The students put their rhetorical skills and specialist legal knowledge to the test in front of a fictitious Cartel Court and had to demonstrate not only their knowledge of cartel and competition law, but also their understanding of cryptocurrency networks.
Ten teams took up this challenge and, as usual, were mentored by renowned law firms who supported them in drafting the pleadings and preparing for the oral hearing:
• Team 1, mentored by Schima Mayer Starlinger Rechtsanwälte
• Team 2, mentored by EY Law - Pelzmann Gall Größ Rechtsanwälte
• Team 3, mentored by Cerha Hempel
• Team 4, mentored by Taylor Wessing
• Team 5, mentored by Schönherr
• Team 6, mentored by Wolf Theiss
• Team 7, mentored by Haslinger Nagele
• Team 8, mentored by Burgstaller & Partner Rechtsanwälte
• Team 9, mentored by Binder Grösswang
• Team 10, mentored by Reidlinger Schatzmann Jergitsch Rechtsanwälte
The jury of the Cartel Law Moot Court 2025 was composed of the following experts:
• Mag. Sonja Köller-Thier (President of the Senate of the Higher Regional Court of Vienna)
• Mag. Heinz-Ludwig Majer, MBA (Federal Cartel Prosecutor)
• Ass.-Prof. Dr. Lena Hornkohl, LL.M. (University of Vienna)
• Dr. Heinrich Kühnert, M.Jur (Lawyer and partner at DORDA)
• Mag. Corinna Potocnik-Manzouri (FCA)
• Dr. Lukas Cavada (FCA)
As in previous years, students have competed for the Best Team and Best Speaker titles. This year’s contestant impressed not only with their in-depth knowledge of antitrust law, but also with their rhetorical and argumentative skills and their natural handling of complex issues. The assessment took into account the factual and legal analysis in the pleadings, as well as the arguments, team-work, spontaneity and time management during the oral proceedings.
In the end, Team 3 (Julian Brand, Paul Grausam, Shayam Shams) and Team 2 (Gabriel Ölsinger, Katharina Schöggl, Vinzenz Antensteiner) as well as the speakers Ronja Endfellner (Team 8), Oleksii Bilous (Team 4), Leandros Ginter (Team 6) and Jakob Hönigl (Team 4) prevailed in the preliminary rounds and once again demonstrated their skills in front of a full jury in the final.
The FCA congratulates best speaker Ronja Endfellner (Team 8, mentored by Burgstaller & Partner Rechtsanwälte, JKU Linz) and the best team, Team 3, mentored by Cerha Hempel (Julian Brand, Paul Grausam and Shayan Shams, University of Vienna) on their outstanding performance.
Cartel Law Moot Court 2025 - Announcement of this year's winners
“Cartel law is no longer an orchid subject, but has arrived in practice and in teaching at universities! The Moot Court has also made an important contribution to this in its more than ten years of existence, with more than 250 students completing it and taking antitrust law with them into their professional careers,” said Director General of the FCA, Natalie Harsdorf.
The FCA would also like to thank Dr. Christian Filzwieser, MSc (LSE), President of the Federal Administrative Court, for the exciting keynote speech.
In his keynote speech, the President of the Federal Administrative Court, Dr. Christian Filzwieser, MSc, emphasized the admirable courage and commitment of the moot court participants. He highlighted that honing soft skills such as rhetorical skills will have a positive impact on their future careers. He concluded his keynote speech with a quote from Ruth Bader Ginsburg: “Work for what you believe in, but pick your battles and don't burn your bridges. Don't be afraid to take charge, think about what you want and then do the work, but then enjoy what makes you happy, bring along your crew, have a sense of humor.”