Results:
Winner: Sarah Charles and Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Queen’s)
Finalist: Jeremy Opolsky and Steve Dickie (Queen’s)
Semi-Finalists:
- Josephine Linanne Comegna and Alana Victoria Shephard (U of T)
- Michael Sefcik and Sonny Jaggi (York)
Top Oralist: Karen Sanchez
Posting in Lawyer’s Weekly:
Sarah Charles and Nathaniel Erskine-Smith of Queen’s University won the final round of the second annual Osgoode Cup National Undergraduate Mooting Competition held March 4 and 5 at Osgoode Hall Law School. This year’s competition sponsors included Beard Winter LLP, the Royal Bank of Canada and the Law Foundation of Ontario.
Announcement: By Virginia Corner, the communications manager at Osgoode Hall.
“Queen’s University Team Wins 2006 Osgoode CupSarah Charles and Nathaniel Erskine-Smith of Queen’s University, pictured here with Osgoode Hall Law School Dean Patrick Monahan, won the final round of the second annual Osgoode Cup National Undergraduate Mooting Competition held March 4 and 5 at Osgoode Hall Law School on the campus of York University in Toronto. Another team from Queen’s (Jeremy Opolsky and Steve Dickie) placed second. Teams from the University of Toronto (Josephine Linanne Comegna and Alana Victoria Shephard) and York University (Michael Sefcik and Sonny Jaggi) achieved third-place finishes.”It was an absolute pleasure to participate in the Osgoode Cup,” Charles said. “It was thrilling to get a taste of life in the courtroom and reap the benefits of outstanding feedback from all the judges. I learned so much and reaffirmed my desire to pursue a career in law. The opportunity for Nathaniel and I to present our case to such a distinguished panel of judges in the final round was the high point for me; winning the cup was just the icing on the cake.”More than a dozen teams of undergraduate students from 10 Canadian universities in Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener, Ottawa, St. Catharine’s, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver and Waterloo participated in this year’s competition, which was sponsored by Beard Winter LLP, the Law Foundation of Ontario, Royal Bank of Canada and Emond Montgomery Publications.
Students from outside Ontario received travel bursaries to enable them to participate in the competition, which was judged by a panel of real-life judges and Osgoode Dean Patrick Monahan. In addition, students from Humber College’s Bachelor of Applied Arts Paralegal Studies Program played the role of bailiffs/court clerks in the proceedings.
A “moot” is a mock legal proceeding in which students argue an appeal in a case specially designed to challenge and develop their oral and written advocacy skills. This year’s case involved the legal issue of waiver of liability arising from a skiing accident at a ski resort.