Danny Urquhart (3L)
Arnup Cup (Ontario Trial Advocacy Competition) and the Sopinka Cup (National Trial Advocacy Competition)
Team Members: Christina Galbraith, Leah West-Sheriff, Alana Pasut, and Elizabeth Gjata.
Coaches: Lisa Freeman (Law Society of Upper Canada), Jonathan Shime (Cooper, Sandler, Shime & Bergman), and Megan Schwartzentruber (Cooper, Sandler, Shime & Bergman).
Problem: 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.
Results: Alana and Elizabeth won the Arnup Cup! That victory sent them to the national trial advocacy competition, the Sopinka Cup, which was won by another school.
Bowman Tax Moot
Team members: Taylor Cao, Emily Gilmour, Shavone Hayes, and Fraser Malcolm.
Coaches: Kyle Gerow, Chad Pilkington, Martha McDonald (Osler), and Al-Nawaz Nanji (Osler).
Problem: Are two brothers who buy thousands of lottery tickets sufficiently organized to constitute a business? The brothers made more than $5 million over four years, and claimed their winnings were tax exempt. The Crown argued their system was a business, and that their profits ought to be taxed.
Results: The team performed very well, with Emily and Taylor making the semi-final rounds.
Corporate/Securities Law Moot
Team Members: Gabe Edelson, Gideon Kwinter, Joe McGrade, and Aron Nimani.
Coaches: Kathleen Elhatton-Lake, Jim Robson, and Andrew Matheson (McCarthy Tétrault).
Problem: A frustrated acquiror attempted to nominate its own slate of directors to a company’s board. The central issues were the validity of the company’s advanced notice bylaws, whether a postponement of a shareholder meeting was compliant with the Canada Business Corporations Act, and whether the acquiror was obligated to distribute a dissident proxy circular.
Results: U of T won the final, best factum award, and Gabe walked away with a top oralist award to complete the sweep.
Canadian Labour Arbitration Competition
Team Members: Hilary Grice and Alex Ognibene.
Coaches: Jacob Brown, Dave Kumagai, and Laura Trachuk.
Problem: The problem focused on a company’s unilateral imposition of a random drug and alcohol testing policy in a safety-sensitive workplace.
Results: U of T won top prize before a three-member panel that included Supreme Court Justice Thomas Cromwell.
Frank W. Callaghan Memorial Moot
Team Members: Malini Vijaykumar, Kailey Sutton, Hilary Brown, Alexander Eckler, Ben Lerer, Caroline Senini, Enoch Guimond, Gledis Rada, John Paul “JP” Zeni, Natasha Chin, Pat Chapman, Shauvik Shah, Eleanor Vaughan, Josh Fineblit, Pavel Sergeyev, and Bettina Xue.
Coaches: Bailey Rudnick, Ethan Schiff, Christina Galbraith, Tom Brookes, Marita Zouravlioff, Ryan Tinney, Dharsha Jegatheeswaran, and Yale Hertzman.
Problem: An appeal from a judicial stay of proceedings issued prior to the accused’s anticipated fourth trial on a murder charge. The previous two trials resulted in hung juries. Also at issue was the trial judge’s ruling on a key piece of Crown phone tracing evidence, which was excluded on the ground that it was inadmissible hearsay.
Results: Malini and Kailey won the competition as respondents, defeating appellants Enoch and John Paul in the final round. Best Appellant factum: Alexander and Hilary. Best Respondent Factum: Bettina and Gledis. First place oralist: Malini. Second place oralist: Josh. Third place oralist: Bettina.
Gale Cup Moot
Team Members: Joseph Bricker, Samuel Greene, Ada Keon, and Ethan Schiff.
Coaches: Karen Bellinger (Downtown Legal Services), Michael Dineen (Dawe Dineen), and Mark Coombes.
Problem: The problem was the case of R v Gauthier. The defendant had taken steps to conduct a murder-suicide pact with her spouse involving their children. The spouse proceeded to carry out the crime, despite the defendant communicating that she did not wish to proceed. The case turned on the infrequently used defence of abandonment.
Results: U of T emerged victorious. As a result of their win, the team was invited to represent Canada at the Commonwealth Moot in Glasgow, Scotland this spring. Ada and Samuel also walked away with the third place factum prize.
Harold G. Fox Intellectual Property Moot
Team Members: Rachel Charney, Brett Hughes, Brandon Heard, and Matt Cahill.
Coaches: Sean Husband, Monica Grembowicz, Andy Shaughnessy (Torys), and Dominique Hussey (Bennett Jones).
Problem: This year’s problem dealt with trademark law, including whether a particular parody of a corporate slogan could confuse consumers and whether an Anton Pillar order to seize the potentially-infringing goods was justified.
Results: Rachel and Brett reached the final round, but were defeated by the University of Ottawa. Rachel and Brett also won the award for best Appellant factum.
Julius Alexander Isaac Diversity Moot
Team Members: Maya Bielinski, Nicole Wilkinson, Jeffery Couse, and Andrew Ngo.
Coaches: Joseph Kalis, Alexandra Penny, and Joseph Cheng (Department of Justice).
