BUILD YOUR EXPERTISE
REMOTE ORAL ADVOCACY PROGRAMME (ROAP)
Are you keen to develop your oral advocacy skills, do you wish to hone your cross-examination techniques? Are you ready to engage with remote hearings? Would you like to be mentored by leading international arbitration advocates?
Welcome to Delos's advanced oral advocacy training programme in international arbitration. Three editions are on offer for 2027: Asia, EMEA and Lusófono. Find out more below, and explore testimonials here!
ABOUT
Join Delos and its faculty of leading practitioners for an advanced training programme on oral advocacy. Two courses are on offer: one focused on oral submissions; and the other on cross-examination of quantum experts. ROAP was nominated for the 2021 GAR Award for Innovation.
Below, you can find out about both courses and the features specific to each one, information on the different editions and their timelines, how to apply and costs, and the list of supporting organisations for this innovative programme. Click on the links to meet our faculties: Americas 2026, Asia 2026, Construction (EMEA) 2026, EMEA 2026, LATAM 2026 and Lusófono 2026, and explore the testimonials. In case you missed it, here is the teaser:
COURSE STRUCTURE & MENTORING
Both courses begin with a series of interactive teaching sessions spread out over two months. Each session is run 2-3 times, each time with different faculty members, so as to have small interactive groups and adapt to everyone's schedules. A recording of the sessions is made available to the participants. During this time, participants are also given the materials for the practice sessions, so that they may prepare in advance.
The practice sessions take place during the following three months. Practice sessions are recorded and the recording shared only with the course participants involved in the given session so that they may review their performance subsequently. Find out more about the practice sessions below.
The programme concludes with public finals featuring the most persuasive and skilled participants on each course, before a tribunal of leading international arbitrators chaired by or in honour of the dedicatee for that ROAP edition. Past dedicatees include the late Prof. David D. Caron, Prof. Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, Toby Landau KC, Alexis Mourre, Funke Adekoya SAN and Jean Kalicki. You can find out about ROAP dedicatees, and watch their dedication events and the finals that took place before them or honouring them here.
Finally, every participant is assigned a mentor from the faculty who will follow them through to the conclusion of the programme. Participants enrolled in both courses are assigned two mentors – one for each course.
ORAL SUBMISSIONS COURSE: SPECIFIC FEATURES
Participants each get 3-4 practice sessions over the course of three months, with 1-2 on either side of a mid-term break. Across their various sessions, participants take once the role of counsel for claimant, once as counsel for respondent, and once or twice a neutral role as tribunal member or observer: it is key for effective advocates to understand the perspective of the decision-maker. Each practice session takes place before a tribunal chaired by a faculty member.
The practice is based on issues in publicly available awards that could have been decided either way, taking into account how the parties’ positions are presented in the award.
Because team work is an important part of case preparation, each practice session opposes two counsel for each side, i.e. there are two counsel designated as claimant, and two counsel designated as respondent. Each side gets a total of 40mn for their pleadings. Participants therefore need to coordinate their positions with their co-counsel ahead of making their oral submissions. We also see this as an opportunity for participants to build strong relationships with the rest of the group.
At the close of counsel's pleadings, time is reserved for tribunal questions. Following a short break, each side gets 10mn to make rebuttal submissions, before a private debrief session.
CROSS-EXAMINATION COURSE: SPECIFIC FEATURES
Participants each get 3 practice sessions: one as counsel for claimant, one as counsel for respondent, and one as an observer. As noted above, the neutral role recognises that it is key for effective advocates to understand the perspective of the decision-maker. Each practice session takes place before a tribunal chaired by a faculty member.
In their counsel roles, each participant cross-examines the opposing side's expert with a time budget of up to 50mn, with additional time reserved for redirect and tribunal questions. Respondent cross examines claimant's expert first, followed by claimant's examination of respondent's expert. Following a short break, counsel make 5mn closing submissions each. Sessions conclude with a debrief and feedback. As will be apparent, team work is important on this course too, particularly between the quantum expert and the participant presenting the quantum expert.
EDITIONS, GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE & TIMELINES
In chronological order of when the different editions take place during the year:
- ROAP EMEA (Applications open!): in English, for practitioners based or with an interest in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The teaching sessions take place in March, the practice sessions in May and mid-June to early July, and the finals in mid-September.
- ROAP Asia (Applications open!): in English, for practitioners based or with an interest in Asia. The teaching sessions take place in April, the practice sessions in mid-May to mid-June and late June to late July, and the finals in late August.
- ROAP Lusófono (Candidaturas abertas!): in Portuguese, for practitioners based or with an interest in Portuguese speaking jurisdictions. The teaching sessions take place in late May to mid-June, the practice sessions in July and late August to mid-September, and the finals in October.
