Queen’s team wins OTLA Cup

Photo courtesy of Ontario Trial Lawyers Association

Professor Erik Knutsen, faculty coach, and Justice Tim Ray with OTLA Cup winners Molly Flanagan, Law ' 11, and Rupa Karyampudi, Law '11.

After an intense competition with three other law schools, the Queen’s Law team of Molly Flanagan and Rupa Karyampudi, both Law ‘11, won the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) Cup on March 5. The competition, a day-long personal-injury mock trial held in Kingston’s Frontenac County courthouse, ended with Molly’s and Rupa’s client receiving an award of $8.5 million in damages. Molly won additional honours, taking home awards for Best Overall Advocate, Best Opening Statement, and Best Examination-in-Chief.    Justice Tim Ray, the presiding judge, commended the team for their advocacy and skills. So did Professor Erik Knutsen, their faculty coach, calling their performance a “stellar display of advocacy and professionalism.”

“The jury of mostly seasoned trial lawyers was just glued to our advocates, hanging on their every word,” Knutsen adds. “I don’t know if the advocates noticed, but the audience surely did. The jury couldn’t take their eyes off of Rupa and Molly, the advocacy was so good!”

Molly, Rupa, and Knutsen began the preparation for the competition after having been handed a hypothetical court case’s Statement of Claim, the Statements of Defence, Discovery transcripts, witness statements, and an expert report. The team represented a plaintiff who had been rendered paraplegic after a car accident, prior to which his brakes had not been properly adjusted. From this, Molly and Rupa had to write opening and closing statements, as well as their direct and cross examinations.

“Professor Knutsen was such a great coach to work with!” Molly says. “He had enough confidence in the team to allow Rupa and me to make a lot of decisions about how we should approach the trial. He was incredibly encouraging and always available to help.”

Law ’11 students Andrew Maloney and Courtenay Simmons played the roles of plaintiff and witness during the trial. The team was helped during preparation by practice witnesses Tim Burns, Eric Uhlmann, Curtis Armstrong, Chris Horkins, Mike Lefebure, Jenna Beaton, Garth Myers, Maddy Toca and Amelia Miao, all Law ’11 classmates.

“The school should be extremely proud of Molly and Rupa,” Knutsen says. “They were tremendous ambassadors for the school, showed stunning courtroom skills, and undoubtedly have what it takes to be true advocates:  solid common sense and a real rapport with people, be they witnesses, lawyers, the judge, or the jury.”

The competition, which included teams from the University of Western Ontario, the University of Ottawa, and the University of Windsor, was close enough that Molly, Rupa, and Knutsen did not realize they would win until the final judgement. They had requested $9.5 million in damages; the mock court awarded them $8.5 million.

“It feels amazing that Molly and I won the OTLA Cup,” Rupa says. “It was a really tough competition. Our opponents were challenging competitors. I learned so much about litigation and being an effective advocate!  The OTLA moot has been one of the highlights of my law school career.”