Dozens of moots are held around the country covering all areas of law. Here’s our roundup for 2015. Please let us know if we’ve missed anything.
Bennett Jones Health Law Moot:
This health law-related moot is held annually between the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta. This year, the teams debated a constitutional challenge to the Criminal Code prohibition on assisted suicide. It was held in Calgary on March 17.
First: University of Calgary
Second: University of Alberta
Best team: University of Calgary
Laura Comfort was named the Top Oralist for the University of Calgary. Her teammates were Simon Lidster, Amanda Manasterski, and Edith Thai.
Bora Laskin Moot:
The Bora Laskin is a national bilingual moot dealing with administrative and constitutional law. It is named after the late Supreme Court of Canada chief justice Bora Laskin, one of Canada’s leading legal scholars and jurists.
This years’ winners by school include:
1. University of Toronto
2. McGill University
3. Université d’Ottawa — Civile
4. Université Laval
Best oralists:
1 Dave Marshall, University of Toronto
2 Pia Anthonymuttu, Western University
3 Marie-Pier Dupont, University of Ottawa — Common
4 Mary-Elizabeth Dill, Dalhousie University
Spirit of the Laskin Award:
Université de Sherbrooke
The 2015 Bowman Tax Moot:
The 2015 Donald G.H. Bowman National Tax Moot took place in Toronto Feb. 27-28, 2015. University of Windsor took home the top prize.
Best advocate: Khalid Karim, University of Windsor
Best factum: Appellant: University of Victoria
Best factum: Respondent: Western University
Canadian Client Consultation Competition:
This competition is a simulated office consultation between two law students and a client. The students are evaluated on their ability to present the client with their options, explain the relevant laws, and assist them in reaching a solution. The competition took place at the University of Windsor on March 7-8, 2015. Nine teams competed this year.
The team of Chres Lee and Andrea Fammartino from the University of Windsor, coached by Sharon Murphy and Ashley Lavigne, placed first in the Canadian competition.
Chaitons LLP Corporate Restructuring Advocacy Competition:
This was the fourth annual event for the Western University-based internal moot competition, which was held March 4. The competition focused on providing students with practical appellate advocacy experience in a business law context. Competitors advocate on corporate restructuring issues that have arisen from controversial and topical court decisions. The competition is judged by prominent members of the corporate insolvency bar and justices of both the Ontario Court of Appeal and Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
This year’s best appellant team title went to Scott Kerr and Nicholas Vaartnou.
Best respondent team title went to Evan Stitt and William Samson-Doel.
Clinton J. Ford Moot:
This is an in-house appellate moot for University of Alberta law students. On March 6, teams debated a problem regarding either a criminal or constitutional law topic. The mooters appeared before a bench comprised of Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Russell Brown, and Alberta Court of Queen's Bench justices June Ross and Terry Clackson.
The winning team of Lindsay Hoban and Mario Babic narrowly defeated Pablo Retamozo Landeo and Curits Steeves.
Lenczner Slaght/CBA Gale Cup Moot:
Founded in 1974, The Gale Cup Moot is Canada’s premier bilingual law-school mooting competition.
Winning team: University of Toronto — Joseph Bricker, Ryan Durran, Samuel Greene, and Ada Keon
Dickson Medal for Exceptional Oralist: Fraser Genuis, University of Alberta
Concours Laskin:
The Concours Laskin French competition allows for a discussion of legal issues that bear on important current issues. Its objectives are to promote a thorough understanding of the law and support legal education and bilingualism, while stimulating the legal community in a spirit of co-operation that transcends linguistic and provincial boundaries.
This year’s moot competition took place on March 6-7 and 2nd place winners included Patrick Martin-Ménard, Léa Pelletier-Marcotte, Emilie Gravelle, and David Janzen.
Concours Pierre-Basile Mignault:
Between the six Canadian faculties of civil law, the Pierre-Basile Mignault Moot aims to encourage emulation, research, and deepening of knowledge, to promote Quebec civil law and encourage excellence in future litigants in Quebec. Competition took place Feb. 6-7.
Teams Mariève Barcelo Després and Rose Massicotte as well as Alexandra Belley-McKinnon and Frédérique Horwood competed for APDQ cup for best thesis, with the former team taking the prize.
2015 First Year Appellate Competition:
Since 2003 the Western Law faculty has organized an internal appellate advocacy competition called the First Year Appellate Competition. This voluntary event gives first-year students the opportunity to argue a hypothetical case before an appellate court, in which the facts are not in dispute and the focus is on the law.
After a challenging final round judged by Lerners LLP partner Joseph Masterson, as well as Dean Iain Scott and Professor Colin Campbell. Jim Lepore was named the winner of the 2015 First Year Appellate Competition.
