Advocacy Competitions 


Lerners LLP Cup

The annual Lerners LLP Cup, an internal appellate advocacy competition, is one of the highlights on the calendar at the University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law.  This voluntary competition, organized through a collaboration of faculty members and a group of student volunteers, gives upper-year law students the opportunity to argue a hypothetical case before an appellate court. Judges, practicing lawyers and third-year students generously volunteer their time to act as judges for the competition. The top students advance to the Final Round to compete for the Lerners LLP Cup, which is decided by judges from the Court of Appeal for Ontario and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and distinguished advocates.

The preliminary rounds of the Lerners LLP Cup take place in the last week of September, with the Final Round held the following week in early October.  All upper year students are encouraged to participate. Once the problem is released in mid-September, competitors have a week to prepare a factum. Students can compete in English or French or both.

All competitors are able to profit from the experience of mooting in a competitive environment, but the Lerners LLP Cup is also important for selecting Western’s representatives in a host of external mooting competitions.  Competitors for the Gale Cup, the Laskin, the Wilson, the Niagara, the Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP National Labour Law Moot and the Canadian Corporate Securities Moot will all be selected based upon student ranking in the Lerners LLP Cup.

2011 Competition Results

At the end of a skillfully argued final round, Sarah Martens was named Best Oralist. and the winner of this year's Cup.  Along with her partner Matt Hickey, Martens also won for Best Factum, a new prize at the competition. Alexei Chinkarenko and Michael Maiola (pictured below) were awarded the Justice C.D. Stewart trophy as the top-ranked team from the Preliminary Round. (read more)

2010 Competition Results

Robert Glasgow was the top oralist in Lerners Cup. Jennifer Neiman and Jeffrey Warnock were honoured with the Mr. Justice C.D. Stewart Trophy, which is awarded to the top team in the preliminary round. (read more)

2011 Lerners Cup Photo

"Lerners is very proud to serve as the sponsor of the Lerners Cup at Western.  Many of our  lawyers, in both our London and Toronto offices,  participated  in law school competitions such as the Lerners Cup. We know what a valuable role these competitions play in helping law students develop their advocacy skills…. and we know how much fun the competitions are, too!  Warmest best wishes to all  Western students participating in this year's Lerners Cup."

Ian T. Dantzer,
London Managing Partner and Executive Committee Chair
Lerners LLP

Western Law: A national law school with an international outlook.