Queen’s team places second in national labour moot

Photo by Aimee Burtch

Queen's Law's 2010 team for the Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP Canadian Labour Arbitration Competition display their award: (l-r) researcher Jacqui Luksha, MIR ‘09/Law ‘12; oralists Michael Comartin, MIR ‘08/Law ‘11, and Todd Weisberg, Law ‘11; and faculty coach Professor Kevin Banks.

On January 31, 2010, the Queen’s Law team won second place at the Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP Canadian Labour Arbitration Competition for the third consecutive time. This year's team, represented by oralists Todd Weisberg, Law ‘11, and Michael Comartin, MIR ‘08/Law ‘11, narrowly missed winning first place against students from Osgoode Hall Law School. The event was held in Toronto.

Crucial to the team’s success was Professor Kevin Banks. This is the third time in a row that he has coached a team to the finals in this competition. Banks praised the team’s work ethic and collaboration: Mike and Todd for the “enormous amount of work put into crafting their arguments and submissions,” researcher Jacqui Luksha, MIR ‘09/Law ‘12, for “giving them excellent and tireless research support,” and student coach Adam Epstein, Law ‘10, for “providing valuable insights and advice drawing on his own successful experience at the Mathews last year.”

“These efforts came together in the superb performances that Mike and Todd delivered in Toronto,” Banks says.

After defeating teams from the University of Calgary and University of Alberta, the team took the management side in the final, where they argued in front of some of the country’s most prominent jurists.

“Making the finals and presenting in front of Justice John Laskin of the Ontario Court of Appeal, as well as, family and friends, was the high point of the entire experience” Todd says.

This year's case involved three grievances stemming from the suspension and subsequent firing of, and suing in defamation an employee who had spoken publicly against management's safety practices.

“Both Mike and Todd proved to be excellent oralists,” Adam says. “They impressed every panel member with their depth of knowledge of legal issues and ability to mold the facts in their favour.”

The Queen’s Law team was financed by the Law Foundation of Ontario. It also received valuable advice during team practices from Professor Emeritus Bernie Adell; Professor Emeritus Don Carter, Law ‘66; Vincent Panetta, Com ‘88, MIR ‘89, Law ‘95, and Andrew Zabrovsky, Law ‘07, of Hicks Morley; Carol MacKillop, Law ‘94, of MacKillop Law Offices; Georgiana Stewart, Law ‘06; and Jim McKeown, Law ‘10.