Here are the impressive results of the various uOttawa teams at recent competitions.
John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition WTO
*UPDATE June 25, 2023*
uOttawa English Common Law students (2L) Ian Chesney, Jaena Kim, and Charlotte Wong Labow successfully return home as the Winner of the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition. This is the first time uOttawa and a Canadian university has won the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition since its inception 21 years ago.
The team, coached by Kevin Gray and Dean MacDougall, placed first in the All-American Regional Round in Puerto Vallarta and triumphed again in Geneva after mooting against the global top 24 teams representing over 35 WTO member states.
Led by Captain Jaena Kim, the team won the Grand Final Oral Round hosted by the World Trade Organization and received the highest scores in the competition for both the Complainant and Respondent Written Submission, and were awarded Best Overall Written Submissions. In the Regional Round, the team won Best Overall Written Submissions and Best Respondent Written Submission, and team members Charlotte Wong Labow and Ian Chesney were awarded prizes as Best Orator in the Preliminary (Ms. Wong Labow), Semi-Final (Mr. Chesney), and Final Round (Ms. Wong Labow).
Charlotte, Ian and Jaena are grateful to Kevin, Dean, and the University of Ottawa for their continuous support. The team also thanks the Ottawa trade law community for their generous assistance in preparing for the oral rounds. The John H. Jackson Moot provided the team with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to learn from trade lawyers around the world and form friendships with fellow mooters.
ABOUT THE JOHN H. JACKSON MOOT:
The John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition is a simulated hearing under the rules of the World Trade Organization dispute settlement system, involving exchanges of written submissions and adversarial hearings before panelists on international trade law issues. The competition is structured into six regional rounds all over the world, with the global top 24 teams qualifying for the Final Oral Round in Geneva, Switzerland.
This year, the case “Versania – Seizure of Vaccines in Transit from Arion” raised issues related to trade in COVID-19 vaccines and the interplay between public health and intellectual property protection.
John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition WTO
The uOttawa team finished in first place at the All American regional round of the John H. Jackson World Trade Organization (WTO) Moot, held March 18-20 2023. The team emerged victorious after several hard-fought battles against some highly competitive teams, including an all-Canadian final versus Queens. With this win, the team will move on to the global final round in Geneva in June.
The team, made up of Jaena Kim, Charlotte Wong Labow and Ian Chesney has shown exceptional dedication and passion in preparing for the competition.
On top of the big win, a further feather in the cap is that the team very nearly swept the individual awards, with the following wins:
the Valerie Hughes award for best respondent's written submission
the Ricardo Ramirez award for best overall written submissions
best orator of the preliminary rounds (Charlotte Wong Labow)
best orator of the semi-finals (Ian Chesney)
best orator of the finals (Charlotte Wong Labow)
Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot
University of Ottawa law students Julia Kafato, Ana Nizharadze, and Jessica Rollins have won the prestigious Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot. During seven rounds of competition amidst the historic buildings of the University of Oxford, the team argued all sides of mock litigation involving copyright and pastiche in the context of movies.
The students’ road to success required competing against highly skilled teams from other globally renowned schools in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Ana Nizharadze was also recognized with a top-5 best speaker award.
2023 marks the 20th anniversary of Oxford IP moot. Participating in the oral rounds for the 10th time in that period, uOttawa has now won the competition for a record-setting third time (2013, 2016, 2023), after reaching at least the quarterfinals in all 10 years, the semi-finals in nine, and the grand finals in four.
Canadian National Negotiation Competition
uOttawa won first place at the Canadian National Negotiation Competition (the “CNNC”). The team of Mark Day (3L) and Keenan MacNeal (3L), coached by Emily McMurtry and Heather Bonnell, represented uOttawa in three intense rounds of negotiation against other law students from across Canada. With their victory, the team has earned the privilege of representing uOttawa and Canada at the International Negotiation Competition this summer.
Walsh Negotiation
uOttawa’s Negotiation Team won several top awards at the Walsh Family Law Negotiation Competition:
- Best Overall Negotiation Teams, 2nd place: Grace Foran and Geneviève Marquis
- Best Overall Negotiation Teams, 3rd place: Aliyyah Jafri and Caitlin De Simone
- Best Individual Student, 1st place: (tied for first place) Aliyyah Jafri and Grace Foran.
This is the ninth consecutive year that uOttawa has taken home top awards at this province-wide negotiation competition. Coached by Prof Lynn Rockman, the seven-person team consisted of: Grace Foran (3L); Geneviève Marquis (2L); Aliyyah Jafri (3L); Caitlin De Simone (3L); Tess Moffat (2L); Dante Fanian (3L); and Sabrina Garieri (3L).
Walsh Family Law Moot
The University of Ottawa's team won the second-best overall team award in this year's Walsh Family Law Moot held at the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Members of the team Carl Dawson, Miranda Lowe, Giselle Alexander and Sapphira Thompson-Bled argued like seasoned professionals. The team was coached by Prof. Natasha Bakht Prof Vanessa Gruben, along with student coach Kirsten Tarasoff, who did a brilliant job of supporting the team every step of the way.