The participants argued an appeal of the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Cuthbertson v Rasouli. The FYAC was held over three days, and involved over 65 competitors.
Davies’ Annual Corporate/Securities Law Moot:
Recognized as the leading event of its kind in Canada, Davies’ annual Corporate/Securities Law Moot, which was held March 6-7, provides an opportunity for top students from Canadian law schools to debate current legal issues in corporate and securities law with senior practitioners from Toronto law firms and corporations, regulators from the Ontario Securities Commission, and judges from several courts. The students were tested on their written advocacy (presented in a factum delivered prior to the competition) and their oral advocacy. Each student was required to argue twice during the competition, once on behalf of the appellant and once on behalf of the respondent.
Twelve law schools competed in the two-day event.
Top prize: University of Toronto — Gabe Edelson, Gideon Kwinter, Joe McGrade, and Aron Nimani
Second: University of Calgary — Jessica Gill, Justine Johnson, Bruce Graham, Dex Zucchi, and Chris Abtosway
Top oralist: Gabe Edelson
Top factum: University of Toronto team
The Harold G. Fox Moot:
The Fox Moot is named after one of Canada’s leading intellectual property scholars and advocates, Harold G. Fox. Now in its seventh year, the moot deals with issues related to IP laws. This year the moot took place on Feb. 20-21.
The Harold G. Fox Cup for best mooting team: Frederick Wu and Laura MacDonald, University of Ottawa, Common Law
Runner up: Rachel Charney and Brett Hughes, University of Toronto
The Donald F. Sim Award for the best oral advocate: Frederick Wu, University of Ottawa, Common Law
Runner up: Laura MacDonald, University of Ottawa, Common Law
The Gordon F. Henderson Award for the best factum writers:
Appellant: Rachel Charney and Brett Hughes, University of Toronto
Respondent: Alexandra Grishanova and Brendan Monahan, Osgoode Hall Law School
Hicks Morley Cup:
The semi-final and final rounds of the annual Hicks Morley Cup Moot focusing on labour arbitration were held in Toronto, March 27. The event provided an opportunity for students from Ontario law schools to litigate current legal issues of significance in the areas of human resource law and administrative law. This year, teams from six law schools from across Ontario competed before panels of judges drawn from the firm.
Winners: Wesley Hopkin and Geetha Philipupillai, University of Toronto
Runners up: Cassandra Ma and Sonya Sehgal, University of Ottawa
Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada:
The HACC is a competition for sports law enthusiasts run exclusively by University of Toronto law students. It simulates the salary arbitration procedures used in the National Hockey League. The HACC’s main goal is to give participants an opportunity to sharpen their oral and written advocacy skills within the specialized context of an NHL salary arbitration proceeding.
Champions: Sean Del Giallo and Devon McIntyre, Western University
Finalists: Fraser Malcolm and Tyler Henderson, University of Toronto
International Intellectual Property Law Moot:
The 13th annual IIPL Moot was held March 19-21.
Winner: National Law School of India University, New Delhi
Semi-finalists: NLSIU and National University of Singapore
Quarter finalists: King’s College London, University of Hong Kong, University of Ottawa, and University of Technology, Sydney
Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot:
The Jessup is one of the world’s most prestigious mooting competitions with schools participating from over 90 countries. In Halifax, McGill’s team performed extremely well, and was praised by judges to have “completely mastered the facts” and to “know the law cold.” The moot competition took place on March 5-7. While the team did not proceed to internationals, the members are proud to have achieved such success. Ottawa common law was the ultimate winner.
After the general rounds, the top 4 teams to advance were:
1. University of Ottawa (Common)
2. University of Western Ontario
3. University of Ottawa (Civil)
4. University of Calgary
Playoffs:
1. University of Ottawa Common vs. University of Calgary
2. University of Western Ontario vs. University of Ottawa (Civil)
Winners:
1. University of Ottawa (Common) - National Champion
2. University of Ottawa (Civil) - Runner up
3. University of Western Ontario – Third place
Julius Alexander Isaac Diversity Moot:
The Black Law Students’ Association of Canada holds this moot as part of its annual conference, which took place in Montreal on Feb. 21, this year. Sponsored by Koskie Minsky LLP, the moot is designed to promote advocacy and excellence in the fields of diversity law, human rights, and equity issues.
Winners: University of Toronto — Maya Bielinski, Nicole Wilkinson, Jeffery Couse, and Andrew Ngo
Best oralist: Maya Bielinski
Best appellant team: Maya Bielinski and Andrew Ngo
2015 Kawaskimhon Talking Circle Moot:
The Kawaskimhon Moot is non-competitive and designed to respect and incorporate Aboriginal values and concepts of dispute resolution. The moot uses the tradition of the Talking Circle as a model for consensus building. Participants sit in three separate circles and make their presentations from locations around each circle.
