Experiential Learning

Upper year students provide supervised, business oriented, legal advice to small businesses, entrepreneurs, and non-profit organizations meeting certain eligibility criteria. Students have the opportunity to develop solicitor's practice based skills and use their substantive understanding of business law in a clinical setting for the benefit of the public. Learn more about the Business Law Clinic.

Upper year students are placed in the legal department of a business oriented organization for one term on a part-time basis. Students have the opportunity to learn directly from experienced corporate counsel in a supportive educational environment and apply concepts learned in the classroom to practical legal and business matters in a particular industry. 

Students work as counsel on a number of criminal files as either defense counsel or Crown counsel. The focus of the students' work is trial preparation, plea negotiations, and conducting trials and sentencing hearings.

Students work for a group of provincial court judges and engage in legal research, memoranda drafting and editing.

The ICLC serves the Indigenous community, and the work of the students is focused on representing persons in numerous areas of law including criminal charges, civil claims, family law, residential tenancy, wills and access to social assistance. The Clinic has also involved in representing organizations and groups in areas which significantly impact the interest of the Indigenous community. 

The UBC Innocence Project accepts applications from persons convicted of serious crimes who have exhausted their appeals and claim they are factually innocent. The work of students at the Project focuses on investigating whether a wrongful conviction may have occurred, investigating and evaluating new evidence, and assisting in making innocence applications to the Department of Justice.

The International Justice and Human Rights Clinic gives upper-year law students the opportunity to work on pressing human rights and global justice concerns through hands-on work on international cases and projects. Students gain experience applying international human rights law, international criminal law and/or international humanitarian law working on specific cases with a range of international justice organizations, including international criminal courts and tribunals, United Nations human rights bodies, and non-governmental organizations.

Rise Women’s Legal Centre provides legal advice to clients of low to moderate income who identify as women, with a focus on Family Law matters and practice in related areas of law. The Centre welcomes applications from all upper year law students including women, men, trans and gender-diverse individuals who have taken Family Law as a prerequisite course. Students work under the supervision of clinic lawyers to provide representation to individual clients.  Rise contributes to addressing the barriers to access to civil justice for women and their children.

The Law Students Legal Advice Program (LSLAP) is non-profit society run by students at the Allard School of Law. LSLAP's Credit Student program accepts students to provide legal research, representation, and advocacy services to low income residents of the Greater Vancouver region. LSLAP's mandate covers a range of Civil and Criminal matters. This program is open to upper year Allard School of Law students.

This moot is a competition between teams from the law faculties of the University of British Columbia, University of Victoria and Thompson Rivers University.  The competition is held in early February. The problem is mooted in two divisions. Allard’s team consists of two divisions of two students each, plus a researcher or alternate. In one division, Allard represents the appellant; in the other, the respondent. Counsel for each division prepares a factum and presents oral argument to a panel consisting of three judges drawn from the Superior Courts of British Columbia. The researcher/alternate assists in research and administration and may be called upon to argue the case (on either side) if one of the counsel is unable to appear. In preparation for the moot, counsel for the two divisions and the researcher operate very much as a team.

The moot problem, an appeal from a trial or appeal torts, contracts or property decision, is usually handed out in October. Factums are due in January. Students are given an opportunity to discuss their factums with experienced counsel. A series of practice moots is held to assist the students in the preparation of their oral submissions. The winning school is determined on the basis total marks awarded for the advocacy performance of all four mooters and the marks for each factum.  This Faculty advisors this year are Professor Liz Edinger and Professor Anne Uteck.  DLA Piper is a long-time sponsor of this Moot.

This national competition focuses upon corporate and securities law. The competition, held in Toronto, gives law students interested in these areas an opportunity to meet, formally and informally, with judges, corporate and securities regulators, academics and practitioners to debate legal issues of current importance to the Canadian business community. Teams from across Canada participate in the competition.

The unique feature of this competition is that each pair of students takes turns arguing on behalf of both the appellant and the respondent. The emphasis of the competition is on oral presentation, but points are also awarded for the factum. The judges hearing the moots are drawn from the Ontario Courts and the Ontario Securities Commission, senior practitioners and, on occasion, the Supreme Court of Canada. The Allard team consists of four to five students, the fifth being a researcher/alternate. The team has the opportunity to practice extensively before judges, faculty and practitioners in Vancouver before going to Toronto. The competition generally takes place on the first weekend in March, and moot problem is not distributed until January, so students devote six to seven weeks in the first part of the second term doing research, writing their factums and preparing their oral presentations.  This Moot is generously sponsored by Blakes, and the coaches this year are Counsel Sean Boyle and Professor MacDougall.

