VdAcademia, Vieira de Almeida & Associados (VdA)'s first training academy and the sole one officially certified by DGERT in legal studies supports the National Moot Court's second edition which takes place on the 7th December, at Lisbon's Court of Appeal between 9 a.m and 6.30 p.m. with an awards ceremony to be held at VdA's auditorium.

The National Moot Court also counts with the support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros - MNE) and from Vodafone and is organized by the Students Association of the University of Lisbon Faculty of Law (Associação de Estudantes da Faculdade de Direito da Universidade Nova de Lisboa - AEFDUNL) and the Portuguese Society of International Law (Sociedade Portuguesa de Direito Internacional - SPDI).

The competition counts with thirty two students coming from the Faculties of Law of the Catholic University of Lisbon, the University of Coimbra, the University of Lisbon, the New University of Lisbon and the College of Political and Social Sciences.

"It is with added enthusiasm that we support once more the National Moot Court, now in its second edition. Since the competition's first edition we are glad to take part in such a constructive event, further to what international universities have been doing for many years, bringing together the academic and the professional realities and fostering and rewarding the students' initiative", says Rodrigo Esteves de Oliveira, VdA's partner and president of VdAcademia.

The Lisbon's Court of Appeal's president Luis Vaz das Neves delivered the opening speech. The jury was composed, among others, by Manuel de Almeida Ribeiro, SPDI's President, Miguel Serpa Soares, Head of the Legal Department at the MNE, Armando Marques Guedes, Associate Professor at the FDUNL, and also from VdA's part, Miguel Mendes Pereira, Sofia Barata e Ana Lickfold Novaes e Silva.