Throughout the past few years, we have been offering internships to LL.M. students from the International Dispute Resolution program at HU. The program is particularly close to our hearts, not only because Philipp Wagner has been involved in setting it up and is part of the program’s faculty, but also because it provides a platform that gathers bright legal minds from all around the world and enables us to enter into a truly international dialogue.

This year, six students from the LL.M. program joined us – becoming a part of the WagArb internship program that we designed a couple of years ago. The internship program consists of a number of key components, including working on an arbitrator mandate and a counsel mandate in commercial or investment arbitration.

Also, we provide the students with the opportunity to take part in one-to-one rhetoric coachings with John Faulk from Fireside Coaching, who has been supporting the firm since 2016. In this short piece, Mark, Fábio and Vinayak, three of this year’s LL.M. interns who recently worked with John, reflect on their sessions.

Mark Baldock: “We were lucky enough to spend around five hours working with John over the last two weeks – what an experience it was! I relished the chance to improve and develop slightly different presentation skills; it is often far too easy as a lawyer to imagine yourself addressing a judge or a client, but just as important are those advocacy skills in more intimate environments. John had some great techniques and his methodology of “doing” really resonated with me. I am grateful to John for his time and for WagArb for setting this up!”

Fábio Cavalcante: “John has taught us techniques which can be used in every circumstance in which one has to present ideas to an audience. John’s practical approach is unique and the feedback I have received will certainly help me to deliver better oral presentations in the future.”

Vinayak Kapur: “I was astonished to experience how even smallest of changes can make such a big impact on the way you speak in public. John does exactly that. In 5 hours’ worth of coaching spread over 2 weeks, he worked personally on our delivery, body positioning, gestures, hand positions and other important things. His unique training techniques and constructive feedback has certainly helped me improve and has already made me a better speaker!”