As always, U of T Law is proud of the accomplishments of its talented student mooters, and its negotiation and arbitration competition teams. Read on for the results of the 2018 moots and negotiation and arbitration competitions.
Kawaskimhon Moot
This year’s Kawaskimhon moot was hosted by McGill university. The University of Toronto’s team was ably represented by Emily Young and Stephanie Lewis, with Professors Sanderson and Edwards, and Krista Nerland (and so many others at OKT Law) providing coaching support. This year’s mooters participated in a process set out as traditional Kanien’kehá:ka dispute resolution methodologies to resolve issues related to occupation of land, and the status of cultural property unearthed in lands around the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community of Kanehsatà:ke near Oka, Quebec. This was a unique learning opportunity, with Mohawk law and procedure governing proceedings.
Matthew Dinsdale Labour Arbitration Moot
Lily Hassall and Rachel Chan did a fantastic job at the Matthew Dinsdale Labour Arbitration Moot. They won both of their two first rounds and proceeded to the finals. Rachel gave an eloquent appeal on the social implications of addiction, while Lily had the tough task of arguing against SCC judge Malcolm Rowe’s position in Stewart v. Elk Valley ... in front of SCC Justice Malcolm Rowe. They walked away from the competition with a second place overall award. All of their coaches, namely student coach Tamie Dolny, and advisors Steven Shore (Ogletree, Deakins), and Maeve Biggar (CaleyWray) are so proud of them!
Jessup International Law Moot
Congratulations to Sarah Strban, Alex Matic, Misha Boutilier, and Daniel Sisgoreo on advancing to and performing brilliantly in the finals of the Jessup International Law Moot and the International Rounds! The team mooted their final round before a panel including Justice Rowe. This year's problem involved four discrete topics of public international law: the validity of inter-state arbitral awards, the capture of a marine vessel, the breach of nuclear disarmament obligations, and the conduct of naval warfare. In rigorous performances in Fredericton and Ottawa, we remained undefeated throughout the six preliminary rounds and the final round. The team received the prize for Second Overall Respondent Memorial (factum). In addition, Misha and Daniel placed as the eighth and first oralists overall in the National Round. It is difficult to overstate the significance of this team’s achievement. When U of T last progressed to argue in D.C. (2006) no one tweeted about it, we are certain, because Twitter had not yet been invented.
The International Rounds took place last week in Washington, DC. The team had its only loss to Australia (Queensland U), the team that went on to win the entire moot. Once in the advanced rounds, a single loss eliminates a team, but despite this set back U of T managed to place in the top five teams overall.
The team's preparations were overseen and supported by student coaches Lewis Fainer and Kerry Sun. Adjunct Mooting Advisor Maureen Whelton (Stevenson Whelton MacDonald & Swan LLP) was overjoyed, “I have no doubt that they will remember this experience as one of the highlights of their legal education. And I got to watch them become genuinely world class Jessup mooters!” Added co-Advisor Professor Karen Knop, “the round I saw was superb and the decision was split, …[this was] truly an outstanding year.”
Fox Intellectual Property Moot
Both of U of T’s Fox Intellectual Property Moot teams made it to the final four, with Appellants Arron Chahal and Jacquelyn Smalley going head-to-head in arguing whether a cheese company was listing a geographical indicator or deliberately engaging in deceptive marketing with Respondents Nathaniel Bryan and Louell Taye. Louell and Nathaniel proceeded to the Finals (yay!), and all four mooters won best facta awards—a clean sweep in writing awards. Nathaniel won the Excellence in Mooting awards as the best non-graduating mooter, and was a runner up for best oralist.
Faculty advisors Andy Shaughnessy (Torys) and Dominique Hussey (Bennett Jones) congratulated both the mooters and their amazing and attentive student coaches, Maud Rozee and Edward Sullivan. Andy went on, “you all got out of this … what we wanted you to experience and more. I was impressed by your work ethic and your grit and determination. The growth each of you showed was amazing. Well done!” Congratulations all around!
