Queen’s Law finishes second overall in the Wilson Moot

Queen's Law's 2010 Wilson Moot team accepts the second-place trophy during the awards banquet in Toronto on February 27: (l-r) moot judge Professor Emeritus Peter Hogg of Osgoode Hall Law School; oralists Madalina Toca and Lara Fitzgerald-Husek; researcher Kristen Allen; oralists Desneiges Gauthier and Chris Horkins; and moot judges Justice Eileen Gillese, Court of Appeal for Ontario, and Justice David Stratas, Law '84, Federal Court of Appeal

Beating out mooting teams from across Canada, Queen’s Law won the second place overall trophy at the Wilson Moot on February 27, 2010. Bringing home the trophy were appellants Desneiges Gauthier, Law ‘11, and Lara Fitzgerald-Husek, MPA ‘09/Law ‘12, and respondents Chris Horkins, Law ‘11, and Madalina Toca, Law ‘11.

“The strength of the team is a direct reflection of the outstanding abilities of the students,” says faculty coach Professor Kathleen Lahey. “They were extremely motivated to grapple with core issues of equality in today's rapidly changing social, legal, and economic context.”    

The Wilson Moot was founded in honour of the first female appointee to the Supreme Court of Canada, Justice Bertha Wilson. A national moot drawing competitors from across Canada, it deals with issues regarding Charter rights and international human rights law.

For the 2010 moot, the mooters were presented a problem based on a fictional Alberta law allowing parents to opt children out of sexual health education. The complications of the problem, which included a sexually active 14 year-old and possible STDs, required the team to do extensive research on sections 7 and 15 of the Charter. For this, the team had the help of student coach and alternate Kristen Allen, Law ‘11, in addition to Lahey.

“We had all been exposed to these areas of constitutional law and the Charter before, but the moot forced us to go far more in depth and get right to the cutting edge of the law,” says Chris, who also won an oralist award.

Once the points were tallied, the Queen’s appellant team faced University of Toronto respondents in front of final panel Justice David Stratas, Law ‘84, of the Federal Court of Appeal, Justice Eileen E. Gillese of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and constitutional scholar Professor Emeritus Peter Hogg of Osgoode Hall Law School.

To prepare, the team practiced almost every day for two weeks in front of professors, lawyers, and members of the Ministry of the Attorney General’s constitutional law branch. They also received advice from Associate Dean Stanley Corbett, professors Martha Bailey, Patricia Peppin, Tsvi Kahana and Nicholas Bala, Law ‘10 students Julia Lefebvre, Pam Sidey and Tyler Mcauley, and former Law ‘09 Wilson team members Michael Perlin and Richard McCluskey, who organized a special practice round in Toronto just before the event.

The mooting team’s participation was funded in part by Alfred Kwinter of Singer Kwinter LLP and the Law Foundation of Ontario.

“It is a great feeling to be able to present an argument you’ve spent weeks crafting,” Lara says, “and to know that you’ve prepared as much as possible, and you’ll be able to stand up to tough questioning.”