06-03-2026
Francisco de Vitoria University (UFV) and Squire Patton Boggs have opened a new courtroom designed to enhance the practical training of students in Bachelor's Degree Laws Bachelor's Degree .
This launch addressed the need to integrate advanced legal practice into the educational curriculum and featured a panel discussion focused on alternative dispute financing mechanisms, against the backdrop of the growing prominence of international litigation and arbitration.
UFV students standing next to the presidential table during the inauguration
The new Moot Court was made possible thanks to the initiative and commitment of the UFV–Squire Patton Boggs Chair in Arbitration. During the event, Sofía Borgia, co-director of the Chair of International Arbitration and director of Bachelor's Degree Law, noted: “The new Moot Court for Bachelor's Degree Law is a space created thanks to the initiative and commitment of the UFV–Squire Patton Boggs Chair of Arbitration, which represents a new way of learning law.”
The Moot Court has recreated real-life scenarios from professional practice, allowing students to develop skills related to legal argumentation, cross-examination, and the development of trial strategies. In this regard, Borgia emphasized: “Law cannot be fully understood from textbooks; it is understood when one argues, when one cross-examines, when one constructs a procedural strategy, and when one takes on the responsibility of defending a position with rigour, ethics, and technical skill. This Moot Court represents exactly that: the connection between theory and practice, between the university and the professional world, between academic training and legal excellence.”
The opening of the Squire Patton Boggs Lecture Hall represents a step toward meeting the growing demand for practical and specialized legal training required by today’s professional environments. This initiative has anticipated the needs of the legal sector and provided students with tools aligned with those used by leading law firms and international organizations.
Sofía Borgia during her speech
The inauguration has reinforced the UFV’s institutional commitment to linking its academic program with the professional world. During her remarks, Sofía Borgia stated: “I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Squire Patton Boggs for its commitment to training the next generation of legal professionals. This collaboration not only strengthens our academic program but also sends a very clear message to our students: law is a profession that demands technical expertise, strategic vision, and internationalization.”
The opening ceremony was attended, on behalf of Squire Patton Boggs, by Javier Izquierdo, partner and head of the Litigation department; Javier Gil Diaz-Plaza, Of Counsel in the litigation practice; and Marta Robles Cháfer, a senior associate in the litigation practice, along with Paloma Castro, Senior Legal Counsel specializing in litigation funding at Deminor Litigation Funding, and Jorge Masía, an attorney with experience in complex litigation and competition law, as well as professors and students from the Bachelor's Degree Law program at UFV.
Students in the Bachelor's Degree Law program during the opening ceremony
The event featured a panel discussion on alternative litigation financing models. Regarding the choice of topic, Borgia explained: “The choice of topic for the panel discussion accompanying this opening ceremony—alternative litigation financing models—is no coincidence. We are witnessing one of the most significant and transformative phenomena in today’s legal ecosystem. Third-party funding, innovative mechanisms for sharing litigation risk, and new forms of litigation investment are redefining access to justice, corporate risk management, and the very structure of the legal market.”
The event was attended by professionals in the fields of litigation and litigation financing, who discussed the impact of these mechanisms on today’s legal market.
With this new infrastructure, UFV has further solidified its strategy of integrating advanced legal practice into the educational process itself, offering its students an environment that faithfully replicates the realities of contemporary legal practice.