Bowman Tax Moot
This year our Bowman Mooters, Maria-Christina Christodoulou, Stephanie D’Amico, Matthew Elder, and David Rybak, argued a case involving the residency of a trust for tax purposes, including the interpretation of technical deeming provisions in the Income Tax Act. Coached by Al-Nawaz Nanji (Osler) and Martha MacDonald (Torys), and student coaches Elizabeth White and Patricia Lahoud, the University of Toronto performed well, doing better than many of the other schools. Unfortunately, the team did not make it to the semi-finals, being edged out by a mere 0.17 in its total score.
Client Counselling Competition
Katharine Somers and Ryan Dorsman represented the Faculty at the Client Counselling Competition in Edmonton. The team prepare assiduously for the unpredictable scenarios and actor clients they would have to face in three preliminary rounds of competition. Kate and Ryan see their experience as a “highlight of 1L”. Coach Kim Snell was impressed throughout by the team's seize-the-moment attitude, and dedication to learning from each run through. Much gratitude to Professor Peter Benson for his guidance on the law of mistake.
Walsh Family Law Moot and Negotiation Competition
Congratulations to Emily Dyer, Jackson Foreman, Alexis Giannelia, and James Schneider, who competed at the Walsh Family Law Moot on March 10. This year’s moot involved the tension between respecting the wishes of an older, alienated child and forcing family reunification therapy.
James and Jackson won Best Appellant Factum and Alexis won Best Oralist. The judges were impressed across the board by the team’s elegant presentation and their expert command of the material. Emily was applauded for her poise and control over arguments. Jackson maintained composure during vexing questions and the judges were impressed by his clear facility with the materials. Alexis exhibited a mastery of the material and a strong command of the courtroom. James maintained excellent voice control and stayed perfectly on track while still managing to address specific questions from the bench.
The team is extremely grateful for the unparalleled support provided by their coaches: Martha McCarthy and Sarah Young of Martha McCarthy & Company LLP and superstar student coaches Angela Pagano, Daniel Smith, and Ashley Peoples
On the same day the same organizers hosted the Walsh Family Law Negotiation Competition, which allows students to display their dispute resolution skills in a realistic parenting dispute. Mimi Chen, Harvey Lim, Priya Khalsa, and Alice Parama distinguished themselves with their hard work and enthusiasm. Mimi and Harvey won a prize for submitting the best Negotiation Plan. The team was ably coached by recent grad (and one of last year’s winners) Samantha Eisen (WeirFoulds), and Judith Huddart (Dranoff & Huddart).
Laskin Moot
The Faculty hosted the Laskin Moot this year, and, our students’ performance in the Moot was close to perfection. The team was named best overall. Anna Speiser and Morag McGreevey were named third best Appellants while Becky Lockert and Aaron Haight picked up second best Respondents. The team made submissions on a problem that focused on the cancellation of a rehabilitative prison program and subsequent protest by the affected inmates, and it required an analysis of the freedom to associate, the duty to consult, and virtually every pertinent issue in administrative law today including standing and a proposed new standard of review. The mooters proved to be up to the challenge, sweeping the top oralist awards (#1 for Morag, #2 for Anna, and #3 for Aaron.
Guiding our team to the best results that UofT has ever seen at the Laskin was a very talented set of coaches: indefatigable student coach Jessica Kras and Adjunct Mooting Advisors Sarah Corman (Corman Feiner) and William MacLarkey (MAG).
The Laskin Mooters, L-R: Morag McGreevey, Becky Lockert, Anna Spieser, and Aaron Haight
Sopinka Cup
Last December U of T’s team, Theresa Donkor and Angela Pagano, won the silver medal in the Arnup Cup trial advocacy competition. “Angela did a beautiful opening—clear, compelling and beautifully structured. Theresa's cross of the defence witness was sensational—tight, focussed and immaculately controlled,” reported their adjunct mooting advisor, Jonathan Shime (Cooper, Sandler, Shime and Bergman). Due to this success, they advanced to the Sopinka Cup competition.
