The U of S Western Canada Moot Team
photo by Sebastian Printup, University of Ottawa
Jason Demers, Evan Thompson, Kayla Demars-Krentz and Andrew Kuzma were the top team at the National Trial Advocacy Competition and were coached by Ashley Smith, a sessional lecturer at the college who works at MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman LLP in Saskatoon.
The Sopinka Cup, a bilingual competition, was established to honour the memory of the late Justice John Sopinka, Judge of the Supreme Court of Canada. The team's win marks the first time the U of S College of Law has placed first in the competition. At the individual level, Evan
Thompson won best cross-examination and best overall advocate.
The foursome and their coach compose the Western Canada Moot Team. They competed against eight other teams from around the country, having earned the right to be there by winning at the regional level. The U of S team placed first among six Western Canadian teams at the MacIntyre Cup, February 12-13 at the University of Alberta, to make it to the Ottawa competition.
The College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan has six other moot teams. Mooting provides students with the opportunity to learn and practise skills through simulated court proceedings. All first-year students experience and participate in a moot as part of the curriculum, while upper-year students, such as those who just won the Sopinka Cup, can compete to be on one of the college's seven moot teams. The program is designed to give students experience both in the preparation of a case for argument and in the presentation of that argument before an appellate court.
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For more information, contact:
Katherine Blau
Advancement Officer
College of Law
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-1062
katherine.blau@usask.ca