- ROAP Americas (no edition in 2027): in English, for practitioners based or with an interest in North America.
- ROAP Construction (EMEA) (no edition in 2027): in English, for practitioners in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
- ROAP LATAM (no edition in 2027): in Spanish, for practitioners based or with an interest in the Americas and Europe.
APPLICATION & COSTS
Ready? Applications are now open for ROAP Asia 2027, ROAP EMEA 2027 and ROAP Lusófono 2027!
The 2026 fee for each course was EUR 425 excl. VAT. This is the early bird rate for 2027, available until the early bird date for each edition (see Applications); thereafter, the 2027 fees will apply (to be announced). Course fees are subsidised by the sponsorship received for each course, and Delos full Members receive a 20% discount. If you consider that you have a special needs situation, you can raise this with Delos confidentially by writing to roap@delosdr.org and apply for a discount or sponsorship. Please note that, once payment has been made, no refund will be processed; but the registration can be transferred to another participant with Delos's agreement.
Participants based in jurisdictions other than those in the following list will benefit from an automatic 10% reduction of course fees: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States.
About VAT: the ROAP courses are subject to the VAT rules applicable in the UK. The rate is 20%. This gets applied if you are (i) based in the UK or (ii) paying for the course yourself, in your individual capacity, wherever you may be – as opposed to doing so through or on behalf/as a member of a non-UK law firm or other business. If you are paying for the course through or on behalf/as a member of a non-UK law firm or non-UK business, we may ask you to provide us with the firm's/business's EU VAT number or, if the firm/business is outside of the EU, its registration number, or to demonstrate through other means that it is a law firm/business.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
SUPPORTING ORGANISATIONS
We are grateful for the support of the following organisations:
For ROAP Americas 2026 _ BRG, Careers in Arbitration, Chaffetz Lindsey, Covington & Burling LLP, EY, Foley Hoag, Galicia Abogados, Latham & Watkins, McCarthy Tétrault, Norton Rose Fulbright, Paris Arbitration Centre by Delos, Three Crowns, Von Wobeser, WilmerHale.
For ROAP Asia 2026 _ Accuracy, A&O Shearman, Alvarez & Marsal, Anderson Mōri & Tomotsune, Baker McKenzie & KL Partners Joint Venture Law Firm, Careers in Arbitration, Clifford Chance, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, HFW, HKA, JunHe, Kim & Chang, Paris Arbitration Centre by Delos, Peter & Kim, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, Three Crowns, WongPartnership, Young ICCA.
For ROAP Construction (EMEA) 2026_Accuracy, Arbitra, Careers in Arbitration, Charles Russell Speechlys, Freshfields, GBSqd, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, King & Spalding, London VYAP, Paris Arbitration Centre by Delos, Rosher Arbitration, Rothorn Legal, Secretariat, Signature Litigation, Three Crowns, Young ICCA.
For ROAP EMEA 2026 _ Accuracy, A&O Shearman, Alvarez & Marsal, Anima Dispute Resolution, Ankura, Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah, BonelliErede, Careers in Arbitration, Clifford Chance, Corm-Bakhos Arbitration, Eversheds Sutherland, Fatur Menard, Freshfields, Herzog, Fox & Ne'eman, HKA, King & Spalding, Knoetzl, Legance, Paris Arbitration Centre by Delos, Queritius, Secretariat, Signature Litigation, Three Crowns, Withers LLP, Young ICCA.
For ROAP LATAM 2026 _ Alvarez & Marsal, Bomchil, Careers in Arbitration, Covington, Cuatrecasas, De Gaulle Fleurance, DLA Piper, Dr. Carlos Arrue Montenegro – Litigios Internacionales y Arbitraje, Ferrere, HKA, Jana & Gil Dispute Resolution, Kroll, LegalDelta, Martínez Quintero Mendoza González Laguado & De La Rosa, Paris Arbitration Centre by Delos, Pérez Bustamante & Ponce, Posse Herrera Ruiz, Rincón Castro Abogados, Secretariat, Uría Menéndez, White & Case, Young ICCA.
For ROAP Lusófono 2026_Alvarez & Marsal, BMA Advogados, Careers in Arbitration, CFGS Advogados (Correia, Fleury, Gama e Silva), CLA Brasil, Clifford Chance, FCDG – Ferro, Castro Neves, Daltro & Gomide Advogados, LDCM Advogados, Mattos Filho, Miranda Alliance, Paris Arbitration Centre by Delos, Squire Patton Boggs, VdA (Vieira de Almeida).
