Photo (L-R): Misha Boutilier, Vidit Desai, Jason Quinn, Matthew Farrell, Alex Kelly, Chloe Merritt, Arik Portnov, and Daniel Sisgoreo.
The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, dedicated to the promotion of international law, is the world’s largest moot court competition with nearly 700 law schools represented across 100 countries.
JD students Matthew Farrell (2L), Jason Quinn (3L), Chloe Merritt (2L), and Alex Kelly (2L) earned third place in the Canadian Rounds and, for the second year in a row, will be advancing to the international rounds in Washington, D.C., March 29 - April 5, 2025.
The team and its members also obtained several awards: Farrell won top oralist, Farrell and Quinn earned the second place applicant memorial prize, and the entire team received the fourth place overall memorial award.
This year’s Jessup problem concerned universal jurisdiction over the crime of enforced disappearance, the scope of functional immunity for government ministers, the impact of rising sea levels on maritime delimitation, and the ability of insurrectionary groups to commit acts of state under international law. Farrell and Quinn (counsel for the applicant) faced the University of Ottawa, Common Law in the final playoff round before a panel including Mark Luz (Justice Canada, Trade Law Bureau), Carole St-Louis (formerly, Global Affairs Canada), and David Quayat (Public Prosecution Service of Canada).
The team celebrates with third-time coaches, U of T Law alumni Misha Boutilier (JD 2018) and Daniel Sisgoreo (JD 2019). Boutilier is counsel to the Chief Justice of Ontario at the Court of Appeal for Ontario and Sisgoreo is a litigation associate at Quinn Emanuel's New York office. The team also extends their gratitude to the 3L student coaches and 2024 Jessup alumni, Vidit Desai (3L), Arik Portnov (3L), and Eyal Wilk (3L), as well as the practitioners, scholars and U of T Law alumni who generously provided feedback during their preparation for the competition.
