On March 3-4, UAlberta Law students Paula Cooper, Michael Custer, Brendan Downey, and Joey Redman competed at the 2017 Laskin Moot.
Recognized as one of Canada's oldest and most prestigious bilingual moots, this year's competition was hosted at the University of Ottawa and included 18 teams from Canadian law schools.
The 2017 moot involved a highly complex constitutional law problem about assisted dying.
Students faced difficult and interventionist benches comprised of judges from the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, the Ontario Court of Appeal, and other superior and provincial courts from across the country. Panels also included senior litigators from private practice, as well as from federal and provincial departments of justice.
Despite an impressive performance under intense questioning in the oral rounds, the team did not advance to the finals, however did receive a fifth-place ranking in their factums.
This year's Laskin was an unforgettable experience for many reasons. For the first time in Laskin history, final rounds were held at the Supreme Court with UAlberta Law alumna Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin presiding. Our students were also fortunate to attend a reception at the Supreme Court of Canada on Friday evening, as well as a conference on legislative and judicial bilingualism on Sunday.
The Laskin team would like to thank their coaches, Patricia Paradis of the Centre for Constitutional Studies, and Karine DeChamplain of Emery Jamieson LLP for all of the time and effort they devoted to preparing the team for the competition.
"Thanks in no small part to their efforts, we are all now much better writers and mooters than we were when we first began working on the Laskin," the team said.
The team would also like to thank all of the practitioners and professors who generously volunteered their time to judge oral rounds: Madame Justice Joanne Veit; Vice Dean Moin Yahya; Professors David Percy, Ubaka Ogbogu, Matthew Lewans, and Peter Carver; Don Padget; Albert Nolette; Shaina Leonard; Natalie Tymchuk; Tasneem Karbani; Allan Damer; and Justine Mageau.
Congratulations to Brendan, Paula, Michael, and Joey!