Students Shine at the Peter Burns Mock Trial Competition
Anna Kontsedalov (left) and Molly Shamess (right) are this year's The annual event brings together students, faculty and members of the legal community. November 4, 2011 - The new Moot Court Room in Allard hall provided for a great setting and an appropriate forum for the 2011 Peter Burns Mock Trial Competition. Students Claire Haaf, Martina Zanetti, Angela Crimeni, Molly Shamess, Mark McPhee, Tamlin Cooper, Anna Kontsedalov and Geoff Dittrich appeared before a distinguished panel of Judges. The trials also featured juries and witnesses played by UBC law students. The event was a great success, and all of our students displayed very strong advocacy skills. The winners of the trials were Molly Shamess and Anna Kontsedalov, who will go on to represent UBC at the Western Canada Moot Competition (MacIntyre Cup) early next year. The first and second place teams at the Western Canada will compete in the National Trial Moot Competition (the Sopinka Cup), held in Ottawa in early March. The Faculty would like to thank all those involved in putting on this competition including, the generous sponsors (the Crown Counsel Association and Counsel Mike Tammen), the hardworking coaches (Chris Johnson, Kasandra Cronin, Karima Andani , Michele Peacock, John Esson, Anita Ghatak, Bonnie Craig and Sandra Watson), the downtown coordinator (Patti Tomasson) the judges for the final trials (Judge Bagnall, Judge Baird Ellan, and Judge Dhillon), the judges who assisted with practices and judged the dress rehearsals (Judge Weitzel and Judge Challenger), witness and jury recruiter (Professor Emma Cunliffe) and the faculty co-coordinator (Professor Nikos Harris). Also many thanks to the Burns alumni Joe McCarthy, Nancy Seto, and Betsy Segal who acted as court clerks for the trials. UBC Law offers students the opportunity to take part in competitive moots during their second and third years. The benefits of mooting include intensive training in advocacy, client counseling and dispute resolution skills before judges, practitioners and academics and the opportunity to work with other students. Positions on moot teams are highly sought-after by students, and professors participate enthusiastically as advisors, consultants and coaches. Students audition for many of these moot teams, and team members are generally selected based on performance in the oral presentation and overall law school marks. |
