FDI Moot Competition

Suffolk Law founded the Foreign Direct Investment International Moot Competition, which now includes approximately 50 law schools.

This prestigious international negotiation competition students negotiate a fictitious dispute between a country and its foreign investor. The competition is partly sponsored by international law firm Skadden Arps.

Increasing international investment, the proliferation of Bi- and Multilateral Investment Treaties, national investment promotion legislation, and "internationalized" investment contracts have contributed to the rapid development of a new field of international law that defines obligations between "host States" and foreign investors and creates procedures for resolving related disputes, e.g. through the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

These investment disputes involve not only vast sums, but also probe the panoply of rights, duties, and shifting objectives at the juncture of national and international law and policy. Through the FDI Moot law students -- future practitioners, academics and policy makers -- may attain a practical understanding of these issues. At the same time, the case and the hearings offer a forum of different dynamics for current academics and practitioners from the around the world to discuss the latest developments - and assess emerging talents - in these fields.