National Labour Arbitration Competition:
Labour law has a unique advocacy component, not always found in other types of litigation, as such the competition was launched by Mathews Dinsdale & Clark LLP in 1999. Every January, teams from law schools across Canada compete in a simulation of a grievance arbitration hearing before tri-partite panels. The competition takes place at the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Each team presents once as union counsel, and once as management counsel.
Winners: Hilary Grice and Alex Ognibene, University of Toronto
Ontario Trial Lawyers Association Cup:
The OTLA Cup was held March 7 in Kingston, Ont. It was run by volunteers from the OTLA’s members led by Michelle Jorge and Derek Nicholson.
The following is the listing of the 2015 OTLA Cup Award recipients.
Overall winners: Will Samson-Doel, Sean Lewis, and coach Andrew Cammon, University of Western Ontario
Tim Boland Award for best overall advocate: Jessica Lastuk, Osgoode Hall Law School
Greg Monforton Award for best examination-in-chief: Jessica Lastuk, Osgoode Hall Law School
Bonn Law Award for best cross-examination: Kristina Zilic, University of Ottawa
Will Davidson Award for best opening argument: Sean Lewis, Western University
H. Bruce T. Hillyer Award for best closing argument: Jaime Mor, Osgoode Hall Law School
Bergeron Clifford Award for best team: Sean Lewis and Will Samson-Doel, Western University
Talmudic Law Moot Competition:
McGill University Faculty of Law Talmudic Law Moot Competition was held March 23. The audience was welcomed by Dean Daniel Jutras. The judges were lawyers Gregory Bordan, Doreen Brown, and Azim Hussain. Teams from McGill and Osgoode Hall Law School debated a question of inheritance using classical sources of Jewish law.
The Osgoode team was comprised of Gleb Matushansky, Nemetz Nacson, and Maya Pearlston. They were coached by Rabbi Chaim Strauchler, and overseen by Professor Faisal Bhabha.
The McGill team was comprised of Michelle Orr Gaucher and Daniel Luxenberg. They were coached by Rabbi Michael Whitman, and overseen by Professor Hoi Kong.
Best pleader: Maya Pearlston
Best factum: Michelle Orr Gaucher and Daniel Luxenberg
Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot:
University of Ottawa claimed victory at the 2015 Vis Arbitration Moot. The team prevailed over Singapore Management University (SMU) in the championship round of the event held in Vienna, Austria, from March 28 to April 2.
Queen’s University, Faculty of Law advanced to the elimination rounds, but then lost to the University of St. Gallen (a Swiss University) in the round of 64. This is the third year in a row and the fifth year in the last six in which Queen’s University has advanced to the elimination rounds. In addition, Jonathan Nehmetallah, received an oralist award reaching the top 100 out of 2000.
Competitors were required to argue a contractual dispute under International Court of Arbitration rules between a minerals broker and a state-owned mining operator in the fictional country of Mediterraneo. In the final, University of Ottawa represented the broker while SMU represented the mining company.
More than 2,000 students from 298 schools from 65 different countries participated in the competition. This is the second time University of Ottawa has won the competition. The previous victory was in 2011.
Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot:
The North American regional rounds of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Competition was held in Washington D.C., and 12 teams from around the Americas competed at a very high level March 21-22.
The McGill University team won best brief, and made it to the quarter finals of the oral rounds where they were beaten by a small margin by the University of Mississippi, who went on to win the regional rounds.
Sopinka Cup:
This competition, which is completely bilingual, was established to honour the memory of the late justice John Sopinka, former judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, who was a long-standing and devoted fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
After regional elimination, eight law schools representing the various geographical areas of the country compete in Ottawa in the National Finals for the Sopinka Cup. It was held this year March 13-14. Supreme Court of Canada Justice Suzanne Côté was on hand for the awards presentation.
Universities in the western provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) compete in the McIntyre Cup. Universities in Ontario compete in the Arnup Cup. Universities in Quebec compete in the Guy-Guérin Cup. Universities in the eastern provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador) compete in the McKelvey Cup.
Winners: McGill University — Fraser Dickson and Dov Whitman
Best overall advocate: Noémie Doiron, Université de Moncton
REGIONALSArnup Cup:
The Arnup Cup is an annual trial advocacy competition for Ontario law schools, organized by The Advocates’ Society and sponsored by WeirFoulds LLP. The Cup bears the name of justice John D. Arnup, who for many years sat as a distinguished member of the Ontario Court of Appeal following a career as one of Canada’s finest litigation counsel. The moot took place in Toronto this year Feb. 6-7.
