Robson Hall Faculty of Law students bring home MacIntyre Cup – again

The time-honoured tradition of moot court competitions happens throughout much of the university school year beginning in early winter with internal competitions, but the season comes to a head nationally in February with teams from schools across Canada facing off to argue various subjects. Manitoba has started the season off with strong representation in the first of many upcoming moots.

Manitoba wins MacIntyre Cup

The Robson Hall Faculty of Law team of Yassir Al-Naji and Ben Johnson got off to a strong start, winning the MacIntyre Cup in the Western Trial Moot that was hosted this year by the University of Manitoba at the Manitoba Law Courts building, February 16 and 17. This marked the second year in a row that Robson Hall brought the Cup home. Al-Naji and Johnson will go on to represent Western Canada at the Sopinka Cup in Ottawa happening March 16 and 17, together with the MacIntyre’s runner-up team from the University of Saskatchewan College of Law, Aaron Fritzler and Shawna Sparrow. Robson Hall teammates Brittany Goodman and Aquvar Manhas also gave strong performances.

The MacIntyre Cup could not have happened without help from dedicated volunteers:

• Judges: The Honourable Mr. Justice Sheldon Lanchbery, Brian Bell and John McAmmond;
• Witnesses: Genevieve Langlois-Benoit, Stefanie Reese, Caleigh Glawson, and Myles Davis;
• Clerk: Preet Dhaliwal

A warm thank-you to the team coaches, Assistant Professor David Ireland, Judy Kliewer, General Counsel for Public Prosecutions Service of Canada, The Honourable Judge Raymond Wyant, and The Honourable Judge Timothy Killeen, and to the volunteer Jury members over the two days of competition.

Robson Hall represents at the Gale Cup

A strong team of Manitoban law students represented Robson Hall on Feb. 16 – 17 at the 45^th Annual Gale Cup Moot, a bilingual competition hosted this year by the University of Toronto at Osgoode Hall. Coaches Michelle Bright and Melissa Hazelton were proud of Robson Hall’s team of Madison Pearlman, Rebecca Kunzman, Allie Derwin and Hayley Allardyce. The Manitoba team placed consistently in the Top Ten schools for both Appellant and Respondent teams and for both Factum and Oral categories. Well done team!

The University of Alberta took home the Gale Cup, and the University of Toronto took second place.

Robson Hall’s Gale Moot Team (L-R): Madison Pearlman, Hayley Allardyce, coaches Michell Bright and Melissa Hazelton, Allie Derwin and Rebecca Kunzman.

Harold G. Fox Moot (Canadian Intellectual Property Moot)

Robson Hall was well represented in Toronto on Feb. 23 – 24 by mooters Elizabeth Czyrnyj, Laryssa Bogucki, Arian Poushangi, and Kevin Sharma, supported by researcher Daniel Reimer and Coaches John Myers, Michael Jason and Assistant Professor Adriane Porcin.

“The Harold G. Fox Moot is intended to promote the furtherance of education in the intellectual property field, and to provide participants with the opportunity to interact with jurists of the Supreme, Ontario, and Federal Courts and experienced practitioners of intellectual property law. It is named in honour of the late Harold G. Fox, one of Canada’s leading intellectual property scholars and advocates.” – The Harold G. Fox Moot website

Robson Hall’s Harold G. Fox Moot team. L-R: Coach John Meyers, Laryssa Bogucki, Elizabeth Czyrnyj, Arian Poushangi and Kevin Sharma

Sharing the Love of Mooting

Some of Robson Hall’s mooters have taken their experiences in the moot competition program to the next level by volunteering for a CanU Law Academy, which introduces children in grades 7 to 9 to post secondary education experiences. Read about the First Annual CanU Moot which took place on February 15, 2018.

Story submitted by Faculty of Law