Criminal Justice students impressive at Osgoode Cup

Recently, six Nipissing University Criminal Justice students competed in the Osgoode Cup National Undergraduate Mooting Competition, held at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School. The students, competing in pairs as three teams, were impressive. Especially considering they were competing against some very experienced mooters from large institutions who have established mooting clubs with coaches, resources and practice competitions.

The Nipissing teams included: Anthony Imbesi and Giancarlo DiRocco Justin Villeneuve and Stephan Shier Ian Hall and Nathan Gravelle

Imbesi and DiRocco advanced to the semi-finals; only eight of the 49 teams advanced to that round and this team was the only one representing small schools to make it.

Hall and Gravelle are both first-year students with no mooting experience. By the luck of the draw, Nipissing’s rookie team faced off against a team of fourth-year students from Western’s Ivey business pre-law program, the team that ultimately won the competition. Nipissing’s team deserves credit for giving the first place team a run for their money. According to Shelly Lechlitner, who attended the competition, the chief judge was visibly shocked to find out Hall and Gravelle were first-year students.

Villeneuve, an experienced mooter, paired with rookie mooter Shier. This team also performed well, impressing the judges with their dramatic performances and different approach to mooting.

“Our students did an outstanding job and are to be commended for their dedication, hard work and enthusiasm. I was proud of all of them,” said Lechlitner. “The various panels of judges stated that our teams seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, brought a lighter, less 'stuffy' approach to the competition and were rewarded for that, as not being married to a script, being able to think on your feet and react to questions are all areas where we scored high!”

The Osgoode Cup National Undergraduate Mooting Competition is an annual tournament intended to introduce undergraduate students to mooting, a form of public speaking common in law school. The Osgoode Cup has been run since 2005.

Participants present before a panel of judges with regard to an appeal or motions case. As a case before appeal it is a 'lawyer's court' without witnesses or juries where the facts are generally not in dispute, but rather the focus is on legal issues.