The Mathews Dinsdale and Clark LLP Canadian Labour Arbitration Competition takes place between two-person teams from eight law schools across Canada. Allard joined this competition for the first time in 2001.  The arbitration is based on an agreed statement of facts which is distributed in November, and the team selects their chosen relevant cases and prepares for a number of practice sessions, which are held downtown in January. These practice sessions are held before panels of prominent British Columbia lawyers and arbitrators, and the students practice to present and argue both sides of the problem. The competition is held in Toronto on the last weekend of January. On the first day the teams argue for one side in the morning and the other side in the afternoon, before panels of Ontario labour lawyers and Ontario Labour Board members.  At the evening banquet, the two top teams are announced, and the next day those two teams compete for the Cup, and the winning team members receive a grant toward their third year school fees. 

The students selected must be in second year Law at the time of the competition; Labour Law in the fall term is recommended but not required. The grading is based chiefly on oral presentation and the ability to handle questions from the panels, with some marks for selection and use of authorities. There is no factum to file. The law is assumed to be Ontario labour law, but the legislation and general issues are pan-Canadian. The Allard team is generously sponsored by Roper Greyell, Victory Square Law Office and Moore Edgar Lister, and is advised by Professor Hastie and Counsel Jennifer Russell.

The Competition Law Moot is a new competition which began in 2018 and is co-hosted by the Competition Bureau, Competition Tribunal and Canadian Bar Association.

As is set out on the moot website, “this event provides Canadian law students with an exceptional opportunity to tackle timely, complex civil or criminal issues in a growing field of law that strives to balance private economic incentives with the public interest. Participants will have the opportunity to obtain feedback from top law enforcers, judges and specialist practitioners in an intimate setting. This event is a great networking opportunity for anyone interested by a career in law.”  The competition takes place in Toronto in March, and the Allard Team is generously sponsored by McMillan LLP and the team coach this year is Counsel Francois Tougas.

The Donald G. Bowman National Tax Moot was established in 2010 and held its inaugural moot competition in Toronto on March, 2011. Named in honour of former Chief Justice of the Tax Court of Canada, Donald G. Bowman, and sponsored by Fraser Milner Casgrain, the moot is an appellate level moot with two students representing the appellant and two students representing the respondent. The Vancouver office of Thorsteinssons LLP has generously sponsored the Allard Law team, and the coaches for the team in 2018-2019 were Counsel Joyce Lee, Q.C. and Geoffrey Metropolit.

The Immigration and Refugee Law Moot was established in 2020. This is a full year moot course worth five credits - 3 credits in Term 1 and 2 credits in Term 2. A team of four students from each school compete. The moot problem – a judicial review of an immigration / refugee law issue argued before the Federal Court or equivalent court – is delivered in late September, with applicant factums due mid January and respondent factums due late January. Oral rounds based on written submissions will take place early to mid March.

Preference is given to students who have taken Immigration Law (LAW 377) and/or Refugee Law (LAW 378) or who are enrolled in one or both of these courses in the coming year. The coach is Molly Joeck, a PhD Candidate at UBC and a practicing lawyer at Edelman & Co Law Offices, and Professors Asha Kausha and Efrat Arbel.

The Gale Moot concerns a criminal law topic, often one involving the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is held in Toronto at the Osgoode Hall Law Courts (the Ontario Court of Appeal). Marks are awarded for both the factum and oral presentation, with the latter given more weight. The Allard Law team generally has four students. The moot is an appeal from a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada rather than a hypothetical problem. Students work on their written submissions October-January and practice before judges and senior practitioners in January and February, including a “dress rehearsal” before the B.C. Court of Appeal. The judges for the competition are drawn from the courts of all jurisdictions across Canada, and final rounds are argued before at least one Supreme Court of Canada justice and other senior appellate level judges. Students receive the case in mid-October, with the moot taking place in late February. The Gale is a truly national moot which attracts a large number of teams from across the country. Schools may moot in either English or French, with simultaneous translation provided. In some years, winners advance to an international competition that takes place in a Commonwealth country. In 2012, UBC won the competition and in 2016 the team placed second. The advisors this year are Professor Isabel Grant and Counsel Mary Ainslie, Q.C.

The Ian Fletcher International Insolvency Moot is a global moot that tests students’ knowledge and skills in cross-border insolvency law, which is the financial distress of companies. It involves writing a memorial in the fall, which is an outline of argument, and then if selected, a written outline of oral argument and oral submissions in the spring term. 4 students are selected and the moot. In 2018, Allard won the competition, and in 2019 the Allard Law team has qualified for the competition in Singapore. Pre-requisite: Insolvency Law 444. The faculty advisor for this Moot is Professor Janis Sarra.

The International Law Students Association, based in Chicago, organizes an international law topic for this moot competition. The competition divides schools into a number of geographic and national units, one of which includes all Canadian law schools. The competition involves the preparation of written arguments (filed in mid-January), and advocacy training on a weekly basis in January and February leading up to the Canadian national competition in early March. The top three Canadian teams advance to the International Round, held in Washington DC in late March or early April. 

The Allard team generally has four or five students, with the fifth acting as a researcher. The team usually consists of at least two third-year students.  The researcher is a second year student, who is then given the opportunity to participate as a mooter in her or his third year.