We placed 3rd at the Sopinka. Angela won prizes for best cross and best overall advocate. While the awards are lovely, their coaches, Jonathan Shime and Megan Schwartzentruber (also of Cooper, Sandler) were most proud of how Angela and Theresa conducted themselves. “Their remarkable advocacy was only matched by their professionalism, civility and graciousness. …They represented the University beautifully and [we] could not be more proud. They are wonderful people and tenacious advocates. They did U of T proud!” Julie Hannaford (JK Hannaford), who teaches Trial Ad chimed in, “I am so proud of the achievement of our students, and also of our coaches, Jonathan and Megan, who gave so generously of their time!”
Warren K. Winkler Class Actions Moot
Four U of T 2L’s went to McCarthy Tétrault’s offices on February 24th to participate in the Warren K. Winkler Class Actions Moot. Andrew Basso, Brenda Chang, Albert Kwan, and Andrew Sahai competed brilliantly. Brenda and Albert made it to the finals and finished in second place overall. They made their submissions in front of Chief Justice Warren Winkler (formerly of the Ontario Court of Appeal), Justice Kathryn Feldman (Ontario Court of Appeal) and Justice Benjamin Glustein (Ontario Superior Court of Justice). Unlike most of our moots, which are set in appellate court, Winkler Class Actions Moot is argued at the motions court level. Mooters develop their own original legal arguments and argue both the law and the evidence before the panel.
Our mooters also swept all of the oralist prizes - Brenda won Third Place oralist, Andrew was Second Place oralist, and Albert won the Joan Lax Memorial Award for top oralist. Their coaches, Amani Rauff, Alexandria Matic, and Gaby Schachter were very proud of the team. The Winkler was supported by faculty advisors Mike Eizenga (Bennett Jones) and Professor Simon Stern.
Davies Corporate / Securities Moot
The corporate and securities moot team competed last weekend in Toronto. The moot is hosted by the Davies law firm and involved complex corporate law issues relating to corporate mismanagement, directorial conflicts of interest and available remedies. Our law school was represented by the awesome team of Shaan Tolani, Dylan Murray, Chris Puskas and Adil Abdullah. The team won the entire moot with Adil and Chris being named top (first) and second oralist respectively. The team also won the prize for the third best factum.
The team was fortunate to have as great student coaches Jennifer Heaton, Eric Patenaude, and Avram Spatz who won the moot the previous year. According to faculty coach Professor Anita Anand, it was a well-deserved victory by a fantastic group of students. Warm congratulations to everyone involved!
L-R: Jennifer Heaton (student coach), Eric Patenaude (student coach), Adil Abdullah (mooter),
Chris Puskas (mooter), Dylan Murray (mooter), Shaan Tolani (mooter),
Avram Spatz (student coach) and Professor Anita Anand (faculty coach
Callaghan Moot
The Callaghan Moot, the U of T Law internal mooting competition, was held the weekend after reading week, and the incredibly hardworking chief justices of the Moot (Diane Shnier, Benjamin Pan, Ben Shakinovsky, Gabe Thompson, and Patrick Harris) report that, as always, the mooters had a great experience.
The final round was between Joshua Favel and Sierra Skorapada (Appellants) and Timothy Shin and Wendes Keung (Respondents), with Joshua and Sierra narrowly winning the Moot. Daniel Milton and Gordon Vance wrote the best appellant factum, and the best respondent factum was written by Jordyn Benattar and Bethanie Pascutto. Top oralists were Daniel Milton (1st place), Hatim Kheir (2nd place) and Joshua Favel (3rd place).
This is a time-honoured Moot where the writing support is so strong that everyone who participates wins: congratulations to Natasha Anzik, Chloe Magee, Christoph Pike, Kennedy Simpson, John Sime, Robin Spillete, and Michael Xia.
