In Photos: 2023 Celebration of Mooting
Sarah Kent - 18 April 2023
As another moot season comes to a close, the University of Alberta Faculty of Law gathered to celebrate the hard work of mooters and their coaches.
On April 12, the Faculty hosted the annual Celebration of Mooting, which brought together the students who participated in the competitive mooting program, their coaches, supporters, faculty and staff.
It was another successful year for the Faculty of Law, with students distinguishing themselves with top awards and accolades.
Top Prizes
It was a very exciting year for the U of A moot team at the Canadian Client Consultation Competition. For the second year in a row, the U of A won the moot. Lauren Styles, Jay Koller, Cassidy Jiang and Kris Jun were coached by Farrel Shadlyn, Barb Acton and Danielle Mousseau. The winning team of Jun and Jiang advanced to the international round in the Netherlands, the Brown Mosten International Client Case competition.
The U of A saw a big win at the Mathews Dinsdale National Labour Arbitration Moot in Toronto. Jacob Holloway and Kaitlin Andersen took home first place, coached by Kristan McLeod and David Williams.
At the Alberta Court of Appeal Moot, the Faculty of Law once again won all three Civil, Constitutional and Criminal Rounds. This marks the fourth consecutive year that the U of A has won the overall competition. Isaac Belland and Megan Reti represented the U of A on the Civil team, coached by Kyle Kawanami; Allie Quigley and Michael Bradley formed the Constitutional team, coached by Don Padget and Andrew Foster; and Marlee Chrystian and Hal Smith of the Criminal team were coached by Dakota Vassberg and Heather Gagnier.
U of A saw great success at this year’s MacIntyre Cup Trial Advocacy Moot where the Faculty was represented by Kyla Ronneberg and Jakarta Mackie, coached by Don MacCannell, Steve Smith, Scarlett Chan and Bonnie Parker. Ronneberg and Mackie advanced to the national Sopinka Cup in March. They placed third overall, and Ronneberg was awarded the prize for best cross-examination.
The U of A put on an impressive performance at the Wilson Moot, where Annie Redmond, Sarah Ormandy, Shanza Arif and Tayler Tallent were coached by Maddison Croden. The team took home third place overall.
At the National Family Law Negotiation Competition, the Faculty of Law was represented by Derek Zhenxinyu Zhang, Casey Caines, Kirsten Samson and Kate Latos, coached by Riley Gallant. Zhang and Latos took home the award for best representation plans and third place team overall.
Awards and recognitions
At the Bowman Tax Moot in Toronto, the appellant team of Tyler Warchola and Judy Liang advanced all the way to the finals. Harry Cho of the respondent team won Best Advocate Award. The whole team was composed of Cho, Liang, Warchola and Stephen Reith, coached by James Yaskowich.
At the Bennett Jones Health Law Moot, Alysha Bailey, Blake Miller, Jaedan Bateman and Tina Pashootan were coached by Beth Jonah and Tayler Meagher. Miller took home the award for Top Oralist!
The Clinton J Ford Moot is the Faculty of Law’s annual in-house competition for upper-year students. This year, the students selected to compete were Bridget Inocencio, Kate Jackson, Danielle Schmidt, and Supreet Singh, coached by Stella Varvis. Jackson and Singh were awarded the victory.
The Gale Cup celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. The U of A respondent team took home the prize for Top English Team Not Qualifying for the Final Round. Azan Esmail, Brandon Blenkarn, Colleen Copley and Emma Stirling were coached by Katherine Fraser and Kerri Facchinutti.
At the Michel Bastarche moot, the team of Vivien Stefanic, Alexander Akiki, Kaitlyn Viteychuk and William Su, coached by Morgan McClelland and Justine Fallu, advanced to the finals of the French-language moot — an incredible achievement for a Western school.
At the National Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Law Moot, the U of A team was composed of Toveli Schmuland McDonald, Anna DeCorby, Hanyuan Wu, Mikaela Ackermann, with Anna Priemaza as their coach. Schmuland McDonald was awarded top oralist.
All moots
The Davies Canadian Corporate / Securities Moot took place in Toronto this year, and the U of A was well represented in the competition. The team of Ben Kriwokon, Erwin Kwok, Mark Stevens, Rohan Gupta and Shannon MacNamara was coached by John Lemieux and Danny Wakeling.
At the Harold G Fox IP Moot, the team of Christina Basler, George Gagnon, Jessica Marple and Tina Tai was coached by Jenna Handford.
U of A was well represented at the Jessup International Law Moot this year. The team was composed of Luke Van Bostelen, Olive Bensler, Ama Aidoo, Nicholas Siennicki and Suzanne Ross, coached by Péter Szigeti.
At the Julius Alexander Isaac Diversity Moot, the U of A cheered on the team of Gaya Peringod, Jose Caraballo Marrero, Rebecca Alexander and Shaeel Meenai, coached by Alex Bernard.
The Kawaskimhon is a non-competitive, consensus-based moot that centers on Indigenous legal orders. Emily Szeryk, Siobhand Washburn, Gavin Cazon-Wilkes and Michael McInnis were coached by Tamara Pearl and Koren Lightning-Earle.
At the Laskin Moot, the U of A was represented by Marcie Gray, Lianne de Kappelle, Skyler Johnson and Stephen Raitz. The team was coached by Jon Martin and Rob Drummond.
The Faculty of Law celebrated the inaugural Morrison Family Law Moot this year. The team of Becky Thera and Paige Gratton was coached by Erin Morrison and Nicholas Kuznyick.