Legal Ethics and Professionalism Moot
April 23, 2024
Moot finalists (L-R) Ryan Baulke, Rami Pandher, Lauren Dalton and Tanya Jawa
Lauren Dalton and Tanya Jawa have won the second annual Lenczner Slaght Advocacy Competition in Legal Ethics and Professionalism. The competition was sponsored by Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP, a Toronto firm that has been consistently recognized as one of Canada’s premier litigation practices. The competition featured 18 first-year students appealing the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R. v. Cunningham, a case about whether a criminal defence lawyer can unilaterally withdraw from representing his or her client for non-payment of fees.
The competition was organized by Professor Stephen Pitel and Western Law alumnus Matthew Lerner ’07, an associate with Lenczner Slaght. Preliminary rounds were judged by Emily Graham, Sean O’Donnell, Jamie Spotswood and David Vitale, all of Lenczner Slaght, and Professor Randal Graham.
Tanya and Lauren, (pictured left with Ronald Slaght) representing Group B,
advanced to the final against Rami Pandher and Ryan Baulke, representing Group
H. The final, held in the Moot
Court Room, was judged by Regional Senior Justice Edward Ducharme of the Ontario
Superior Court of Justice and by Ronald Slaght QC and Jamie Spotswood of Lenczner Slaght. Lauren and Tanya won on a split 2-1
decision of the judges.
A reception and dinner for all competitors capped off the day’s oral advocacy. At the reception Professor Pitel expressed delight at Lenczner Slaght’s willingness to sponsor this unique advocacy competition. On behalf of the firm, Ronald Slaght warmly congratulated all competitors for their efforts and stressed the importance of building oral advocacy skills.
Two teams received an honourable mention for their preliminary round performances: Will Bortolin and Jessica Elie of Group D and Erik Vandrunen and Kavina Nagrani of Group J. Michelle Bothwell, Matoula Charitsis and Nanette Love provided important administrative support for this competition.
