Brimacombe Selection Moot kicks off 2014-15 Competitive Moot Season

The 2014 - 15 competitive moot season had a strong start with the Brimacombe Selection Moot, held on Friday October 3, 2014, in the Eldon Foote Courtroom.

Forty upper year students registered to compete for thirty-four spots available in eight national and regional competitive moots. Professors Peter Sankoff and Matthew Lewans judged the competition, and report the quality of the presentations was excellent.

"Our faculty takes great pride in our mooting program", said Professor Lewans. "These students get an opportunity to hone advocacy skills which will give them a head start in their professional careers. What's more, they get an opportunity to moot against the best and brightest law students from across the country in front of leading members from the Canadian judiciary. So we want to help them rise to that challenge."

Competitors had seven minutes each to strut their oral advocacy skills and demonstrate their legal creativity. Each argued an issue from last year's 1L moot problem Lee v Eat Play Learn, which turned on the issues of contributory negligence and the validity of a waiver signed by a parent on behalf of a minor. Students responded to tough questions from the bench - Court of Queen's Bench Justice Terry Clackson, who observed the moots, commented that he was impressed by the quality of advocacy on display.

The Brimacombe Moot has been a tradition at the school since 1981 when it was known as the Edmonton Bar Association Moot. In 1993, the moot was renamed to commemorate the late Jim Brimacombe, a respected member of the Edmonton Criminal Bar. This year, the top two mooters were Michael Swanburg (2L) and Fraser Genuis (2L) , who were awarded a book prize courtesy of Westlaw Canada and will be immortalized on the Brimacombe trophy.

Thanks to the 1L volunteers who clerked for the day: Levi Bilton, Caitlyn Field, Jason Harp, Jessica Kind, Olivia McGhan, Alex Michel, Bryan Tsui, Daniel Van Den Berg, and Anny (ShiYuan) Wang.

Students interested in competitive mooting can find further information on the Law School website. Click link for competitive moot program information.

The UAlberta Faculty of Law annually sends student teams to many competitive moots, including traditional Court of Appeal formats, a criminal trial moot, client counselling competitions, labour arbitration moots and the Kawaskimhon aborginal moot competition. The Brimacombe is the selection round for eight of these. Best wishes to all our Moot teams and their coaches:

Laskin Moot - Coach Patricia Paradis, Centre for Constitutional Studies

• Taylor Campbell

• Allison Boutillier

• Andrew Lawrence

• David Sommerfeldt

Davies LLP Canadian Corporate Securities Moot - Coach Dr. Gail Henderson, UAlberta Faculty of Law

• Geoff Adair

• Damien Kutinsky

• Adam Ollenberger

• James Park

The Gale Cup - Coach Nate Whitling, Liberty Law

• Jonathon Austin

• Fraser Genuis

• William van Engen

• Stacey Purser

Bowman Tax Moot - coach Prof. Chris Sprysak, UAlberta Faculty of Law

• Adrienne Funk

• Christine Hittinger

• Michael Low

• Ryan Bencic

Wilson Moot - Coach Prof. Peter Carver, UAlberta Faculty of Law

• Therese Layton

• Michael Swanburg

• Conor Fleming

• Kathryn Hole

Clinton J. Ford - Coach Dr. Moin Yahya, UAlberta Faculty of Law

• Michelle Molineux

• Ian Carruthers

• Sanjana Ahmed

• Lane Mandlis

Bennett Jones LLP Health Law - coach Prof. Ubaka Ugbogu, UAlberta Faculty of Law

• William Peachman

• Alexander Camenzind

• Steve Hughes

• Teri Treiber

Alberta Court of Appeal Civil - Coach Jeremiah Kowolachuck Field Law LLP

• Paul Kolida

• Kaila Eadie

Alberta Court of Appeal Constitutional - Coach Prof. D'Arcy Vermette, UAlberta Faculty of Law

• Nicholas Willis

• Cody Ackland

Alberta Court of Appeal Criminal - Coach Mandi Kahlmeir Alberta Justice and Solicitor General

• Thomas Brannen

• Adrian Jankowski