ARCTIC OBITER

NOVEMBER 2009 | 11
ROBED AND READY TO GO [clockwise from top]: Trial Advocacy students pose for a class photo before commencing with their final
mock trials. Dale Cunningham, with Darlene Rites, examines a witness. André Duchene, Malinda Kellett and Patricia Tiffen prepare
for their trial. Erin Delaney is videotaped during her cross-examination exercise.
Eugene Meehan, QC, lectured on
strategic legal writing and persuasive
documents. In his talk, Meehan offered
suggestions that have been proven
effective at the Supreme Court of
Canada. In one example, he referred to
a two-page report that aimed to show
‚nothing happened‛ within a certain
timeframe. He suggested, as an
alternative, a graphed timeline that
provides a visual indicator to better
inform the reader that nothing, in fact,
happened, all while maintaining the
integrity of the document.
To add to the authenticity of the real
courthouse environment, judges from
the Territories and abroad sat at the
bench throughout the program. Mme.
Judge Christine Gagnon of the
Territorial Court and Mme. Judge Anne
Brown of the Alberta Provincial Court
played their roles as judges throughout
the program’s demonstrations, and
provided essential one-on-one feedback
to students using video replays as aides.
On day four, Judge Gagnon was joined
by Judge Bernadette Schmaltz of the
Territorial Court of the NWT, Justice
Leigh Gower of the Supreme Court of
the Yukon Territory, Justice Peter
McIntyre of the Alberta Court of
Queen’s Bench, and Judge John
Henderson of the Alberta Provincial
Court to preside over the final mock
trials.
The program ended with positive
feedback from all students.
One week after the end of the program,
organizers Sarah Kay, Sheila
MacPherson, Terri Nguyen and Janice
Walsh hit the books to begin planning
the third Trial Advocacy program,
scheduled to happen in 2011.