Queen's Law's mooting success continues through 2009

Jacqui Luksha, MIR '09/Law '12, and Michael Comartin, MIR '08/Law '11, receive the first-place trophy in the 2009 Hicks Morley Labour Arbitration Competition.

Queen's Law's successful 2008/2009 mooting season continued through February, March and April. In addition to winning the Laskin Moot and placing second at the Mathews Dinsdale Labour Arbitration Moot, Queen's mooters received awards and distinctions at many of the other competitions.

Queen's Law wins Hicks Morley Labour Arbitration Competition

Michael Comartin, MIR ‘08/Law ‘11, and Jacqui Luksha, MIR ‘09/Law ‘12, beat the University of Ottawa team in the finals to win the four-team competition held in Toronto. The moot question revolved around whether a provision permitting mandatory retirement at the "normal age of retirement" in the Canadian Human Rights Act was constitutional. Michael and Jacqui's argument that it was unconstitutional impressed the judges and resulted in a unanimous decision in their favour.

"The panel's questioning was probably the most interesting aspect of the moot," Michael explained.

"The moot problem required us to consider important issues concerning the interaction of human rights protections with broader social policy. As labour is an area of law that is driven by policy, I expect this experience will serve us well in forming arguments in future discrimination cases."

Additional moot highlights

Queen's Law also did very well at the Arnup and Sopinka Cup competitions in trial advocacy. In February, Adam Freedman and Martin Park of Law ‘09 placed second out of six teams at the Arnup Cup provincial competition, qualifying them for the Sopinka Cup national championship. Adam's and Martin's strong oral skills led them to finish third overall nationally out of eight teams, all of which had excelled in their respective regional competitions.

Queen's Law mooters received two top prizes at the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association moot in London. Nick Galanis, Law '09, was awarded a prize for the best cross-examination. Meredith Rady, Law '10, won an award for the best opening statement.

At the Davies Corporate Securities Moot, Queen's Law competed hard and received the top factum award. This year's team consisted of Deanna Brummit, Alfonso Nocilla and Kathryn Robinson of Law ‘10, Anna Wong, Law '09, and researcher Andrea Bolieiro, Law '10 .

The Wilson Moot team, consisting of Pamela Sidey, Paul Todd and Tyler McAuley of Law ‘10, and Ryan Kennedy, Law ‘09, won an award for second place factum. The award was an acknowledgement of the team's strong and innovative Charter equality arguments.

Queen's Law similarly received a team prize at the Niagara Moot, an international law competition in which both American and Canadian law schools participate. Dylan Kerr and Paul Sharp of Law '09, and Brad Allgood and Sarah Fountain of Law '10, along with team researcher Stevie O'Brien, Law '09, were given the respondent best team memorial prize.

Gerard Kennedy, Brian Kolenda, Shannon O'Connor, Bryan West and researcher Fahreen Kurji of Law '10 finished sixth overall and made it to the final round at the Jessup Moot in public international law. Shannon and Gerard also received individual recognition, placing third and fourth overall oralists, respectively, out of a field of 60 competitors.

Queen's Law congratulates all 2008-09 competitive moot teams for their strong performances.

For more stories on 2008-09 competitive moot achievements, see "Queen's Law Wins the Laskin Moot" at http://law.queensu.ca/news/archives/march2009/2009LaskinMoot.html and "Queen's places second in national labour moot competition" at http://law.queensu.ca/news/archives/february2009/mathewsMoot2009.html

For more information on Queen's Law's mooting program, please visit http://law.queensu.ca/students/jdProgram/mootCourt.html