The Moot is headed by Professor Hamish Stewart, and generously funded by Gowling and Borden, Ladner Gervais.
Gale Cup Moot
The Gale Cup competition took place on February 16-17, and the Faculty was extremely well represented. Ashley Bowron, Holly Kallmeyer, Nic Martin, and Devyn Noonan finished second overall, with Respondents Nic and Devyn appearing before the Honourable Justice Suzanne Côté of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Honourable Justice Patrick Healy of the Cour d'appel du Québec, and the Honourable Justice Marc David of the Cour supérieur du Québec.
The mooters argued R v Paterson, involving issues about the admissibility of evidence gathered when police responding to a 911 phone call smelled marijuana and conducted a search of the residence. Nic also won the Dickson Top Oralist Medal. The team was coached by three of last year’s Gale mooters, Catherine Fan, Aidan Fishman, and Stephanie Lewis. Their adjunct faculty coaches were first-timers Paul-Erik Veel (Lenczner Slaght) and Sinziana Hennig (Stikeman Elliot). Sinziana and Paul-Erik wrote, “we counted ourselves fortunate to be working with such a fabulous, bright, capable, dedicated, hard-working group of students on our first time coaching.”
L-R: Ashley Bowron, Nic Martin, Honourable Suzanne Côté (Supreme Court of Canada),
Devyn Noonan, and Holly Kallmeyer
Wilson Moot
Congratulations to Hayley Goldfarb, Julia Kirby, Ritika Rai, and Meena Sundararaj, who made it to the final round of the Wilson Moot. They argued before a bench consisting of Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner, Justice Peter Lauwers of the Ontario Court of Appeal and Justice Cindy Bourgeois of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.
The difficult problem involved a section 15 Charter challenge to a regulation applicable to police hiring procedures that required consideration of police carding information that was argued to discriminate on the basis of race.
Our team placed second overall and took third place for their facta. Meena Sundararaj was awarded second place oralist.
Results like these do not come easily. The team was coached by Joseph Cheng (Department of Justice Canada, National Litigation Sector), David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights Executive Director Cheryl Milne, and Professor Lorraine Weinrib. Three student coaches from last year’s team, Katrina Longo, Maryam Shahid and Wes Dutcher-Walls, also worked tirelessly with the team.
L-R: Katrina Longo, Meena Sundararaj, Julia Kirby, Wes Dutcher-Walls, Ritika Rai,
Hayley Goldfarb & Maryam Shahid
Chief Justice Isaac Diversity Moot
U of T had another fantastic showing at the Chief Justice Isaac Diversity moot this past weekend. Our team, which included second year law students Tina Cody, Gaurav Gopinath, Solomon McKenzie, and Lynn Taye, made it all the way to the finals, where they suffered a heartbreakingly close loss to Osgoode Hall.
The mooters worked on the appeal of R v Welsh (2013 ONCA 190), a murder case where confessions made to an undercover police officer impersonating a religious leader in the course of the investigation were crucial to the Crown’s case. The mooters engaged with the religious freedom of minorities and the fine line between a tailored Police investigation and a discriminatory one.
In addition to being named the Best Respondent Team (composed of Solomon and Tina), Solomon took home the "Spirit of the Moot" prize, awarded to the mooter who best exemplified the ideals of the moot and its commitment to diversity and advancing critical race theory in advocacy. And in the best facta awards, U of T’s Appellants were #1, and U of T’s Respondents were #2.
Congrats to the whole team for an exceptionally fine showing, and a huge thanks to our student coaches Anna Spieser and Theresa Donkor and Adjunct Faculty Advisor Joseph Cheng (Senior Counsel, Dep’t of Justice Canada) for providing such able guidance and logistical planning this year!
(L-R) The Isaac Diversity Moot team: Lynn Tay, Guarav Gopinath, Solomon McKenzie, and Tina Cody
