2023 Moot and Lawyering Skills Results

The 2023 Lincoln Alexander Walsh Family Law Moot team received the award for Best Overall Team. This marks our law school’s first Best Overall Team award at a competitive moot.

The team included second-year students Meagan MacArthur, Julie Matheson, Lila Mansour and Jordan Haworth, guided by their coaches Laura Petryshen, Geoffrey Carpenter, Gida Deti. This team worked tirelessly over the school year leading to their great success that will pave the way for many more successful Lincoln Alexander Mooting Teams.

Congratulations, Walsh Team! All of us at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law are proud of all your hard work and the legacy you have left.

Rebecca Manga, Léonicka Valcius, Patricia Arulchelvam and Rocky Wang represented the law school at the 15th Annual Harold G. Fox Intellectual Property Moot (Fox). The students were led by their inspiring and incredibly dedicated coaches, Tracey Doyle and Laura MacDonald.

At the Fox, mooters argued on the complex patent case SpaceNext Canada v RF Access before Justices in the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal. Patricia reflects fondly on the confidence she gained in her oral advocacy skills throughout the mooting process and “would strongly encourage 1Ls with an interest in IP to participate in the Fox Moot.”

Congratulations, Fox team!

Nisha Baig, Hania Jahangir, Keisha Joseph, and Fatima Sheikh, second year students at the law school, were led by coaches Chetan Muram, Dena Bonnet and Theresa Donkor to represent Lincoln Alexander Law at this year’s Julius Alexander Isaac Moot (Isaac). The Isaac is hosted by the Black Law Students Association of Canada (BLSA Canada).

The Isaac is “Canada’s only moot where students are required to make both doctrinal and theoretical arguments, including arguments drawing from Critical Race Theory.” This year’s moot problem was R v Morris, which explores issues of anti-Black racism and sentencing.

Hania describes the Isaac as an, “excellent example of how difficult it is to create substantive change within the legal system, but … also [a] remind[er] [of] how important it is to keep fighting.”

Lincoln Alexander Professor Joshua Sealy-Harrington was also highly involved in the Isaac, drafting this year’s moot problem and acting as judge and speaker at the moot gala. Professor Sealy-Harrington was awarded an appreciation award from BLSA Canada for his voluntary contributions to the Isaac.

We are very impressed with the Isaac team’s performance. Congratulations all!

Second-year students James Noronha, Jordan Tully, Jenny Kim and Brian Haddad turned heads at this year’s Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (Jessup) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Jessup is sometimes called the ‘The Monarch of Moot’ for its international reach and complex legal issues.

The team’s Coaches, Daniel Yip, Kartiga Thavaraj, Mannu Choudhury, and their faculty advisor Professor Uchechukwu Ngwaba expertly guided the students throughout the Moot. We are also grateful to Daniel Pignatoro for his support of the team as a student coach.

Competing in the Jessup is a significant task; everyone at Lincoln Alexander Law is proud of how our team represented the school. Congratulations Jessup Team!

Lincoln Alexander Law was proud to be represented by Isabela Bibulović, Kayla Terceira, Shreeya Devnani, and Ananta Sriram at this year’s Gale Cup Moot.

This year's moot problem focused on R v Lafrance, which considers detention and the right to counsel under s.10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The mooters would like to extend their deepest gratitude to their coaches, Chris Rudnicki, Zachary Al-Khatib, Veenu Goswami and faculty advisor Professor Joshua Sealy-Harrington, without whom their success and learning would not have been possible.

This year the Kawaskimhon Moot was hosted by the University of Victoria on the traditional territories of the Lekwungen, Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples. Lincoln Alexander Law students Abigail Jeddore, Grace Godden, and Kate Babony represented the Government of Canada, while Abby Carpenter, Brooklyn Seigmiller, and Yael Boyd represented Environmental Justice. The Kawaskimhon Moot is a unique and non-competitive multi-party negotiation exercise that allows students to engage in traditional Indigenous dispute resolution methodologies. The resolution of the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline dispute was the focus of this year's moot.

The students express their deep gratitude to their coaches, Corey Shefman, Julia Brown, Darian Baskatawang, Blair Feltmate, Justin Fontaine and faculty advisor, Assistant Dean Sari Graben, for their mentorship and commitment to the team members.

Second-year students Julia Coote and Shany Raitsin represented Lincoln Alexander at this year's Walsh Family Law Negotiation in Toronto, Ontario. This marks the school’s first time competing in the Walsh Family Law Negotiation, which explores several themes in Family Law such as spousal support, parenting time schedules, best interests of the children, and more.

The negotiation consisted of three rounds of negotiations on complex topics. Shany explained that “we grew attached to our fictional client very quickly and learned through the competition what a touching practice area family law can be.”

This year’s Walsh Family Law Negotiation Team was led by Coaches Jessica Luscombe and Farrah Hudani. We thank them for their excellent guidance.

Lincoln Alexander Law students Andrea Arbuthnot, Justine Bedasse, Rosie Dhillon, and Shaun Shepherd traveled to Montréal, Quebec, to represent the school at the 2023 Canadian National Negotiation Competition (CNNC). The students negotiated in teams of two against students from across Canada. The CNNC teaches students negotiation skills through simulated legal negotiations.

Andrea Arbuthnot and Shaun Shepherd received the "Spirit of Negotiation Award”, a peer-nominated award granted to the team that exemplifies the values of collaboration, humility, teamwork, and respect.

The students extend their deepest gratitude to their coaches Camille Walker and Alexandra Murray, without whom their success would not have been possible.

Congratulations CNNC Team! All of us at Lincoln Alexander are very proud of your performance.

Second-year students Chantelle McDonald, Shelby Seymour, Olivia Jarvis, and third-year student Merima Menzildzic, represented the school in the Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Law Moot (ILM). The moot problem focused on complex issues regarding evidence and gender considerations in refugee hearings.

The team’s coaches, Maureen Silcoff and Leigh Salsberg, were thrilled with the student’s performance and the growth in their advocacy skills over the preparation process. The students extend their deepest thanks to the coaches for all of their time and guidance, and to the lawyers that volunteered for practice benches.

The ILM judges included Federal Court justices, academics and practitioners, including Lincoln Alexander’s own Professor Hillary Evans-Cameron, who acted as a judge in the final round and gave the keynote address at the closing ceremonies.

Congratulations, ILM mooters and coaches! The Lincoln Alexander community is grateful for your dedication to the moot. The school is committed to continuing our representation at the ILM and will formally integrate the moot into our competitive mooting program next year.

Kanwar Brar and Lindsay Poole represented Lincoln Alexander Law at the National Labour Arbitration Competition (NLAC). This was the law school’s first time participating in the NLAC.

The NLAC consists of two preliminary rounds where teams rotate arguing on behalf of both management and unions in front of prominent labour arbitrators and lawyers.

Kanwar and Lindsay describe the experience as “an honour” and praised the moot for “allow[ing them] to sharpen [their] advocacy skills by preparing [them] to argue for both sides and think critically about the case at hand.”

The mooters sincerely thank their coach Bonny Mak, who expertly guided them through the complex arbitration process.

Congratulations NLAC team! We are thrilled with your performance and look forward to formally integrating the NLAC into our lawyering skills program next year.