Problem: The moot was based on Peart v Ontario (Community Safety and Correctional Services), which involved an allegation that the Coroners Act discriminated against migrant agricultural workers by denying them the benefit of a mandatory inquest into workplace deaths, which currently is extended to workers in the mining and construction industries.
Results: The U of T team won. Maya was named best oralist, and Maya and Andrew were also named best appellant team.
Kawaskimhon Talking Circle Moot
Team Members: Aurora Curtis, Shardae Fortier, Nicole Sylvester, and Danielle Muise.
Coaches: Professor Douglas Sanderson, Promise Holmes Skinner, and Bryce Edwards (Olthuis, Kleer, Townshend).
Problem: The moot revolved around the Crown’s duty to consult in a land use scenario that would negatively affect the reserve and traditional territories of several First Nations bands. As well, several other groups with less clearly-defined section 35 rights wanted a seat at the table during the consultation process with the Crown. The problem centered on negotiating who would be given seats at that table.
Results: The Kawaskimhon Moot is structured to be a talking circle in which teams represent various interested parties to exchange views and explore whether consensus can be reached. There are no awards given out. By all accounts, the mooters had an enriching experience. Aurora had this to say: “working with the team and our coaches was a lot of fun, and it was rewarding to be coached by such experts.”
The Laskin Moot
Team Members: Leanna Katz, Bilal Manji, David Marshall, and Rebecca Schwartz.
Coaches: Lauren Harper, Kat Owens, Sarah Corman (McCarthy Tétrault) and William McLarkey (Ministry of the Attorney General).
Problem: The case involved a challenge to an administrative decision by the fictional “Commission for the Promotion of Canadian History and Patriotism,” which denied a school board access to educational grants. The constitutionality of the administrative body’s home statute was also at issue.
Results: The team brought home the titles of top school overall, top finalist pair (Leanna and David), top oralist (David), and both second-place factum awards.
Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot
Team Members: Drew Beesley, James Rendell, Sarah Stothart, and Daniel Yip.
Coaches: Leah Sherriff and Maureen Whelton (Stevenson Whelton).
Problem: Two countries, Agnostica and Reverentia, brought four issues to the International Court of Justice for adjudication. First, whether a referendum in East Agnostica, and Revernentia’s support for that referendum, was lawful. Second, whether the secession of East-Agnostica and its annexation by Reverentia was lawful. Third, whether a mining treaty between the parties remained in effect after there was major change in the international market for the mineral. Finally, whether actions taken by Reverentia limiting the ability of Agnostica to mine the mineral was lawful.
Results: The Applicant team of Drew and James won a memorial (factum) award, and both Sarah and Daniel won individual oralist awards.
Walsh Family Law Moot
Team Members: Petra Molnar Diop, Amy Tang, Rachel Kattapuram, and Graham Thomson.
Coaches: Professor Carol Rogerson, Colleen McKeown, Brenna Staats, Paloma Van Groll, Martha McCarthy (McCarthy & Company), and Sarah Young (McCarthy & Company).
Problem: The team made submissions before the Supreme Moot Court of Canada on two thorny issues of property division under the Family Law Act: (1) the valuation of fixed debts under bankruptcy, and (2) the Court’s power to set aside a single, mistaken provision of a settlement agreement.
Results: We won the moot! Amy and Rachel also tied for best respondent factum and Graham took home top oralist.
Willms & Shier Environmental Law Moot
Team Members: Serin Remedios, Grace Smith, and Chris Wong.
Coaches: Jen Bates, Lauren Harper, Travis Allan (Zizzo Allan DeMarco), and Laura Zizzo (Zizzo Allan DeMarco).
Problem: The competition case is an appeal of Susan Heyes Inc. (Hazel & Co.) v South Coast B.C. Transportation Authority. Susan Heyes owned and operated a maternity clothing store in Vancouver. Her business suffered due to road closures from the “cut and cover” construction used to create the Canada Line rail link between downtown Vancouver and the Vancouver International Airport. The team argued whether the construction method selected created a nuisance and whether the government established the defence of statutory authority.
Results: First place overall; first place oralist (Serin Remedios); distinguished oralist (Chris Wong).
Wilson Moot
Team Members: Deborah Boswell, Chloe Boubalos, Katherine Long, and Bradon Willms.
Coaches: Aoife Quinn, Christophe Shammas, and Cheryl Milne (Asper Centre).
Problem: The case involved section 15 and section 7 Charter challenges to a law which excluded violent offenders from a program allowing mothers to keep their children with them while they served their prison sentences.
Results: Another victory for the U of T team! Katherine tied for first place oralist and Debbie placed as third place oralist. The team was part of a three-way tie for first place factum.
Winkler Class Actions Moot
Team Members: Shaanzéh Ataullahjan, Tatiana Emanuel, Brittany Tovee, and Aryan Ziaie.
Coaches: Kathleen Elhatton-Lake, Danny Urquhart, Simon Stern, and Michael Eizenga (Bennett Jones).
Problem: The case involved the certification of a class action for an alleged securities misrepresentation. The core issues were whether the limitations period had expired in respect the claims, whether the case was appropriate for a global class, whether a class action was the preferable procedure, and whether there was a sufficient litigation plan.
Results: The U of T team were unlucky to not make the final round. Aryan earned the top oralist award and Brittany earned a third place oralist award.
