U of T Law students take home the Winkler Cup, factum and oralist honours

Class action lawsuits are litigated on behalf of hundreds, or potentially, thousands of plaintiffs, providing access to justice while influencing policy change. Named in recognition of former Chief Justice, Warren K. Winkler, the Winkler Moot presents students with the unique challenge of a mock class action proceeding. 

The moot is held as a certification hearing, argued at the motions court level. Students must provide both evidentiary and legal arguments. Held virtually, Feb. 20, the problem was a product liability claim commenced by consumers of four drugs produced by four pharmaceutical companies to treat the same disease. The consumer class claimed that the drugs caused undisclosed side-effects and the companies should be held to account for negligently designing and testing the drugs, amongst other things. 

The U of T plaintiff team (Jenna Kara and Taskeen Nawab) won the Winkler Cup — keeping it at U of T Law for the second consecutive year — and the U of T Defendant Team (Henry Dennis and Kristy Milland) won Best Defendant Factum.

Nawab and Milland also took home the prizes for second and third best oralist, respectively!

The team's practitioner coach is Cheryl Woodin, a partner at Bennett Jones and 3L law students Amanda Cutinha, Sherry-Maria Ghaly, Renuka Koilpillai and Tabir Malik.