Students had to work with a criminal case involving attempted murder. A woman was shot by a masked assailant whom she later identified as her ex-boyfriend. The main issue was the identity of the shooter.
Winners: Alana Pasut and Elizabeth Gjata, University of Toronto
Guy-Guérin Cup:
The regional round for law schools in Quebec is called the Guy-Guérin Cup, named after judge Guy Guérin (1927-1994), who was justice (1968-1994) and then chief justice (1985-1988) of the Court of the Sessions of the Peace, which became the Court of Quebec, Criminal and Penal Division in 1988.[3] The University of Ottawa has competed in this competition on occasion. The moot took place Feb. 13-14. All three teams went on to the Sopinka Cup.
Winning team: University of Ottawa (droit civil) — Andrée-Anne Lavoie and Sandrine Bourgon
Second place: McGill University — Fraser Dickson and Dov Whitman
Third place (wild card): University of Ottawa (common law section) — Brigitte Savignac and Emmanuelle Léonard-Dufour
Western / McIntyre Cup:
This qualifying moot is open to law schools in Western Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan). It takes place in the form of a mock trial in a criminal prosecution. It was held Feb. 6-7 this year. The top two teams advanced to the national competition.
Winning team: University of Manitoba — Anthony Foderaro and Zach Courtemanche
Second place: University of Saskatchewan — Brooke Johnson and Sean Watson
McKelvey Cup:
This qualifying moot is for students in Eastern Canada (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia).
Noémie Doiron, Université de Moncton, was the overall competition winner as well as the best Advocate of the competition.
Sopinka Cup national results:
Best opening address: Elizabeth Gjata, University of Toronto
Best closing address: Fraser Dickson, McGill University
Best direct examination: Fraser Dickson, McGill University
Best cross-examination: Noémie Doiron, Université de Moncton
Best overall advocate: Noémie Doiron, Université de Moncton
Winning team: McGill University
Second place: Université de Moncton
Third place: University of Manitoba
Warren K. Winkler Class Actions Moot:
The second annual Warren K. Winkler Class Actions Moot took place on March 7 in McCarthy Tétrault’s Toronto offices.
The University of Windsor Law School won the competition — Juliene Cawthorne-Hwang and Katelyn Scorer.
(edited for accuracy)
Walsh Family Law Moot:
The 2015 Walsh Family Law Moot was held on March 14, at Osgoode Hall. There were 32 law students from seven law schools, 14 volunteer judges, seven (real) judges, and 18 coaches, sponsors and volunteers participating.
Best mooting team: University of Toronto — Petra Molnar Diop, Graham Thomson, Rachel Kattapuram, and Amy Tang
Best appellate factum: Queens University — Kegan Chang and Amanda Rozario
Best respondent’s factum: (tie) University of Manitoba — Kevin Mehi and Hilary Taylor; and University of Toronto — Rachel Kattapuram and Amy Tang
Best Oralist: Graham Thomson, University of Toronto (with a perfect score!)
Wilson Moot:
Founded in 1992 to honour the late SCC justice Bertha Wilson, the Wilson Moot promotes justice for those disempowered within the legal system, by exploring legal issues concerning women and minorities, and furthering the education of students and the legal profession in these areas.
There were 12 participating law schools. The preliminary rounds took place in Toronto on Feb. 21-22 and the final moot was between the top two teams from the University of Toronto and McGill University. Bond University (Australia) placed third in the overall standings.
Overall winner: University of Toronto — Deborah Boswell, Chloe Boubalos, Katherine Long, and Bradon Willms
Willms & Shier Environmental Law Moot:
The Willms & Shier Environmental Law Moot is Canada's first and only national moot court competition devoted to environmental law. The judges this year were Supreme Court of Canada Justice Andromache Karakatsanis, and justices Katherine van Rensburg and David Stratas.
The competition takes the form of an appeal before a Canadian court of last resort, bringing together law students, judges, leadings lawyers, and legal academics to explore cutting-edge environmental law issues. The competition is open to teams from all Canadian law faculties.
Champions: University of Toronto — Serin Remedios, Grace Smith, and Chris Wong
Second place: Osgoode Hall Law School — Martin Banach, Joslyn Currie, and Zachary D’Onofrio
Third: Queen’s University — Jessica Spindler, Robyn Laing, and Andrew Cottreau
D. Paul Emond Award for best respondent’s factum: Osgoode Hall — Danielle Cornacchia, Gun Koleoglu, and Maija-Lisa Robinson
Barry N. Spiegel Award for best appellant’s factum: Queen’s University — Jessica Spindler, Robyn Laing, and Andrew Cottreau
First place oralist: Serin Remedios, University of Toronto
