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If you want to see the future face of trade law from across two continents, Queen’s University will be the place to do it this spring.

Students from across North and South America will be bringing their ‘A’ game to Kingston in early March to do exactly that. The All-American Regional Round of the 2016 European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) Moot on international trade law is being hosted by Queen’s Law, attracting dozens of students from competing schools from Canada to Colombia.

“We’re proud to be hosting both current and future leaders in trade law here in Kingston,” says Professor Nicolas Lamp, who is organizing the American round. “These students represent the future trade law elite of their countries. I know from personal experience that virtually every junior lawyer who is hired by the World Trade Organization or by law firms working on WTO law has participated in the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law.”

From March 2-6, teams from six countries will be presenting at the ELSA Moot Court Competition (EMC²) at Queen’s Law. Panelists – judging the competitions – will be leading experts in international trade law from Canada, the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The event is also supported by organizations with strong international trade law ties. The EMC2 receives technical support from the World Trade Organization, and closer to home, the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is a major sponsor of the event.

“The level of support from both the WTO and CIGI shows how important this event is for the international trading system,” Dr. Lamp says. “It’s a unique tool to build capacity in international trade law in developing countries and to attract some of the brightest up-and-coming legal minds to the world of international trade. The best teams will go on to the final rounds in Geneva, where they will get a real feel for how it would be to have a career in international trade law.”

Sixteen teams will engage in two full days of team-versus-team competition, pleading in front of panels who will decide victors for each match. From there, the moots move on to a third-day of semifinals and a final, head-to-head match between the two best trade mooting teams on two continents. Prizes include not only the prestige of victory, but also a prize for best overall individual mooter.

“The EMC² provides students with a chance to prove themselves in front of an international audience of their peers and leading minds in law,” Dr. Lamp, who participated in the moot as a student in 2007-08, says. “But it’s also a chance for these students to meet, exchange ideas, forge friendships and leave with new perspectives, new connections and new ideas.”