Torts Moot
uOttawa took home the Best Team and Top Oral Advocate at the Tort Law Moot Competition.
The 2023 team was composed of Sarah Sevier (2L) and Faaris Hussain (2L), representing the Respondent, and Andrew Johnstone (2L) and Julia Chung (3L), representing the Appellant. The team was coached by Jennifer Arrigo, Emily McMurtry, and Aaron King.
The Respondent team, Faaris and Sarah, won the award for Best Team. They advanced through intensive preliminary and final oral rounds, ending the competition with an impressive win against Osgoode Hall’s Appellant team. Sarah Sevier also won the Top Oral Advocate award.
Fox Moot
The University of Ottawa’s Fox IP moot team enjoyed a successful and enriching weekend arguing at the Federal Court in Toronto. Led by captain Daniella Febbraro, the Common Law team featured Kaitlyn Margison and Alessandra Puopolo on the Appellant’s side, and Hannah Goold and Jordan Geist arguing the Respondent’s side. The team was coached by Professor Jeremy de Beer, Professor David Fewer, and Dr. Christian Clavette.
Among twenty teams at the competition, our Appellant team reached the semi-finals after earning top seed in the preliminary rounds, while our Respondent team placed third on their side with their eloquent and compelling oral arguments. In recognition of their outstanding written submissions, uOttawa brought home first prize for best Appellant Factum and the runner-up prize for best Respondent Factum.
Bowman Tax Law
The team of Juliana Orlando Rohr, Hamza Meer, Sarah Bruce, and Ziyad Zeidan won this year’s Bowman Tax Moot! Seventeen law faculties from Canada participated, and both uOttawa’s Appellants and Respondents qualified for the semi-finals. The team was coached by Prof. Ian MacGregor and Deen Olsen.
Kawaskimhon
On March 10th and 11th in Victoria, four teams represented the University of Ottawa at the Kawaskimhon competition. There were 2 teams from Common Law, made up of Brooke Wakegijig & Rachel Agnew, and Christian Spence & Jayme Newton. The Civil Law Section also sent two teams, made up of Polsia Carrozza & Rachel Renaud, as well as Ahmed Benabdi & Michel Salib.
This year, the factual framework focused on issues related to the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on the traditional territory of the Wet'suet'en Nation. Each team was required to produce a detailed position paper beforehand. The first day proved to be a challenging one as each side tried to make their case. The students' diligence and application of important negotiation skills paid off on the second day, as the parties were able to reach an agreement. Finally, in honour of Kawaskimhon's raison d'être, the students had the opportunity during the opening and closing of the simulation to learn about the rich cultures of the Indigenous peoples who welcomed them to their territory.
Adam F. Fanaki Competition Law Moot
On Saturday March 25, the uOttawa team of Nick Cheung and Melid Hasaj were awarded the second-place prize for Best Factum (Respondent) at the Fanaki Moot. It is notable that the other UOttawa team of Recia Brown and Alex Sokolov more than held their own in oral argument against a strong (first place) Respondents' team from the University of Toronto.
The teams were coached by Irma Shaboian and Zach Rudge from Stikeman, Elliott, who organized practice sessions with their colleagues and provided the students with very helpful materials and detailed comments on their drafts. This was an excellent event which featured a novel and challenging fact situation with lots of issues to ponder. Teams from seven different law faculties across Canada participated.
Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
The team made up of Hannah Duhme, Nicholas Chase, Alison Gondosch & Meena Shanmuganathan and coached by Prof Jolene Hansell and Meghan Vestby, finished the general rounds with a 5-1 record. This tied them with two other teams for a playoff spot. Unfortunately, they were edged out by just one point for the coveted playoff spot.
Nevertheless, the team won 2nd best Respondent brief and 2nd overall combined Appellant and Respondent brief.
Jessup is the world's largest moot court competition, with participants from roughly 700 law schools in 100 countries and jurisdictions.
Laskin
The team made up of François Bélanger, Miteau Butskhrikidze, Emmanuelle Champagne and Clémence Thabet, was coached by Albert Brunet et Marie-Pier Dupont. The pairing of Miteau and François brought home the first place prize.
Canadian Client Consultation Competition
uOttawa’s Client Consultation team of Andrea Leung and Julie Huber placed 7th out of 13 teams from across Canada, in the annual Canadian Client Consultation Competition held at the University of Alberta.
The competition simulates the initial client interview and showcases the students' interviewing skills.
Andrea and Julie received praise from the judges for their ability to connect with the clients, their clear explanation of options, and complementary styles. The team learned so much in the way of practical skills and they are grateful to the University of Ottawa for generously sponsoring their participation in the competition, as well as the individuals who helped them prepare for the competition.
Congratulations to all the teams on these well-deserved awards!
