The halls of TRU Law are buzzing with activity this week with moots for the 1L Fundamental Legal Skills course underway. This year’s series of moots consists of thirty teams of four students each, the largest number of teams and participants to date for the mandatory FLS course.
This year’s moot problem has students acting as crown counsel and defence counsel in a criminal case involving the charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance contrary to Section 4 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
The teams each argue their case in front of three volunteer judges. Over half the faculty and more than a dozen members of the Kamloops Bar Association are acting as judges this year. TRU Law’s own Retired Judge-in-Residence, Justice Richard Blair, also acted as a judge.
“We are there to poke holes in their arguments, and as a learning experience, we challenge them. They need to know what that feels like because one day soon they will be in front of a real judge in a real court.” said Dr. Chris Hunt, faculty member and one of the judges.
Zain Ali, a student who acted as defence counsel, agrees that is part of what made the experience valuable.
“They definitely caught me off guard,” said Ali with a smile.
Hunt emphasized that a key learning for the students is to know when to concede an argument—to know which parts of the case to spend time on versus letting go.
“This is a skill that will help counsellors gain credibility with the court,” noted Hunt.
David Paul, QC, a Kamloops lawyer with three decades of experience and a sessional faculty member teaching FLS this term, says the course starts with an examination of the Canadian legal system and how to research law and utilize various legal resources. From there students learn how to read and analyze a case and how to apply the law to a particular fact pattern.
“Throughout the course, they move from identifying relevant facts to learning how to take a position on behalf of a client using supporting case law and litigation,” said Paul, noting that the learning outcome is ultimately to be able to engage in legal analysis and legal reasoning, with the ability to synthesize multiple judicial decisions.
Vincent Pierce, a student who acted as crown counsel, says he, along with about 40 other 1Ls, also prepared for the moots by studying Supreme Court cases and fact patterns as part of an oral advocacy study group, which meets once a week throughout the semester.
Following the moot, students also receive advice from the judges about their courtroom presence—everything from volume of their voice, pronunciation, cadence, ability to hide nervous tics, pacing and etiquette such as addressing judges.
The moots are taking place Monday to Wednesday in the evenings with several moots happening simultaneously in different classrooms. Two additional classrooms are serving as Judges Chambers and the Counsel Waiting Room, where participants don their gowns and prepare for court. The moots are the culmination of the FLS course.
