Julie Menten Wins First Year Appellate Competition
March 20, 2009
Prof. Randal Graham, Michael Lerner and Prof. Michael Lynk congratulate first-year Western Law student Julie Menten on her win in the Appellate Competition
The final round of the First Year Appellate Competition was held on March 19, 2009. The four finalists, Holly Gomes, Julie Menten, Julia Smith and Tim Duncan argued an appeal of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R. v. Morris before a Moot Court Room crowd and judges Associate Dean Michael Lynk, Professor Chi Carmody and Professor Randal Graham. The judges declared Julie Menten the winner of the competition.
This year, 62 students entered the competition which allows first-year students to further practice their oral advocacy skills between the end of the LRWA course in January and the Lerners LLP Cup in September. This year’s organizing Committee was Meredith Tapper, Raphael Eghan and Ezra Van Gelder. The preliminary rounds, held on March 17 and 18, were entirely judged by third-year students who had some previous involvement in the Faculty’s advocacy competitions. The runners-up were Elena Kaminsky and Brian Lynch. Honourable mentions went to Marek Balinski, Daliana Coban and Beth Church.
For the sixth consecutive year, the competition was sponsored by Lerners LLP. The firm generously hosted a reception and dinner for all competitors after the final round. At the dinner, competition director Randal Graham and Associate Dean Michael Lynk thanked Lerners LLP for its steadfast support of Western Law’s advocacy programs.
