There are close to 60 students enrolled in senior law courses at ESA and, each year, the students’ final term activity is a series of in-class mock trials.
In total, the school will run 7 criminal mock trials.
MONDAY JUNE 6:
Trial 1 – 11:45 a.m. until 1:45 p.m. – grade 12s – R. v. Surette
TUESDAY JUNE 7:
Trial 2 — 8:30 until 10:05 a.m. – grade 11s – R. v. Von Chovi
Trial 3 – part one – 12 noon until 1:45 p.m. – grade 12s – R. v. Surette (to be continued on Thursday June 9)
Trial 4 — 3:20 until 4:50 p.m. – grade 11s – R. v. Thompson
WEDNESDAY JUNE 8:
Trial 5 – 11:45 a.m. until 1:45 p.m. – grade 12s – R. v. O’Neill
THURSDAY JUNE 9:
Trial 6 – 8:30 until 10:05 a.m. – grade 11s – R. v. Throxalon
Trial 3 – part two – 12 noon until 1:45 – R. v. Surette (conclusion of grade 12 trial started on June 7)
Trial 7 – 3:20 until 4:50 p.m. – grade 11s – R. v. Kimball
Students have a basic background in criminal law, have observed real trials in process and have received preparation materials for their own trials.
Getting support from legal professionals both in the preparation for and the execution of the trials would be appreciated.
Whether you are a practicing lawyer (in any type of law, not necessarily criminal) or not currently practicing but have trained in law, here’s how you could help:
1. as a “coach” — you could advise one of the 14 teams. During the period from May 27 to the time of a particular team’s trial (any time from Monday June 6 to Thursday June 9), a”coach” may make him/herself available to the students (via email or in person) to answer questions or assist in shaping the team’s approach to the case.
2. as a “judge” — if you are available during one of the scheduled trials, you could act as a “judge.” The teacher takes care of the assessment of students’ learning skills, but a legal professional is a terrific addition to the trial because s/he can guide student role-players with his/her rulings (admission of evidence, objections, etc.) and, based on his/her training, can better advise students about the presentation of their case. The “judge” will make a final ruling of ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty,’ but students’ assessments are not based on whether the team wins or loses the case.
If you are interested and available to help out, either as a “coach” or a “judge,” please contact Linda Wolsley (teacher of CLU3M & CLU4U) at linda.wolsley@tdsb.on.ca. She will assign you to work with a particular team, and will give those team members your email contact information. Also, if you act as a coach, she will provide you with a PDF of the team’s case file (from OBA archives of previous years’ mock trial competitions). If you are able to act as a judge, and depending on which trial you are available for, she will provide you with a PDF of that trial’s case file.
Past years’ legal volunteers have expressed how much fun they had and, based on studentfeedbabck, the value added to the overall learning experience was tremendous. Think about it and, if you have the time to volunteer, let the law teacher know.
Deadlines for contacting Linda Wolsley (linda.wolsley@tdsb.on.ca)
a) for interested ‘coaches’ — no later than Tuesday May 24th
b) for interested ‘judges’ — no later than Monday May 30th
Thank you!