平特五不中

平特五不中 has captured its first Sopinka Cup. This weekend, the mooting team of Monika Rahman and Mareike Newhouse took home the Sopinka Cup and three of the five individual prizes too: Best Opening Statement (Monika), Best Closing Statement (Mareike) and Best Overall Advocate (Monika).

Professor Ron Sklar confides, "In my six or seven years of tenure as coach, no winning team has ever dominated the Sopinka in that fashion. They were superb; the best."

As the winner of the Best Advocate prize, Monika Rahman will be invited this September to the annual American College of Trial Lawyers convention. In turn, when Mareike Newhouse was confronted with an unexpected argument for the defence, she seamlessly and effectively incorporated a counter-argument in her prepared closing statement. That part of her performance garnered her a special "well done" comment from one of the judges.

As reported earlier, the team won the Gu茅rin Cup in February, which is the Quebec regional competition that qualifies teams for the Sopinka Cup. The first- and second-place winners from the four regional competitions across the country then travel to Ottawa for the national competition. The Sopinka Cup was established in 1999 to honour the late Supreme Court of Canada Justice John Sopinka and to encourage law schools to train students in the art of oral advocacy.

The Faculty wishes once more to thank their coaches, Professor Ron Sklar, as well as Provincial Crown Prosecutors Lori Weitzman and Lucio Garcia, for their generous assistance and unflagging enthusiasm.

We offer our warmest of congratulations to Monika and Mareike!