Every year, our students have an opportunity to practice their skills at competitive moots across Canada and internationally. Each team puts months of dedication and hard work into preparing for competition. No matter the results, we are proud to have them represent Schulich Law.
When: January 9-10, 2025
Where: Online, hosted virtually
Team Members: Hannah Arsenault-Gallant, Ann Nightingale, and Emma Peckham
Coach: Professor Sara Seck
Congratulations to the Schulich School of Law team on a strong showing at the North American Regional Rounds of the Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition, hosted virtually from January 9-10, 2025.
The Stetson International Environmental Law Moot is the foremost international moot which focuses exclusively on global environmental challenges such as conservation, sustainability, and climate change. The students are tasked with mooting before a simulated panel of the International Court of Justice which is made up of a combination of members, esteemed judges, and practitioners.
The problem for this year鈥檚 moot concerned questions relating to subsistence use and trophy hunting and raised questions under the Convention on Migratory Species, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, WTO appellate body jurisprudence, and Indigenous rights under UNDRIP, ILO 169 and the CESCR.
Unlike most moots, students were required to argue both sides of the fact scenario. Schulich Law students Hannah Arsenault-Gallant, Ann Nightingale, and Emma Peckham enthusiastically took on this challenge and performed commendably.
The University of Chicago was ultimately named the winning team and will compete in the international rounds at Florida's Stetson University Faculty of Law in April.
When: January 29-February 1, 2025
Where: Toronto, Ontario
Team Members: Nicole Basran, Joshua Langston, and Chantal Peng
Coaches: Professor Maria Dugas, Brandon Rolle, and Lee Seshagiri
Congratulations to the Schulich School of Law team on their showing at the Julius Alexander Isaac Moot in Toronto on January 29-February 1, 2025.
The Isaac Moot is named after Julius Alexander Isaac, the first Black judge to sit on the Federal Court of Canada. It was established by the Black Law Students鈥� Association of Canada and focuses on areas of law in which equity, diversity, and racism issues arise, often incorporating elements of critical race theory (CRT) into the problem.
This year's problem addressed the legal test for racial profiling from a critical race perspective. The Schulich Law team of Nicole Basran, Joshua Langston, and Chantal Peng submitted a thoughtful and compelling factum, proposing a novel test for racial profiling aimed at addressing systemic racism and the mass incarceration of racialized groups. They represented the law school with integrity and professionalism, earning high praise from the judges and opposing counsel throughout the competition.
Despite impressive performances in the preliminary rounds, including navigating a very 鈥榟ot bench鈥�, they did not advance to the final. Basran was presented with the Spirit of the Moot Award for her exceptional advocacy and commitment to CRT.
鈥淚 am proud of this team 鈥� as a CRT scholar, their coach, and an African Nova Scotian,鈥� says coach Maria Dugas. 鈥淚 am particularly impressed by the collegiality and support they showed each other throughout the entire moot process. They encouraged each other, lifted each other up, and were committed to understanding and raising compelling arguments rooted in CRT.鈥�
A special thanks to Professors Steve Coughlan and Melisa Marsman who served as guest judges, and to coaches Brandon Rolle and Lee Seshagiri for the support and guidance they showed the students.
When: January 31-February 2, 2025
Where: Toronto, Ontario
Team Members: Mina Ali, Isabella Harris, and Kaley Kennedy
Coaches: Professor Liam McHugh-Russell and Gus Richardson
The 27th National Labour Arbitration Competition, hosted by Mathews Dinsdale and Clarke LLP, took place from January 31-February 2 at the offices of the Ontario Labour Relations Board in Toronto.
The moot requires teams to participate in two rounds of mock arbitration, arguing once for both the union and the employer sides.
The scenario grounding this year鈥檚 moot concerned the dismissal of a teacher with strong religious views and touched on a variety of issues, including the regulation of speech by employers, the protection of equality in the workplace, and the relevance of procedural standards in collective agreements to the adjudication of substantive worker rights. It also required engagement with the Supreme Court鈥檚 recent guidance in York Region District School Board v. Elementary Teachers鈥� Federation of Ontario about how the Charter should be applied to the interpretation of collective agreements in public workplaces such as schools.
Schulich Law students Mina Ali and Isabella Harris put in a superlative performance. Their presentations made a significant impression on both the judges drawn from the union- and employer-side labour bar and practicing arbitrators, as well as members of the audience. Although it was close, they were not chosen to participate in the final round, and the competition victory went to the University of Alberta鈥檚 team.
A special thanks to student Kaley Kennedy, who put significant work into helping the team prepare but was unable to participate in the moot, and for the continuing support of labour and employment lawyers from Pink Larkin, who watched a run through of the union-side argument and provided invaluable feedback.
When: February 14-15, 2025
Where: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Team Members: David Cruz, Adrienne Graham, Leily Farman-Farmaian, and Aleida Whidden
Coaches: Brian Casey, KC, Kathryn Pich茅 and Jeremy Smith
Congratulations to Schulich Law students David Cruz and Aleida Whidden who were named the winners of the 26th McKelvey Cup after defeating the team from the University of New Brunswick in the final.
