of Warsaw and, equally, the wonderful and fearless teams of our friends from Ukraine.
Read the story of these extraordinary young people, preparing for the competition underground in concrete shelters, to the sound of bomb sirens overhead.
The long road to Washington DC
Even before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, raising the funds to travel to the US capital for the international finals was a challenge. Today it is much harder.
But they have succeeded and this year, two Ukrainian teams are in Washington – the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev and the Ukrainian Catholic University.
We believe that we deserve to participate no less than any other student in the world. Our preparations for the competition took place while missile attacks were taking place around us, and we had blackouts when we should have been researching and preparing the necessary materials. One of the rounds was held in a bomb shelter. For us, the International Rounds are not only a unique opportunity for professional development. We also want to share our stories with more than 1,300 participants from over 100 countries.
It is also worth noting that this year 90% of both teams are women. We are proud to have the opportunity to develop our legal skills and compete on an equal footing, even though the majority of participants in this competition are still men,” writes Masha Stolbova, Jessup Ukraine National Administrator.
Our support for Jessup International 2024
For such a huge undertaking to reach its finale in Washington, sponsors are a must. This year, we are honoured to be among them, as the start of the Ukrainian teams has been supported by Piotr Kochański, our Managing Partner, thanks to the commitment of Magdalena Papiernik-König and Dominika Durchowska.
Our wonderful teams are already competing in Washington DC. All we can do now is keep our fingers crossed!
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