Western Law wins Jessup Moot
March 11, 2013
The Western Law Jessup moot team of Jonathan Preece, Tori Crawford, Natasha Petersen, Hunter Forman and Daniel Levine (pictured above) won first place in the Canadian rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition held in Kingston on March 6-9. In addition, Levine won the JAG award for best oralist in a championship round, and Crawford won fourth place oralist overall in the preliminary rounds. Prof. Valerie Oosterveld won the Jessup coach of the year award.
As Canadian National Champions, the team advanced to the Jessup International Rounds in Washington D.C., on March 31-April 6 where they competed against the top 100 national champion Jessup teams from around the world, chosen from well over 600 law schools worldwide.
In the preliminary rounds, Western Law won all but one match, losing only to last year's global Jessup champion school (Moscow State University) in a close moot. They then progressed to the advanced rounds, where they were eliminated in another close match against the University of California-Hastings. Their excellent performances left them ranked 22nd in the world for their Memorials (facta) and 25th in the world for their oral arguments. Tori Crawford ranked 57th out of 400 oralists at the International Rounds.
“This is an outstanding effort and achievement by our Western Law team,” said Dean Iain Scott. “Congratulations as well to Valerie Oosterveld for her well-deserved coaching award.”
This is the first time in its 38-year involvement with the Jessup that Western Law has placed first in the Canadian rounds of the Jessup moot. This is also the first time that Western Law has ever progressed to the advanced stages at the International Rounds, and is only the second time that Western Law has ever competed in the International Rounds.
The Jessup competition is the largest moot court competition in the world. It provides law students with a unique opportunity to prepare written and oral arguments on complex issues of international law involving hypothetical cases before the International Court of Justice.
“The team has worked tirelessly over the past months, researching and writing the Memorials and preparing their oral submissions and responses,” said Oosterveld. “I’m very proud of their commitment and focus. Our aim is to continue this success.”
If any alumni are interested in judging a practice run-through of the 2013-2014 Western Law Jessup team, please be in touch with Professor Oosterveld at vooster@uwo.ca