The McKelvey Cup is a trial moot in which students do a mock jury trial. Each student does a direct examination and a cross-examination, as well as a jury address. The competition is then judged by that jury, which this year included Madame Justice Cindy Bourgeois of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal and trial lawyers from throughout Nova Scotia.
Coached by Brian Casey, KC, Kathryn Pich茅, and Jeremy Smith, Schulich Law sent two teams to this year鈥檚 competition; its Crown team of Adrienne Graham and Leily Farman-Farmaian competed against the defence team from Universit茅 de Moncton while Schulich Law鈥檚 defence team of Cruz and Whidden took on the University of New Brunswick. Cruz also earned the James E. Lockyer Award for Best Overall Advocate.
鈥淒avid and Aleida did an outstanding job presenting the defence in their case,鈥� says Casey. 鈥淭he judges shared that they were impressed with the students鈥� skills and very much enjoyed watching them perform.鈥�
The McKelvey Cup is the regional competition for the Sopinka Cup. Cruz and Whidden will go on to represent Atlantic Canada in Ottawa at the national moot in March.
When: February 21-22, 2025
Where: Toronto, Ontario
Team Members: Isaac Cain, Katherine Silins, Liam Sherlock, and Juliet Watts
Coach: Brendan Peters
The Schulich School of Law continued its streak of excellence at this year鈥檚 Harold G. Fox Intellectual Property (IP) Moot with outstanding performances by Isaac Cain and Juliet Watts, who represented the appellants, and Katherine Silins and Liam Sherlock for the respondent.
The 17th annual Harold G. Fox IP Moot problem focused on issues of copyright and moral rights in a painting, engaging traditionally under-litigated provisions of the Copyright Act.
Cain and Watts advanced to the final round, delivering submissions before a distinguished panel of judges, including the Honourable Justice Malcolm Rowe of the Supreme Court of Canada. They skillfully fielded questions from the bench and secured the hard-fought runner-up position for Best Mooting Team in addition to their honourable mention for their work on the appellants鈥� factum.
Silins and Sherlock won the Gordon F. Henderson Award for Best Respondent Factum, an incredible achievement given the centrality of written advocacy to modern appellate litigation. From comments made by practice judges to feedback by preliminary round panelists, the strength of this factum was emphasized and celebrated throughout the course of the moot.
鈥�I am so incredibly proud of how this team took agency over the subject matter as well as the preparation schedule. They approached this file like true litigators, making great efforts to budget their time, energy, and resources to get the job done in the most effective way possible,鈥� says coach Brendan Peters. 鈥淚t has been said many times by many seasoned litigators over the past several months, but it bears repeating: this team has a very bright future in litigation.鈥�
When: February 20-22, 2025
Where: Ottawa, Ontario
Team Members: Alexandra Doane, David Dorrian, Asia Murphy, and Mira Stephenson
Coaches: Sarah Douglas and Sarah MacLeod
The Canadian rounds of the 2025 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition were held in Ottawa from February 20-22 and hosted by the Canadian Council on International Law. The competition featured a hypothetical public international law case between two countries that had various legal disputes.
Applicants Alexandra Doane and Asia Murphy mooted against students from three other law schools, while David Dorrian and Mira Stephenson did the same as respondents. All four demonstrated terrific written and oral advocacy skills and received many comments on the high quality of their advocacy from the judges they faced and the coaches from opposing teams, many of whom are international law practitioners or scholars.
While they did not advance to the final rounds, they did win prizes for Third Place Applicant Memorials and Fifth Place Memorials overall.
"We are so proud of the team鈥檚 showing at this year鈥檚 Jessup Moot. They demonstrated stellar teamwork and resilience, as well as exceptional skills in advocacy,鈥� says coaches Sarah Douglas and Sarah MacLeod. 鈥淲e wish them the biggest congratulations on this accomplishment as they set out on their legal careers.鈥�
The team would like to thank the many practice judges who donated their time in the weeks leading up to the competition: Schulich Law and Jessup Moot alumni Bruce MacGregor, Jennie Pick, Taline Salsmen, Julia Hiltz, Alex Eddy, Caleb MacDonald, and Victoria Bryce; Professors Rob Currie, Aldo Chircop, and Sara Seck; and their friends from Stewart McKelvey, Boyne Clarke, Burchell Wickwire Bryson, and the Halifax office of the Judge Advocate General. A special thanks to Elizabeth Sanford and Professors Phillip Saunders and Jodi Lazare, who also provided invaluable assistance to the team.
When: February 28-March 1, 2025
Where: Toronto, Ontario
Team Members: Alison Balcom, Patricia Doiron, Beck Traversa, and Matthew Williams
Coach: Professor Colin Jackson
Congratulations to the Schulich School of Law team on an impressive showing at the Donal