For many years, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin has generously sponsored the Allard team, providing both financial assistance and advocacy training.  The coaches this year for this Moot are Professor Sara Ghebremusse and Counsel Dionne Liu.

The Kawaskimhon ("Speaking with Knowledge") Aboriginal Rights Moot is a non competitive national moot focusing on Indigenous legal issues and peoples in Canada. Kawaskimhon is a great opportunity for students to engage with issues of importance to Indigenous legal orders and Aboriginal rights in Canada. It is a popular and intensive experience for those students selected to form the team for Allard each year.

A different law school hosts Kawaskimhon each year.  Participants include students from most Canadian law schools (in teams of 2 to 4 students) and facilitators (faculty advisors, community members, elders) from across the country. The moot problem is assigned by the host institution in December or early January, and the teams work on written documents such as position papers or factums after the problem is assigned.  The moot itself is held in early March, over the course of two or three days.  Often, the host law school prepares a cultural night (which usually includes a banquet, singers and dancers, etc).  Kawaskimhon teams are expected to work toward reaching consensus on the issues.  Previous moots have addressed such issues as band membership rights, shared jurisdiction or overlaps, the effects of hydro projects, Métis rights, Gladue submissions, and jurisdictional issues on and off reserve.  Students are assessed a pass/fail mark based on their research, written materials and oral presentations at Kawaskimhon.

Mandell Pinder LLP has generously sponsored and coached this moot along with ILS Academic and Associate Directors.

The Laskin Moot is a national competition in Canadian administrative and constitutional law, founded in 1985-86 named in honour of former Chief Justice Bora Laskin. The moot is bilingual: each team's presentation must include the use of both English and French. The team has four students, though a fifth is sometimes added as researcher. It is not necessary that all members of the team be able to speak French, but it is an advantage to understand some French even if a particular team member is mooting in English.  At least one team member must present his or her oral argument in French and write the corresponding part of the factum in that language.  Simultaneous translation is possible for the benefit of unilingual mooters.

The problem is set each year by a scholar of administrative and/or constitutional law and concerns a subject of timely interest in these fields, within the jurisdiction of the Federal Court of Canada. The problem is made available in October and students begin research immediately. The moot itself is held late in February or early March following delivery of the appellant's factum in late January and the respondent's factum by the middle of February.  The coaches this year are Counsel Mila Shah and Miriam Isman.

The Peter Burns Competition is a trial, rather than an appeal, moot. It takes place on a Friday in November. Eight students compete, pairing up to act as counsel in a mock trial. Two practicing lawyers coach each pair of students during practice sessions held on one evening a week in the Hornby Street courthouse downtown. On the day of the competition, two mock trials are held—one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Students who participate in this competition take Trial Advocacy and Evidence in the fall term if they have not already done these courses.  Participation in this competition is worth 2 credits.  The Burns Moot is sponsored by Counsel Joven Narwal and the Crown Counsel Association.

The two winning students receive the Peter Burns trophy and go on to represent UBC in the Western Canada Moot Competition (the MacIntyre Cup) usually held in February.  The MacIntyre Cup team is sponsored by Professor Emeritus Jim MacIntyre, Q.C. and Counsel Russ Chamberlain, Q.C. The first and second place teams at the Western Canada Moot then compete in the National Trial Moot Competition (the Sopinka Cup), held in Ottawa in early March.  The Sopinka Cup is sponsored by the Advocates Society and the American College of Trial Lawyers. The students receive 2 further credits in for participating in these competitions. In 2018-2019 the Faculty co-ordinator was Nikos Harris.

The Harold G. Fox Moot (Canadian Intellectual Property Moot) (5 credits) brings together students from across Canada to moot a problem focused on intellectual property (IP) rights. This problem is released in mid-September/early October, with facta due in January. The moot takes place in Toronto over two days at the end of February. Teams compete in Toronto in front of panels made up of lawyers and judges. In 2020, participating schools were Dalhousie University Schulich School of Law, McGill University, Osgoode Hall law School, Queen’s University, Université de Montréal, University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, University of Victoria, and Western University. Teams consist of two students. All students participate equally in drafting the written submissions and in making oral arguments. The team meets 1-2 times per week. Students participating in this moot will get the opportunity to engage in depth with intellectual property issues; develop both written and oral advocacy skills; travel to Toronto, Ontario, to participate in the oral round; moot against teams from across Canada; and interact with students from other Canadian law schools, experienced practitioners of intellectual property law, and jurists. 

The Wilson Moot was established in 1992 to honour the outstanding contribution to Canadian law made by Madam Justice Bertha Wilson. The spirit of this moot is to promote justice for those traditionally disempowered within the legal system, and, in particular, to explore legal issues concerning women and minorities. Allard Law has participated in this moot for 16 years. Other participants have included UVic, McGill, Western Ontario, Queen’s, Windsor, Osgoode Hall, Ottawa, Manitoba and Toronto. The oral argument part of the competition is always held in Toronto.

Each school fields a team of two appellant’s counsel and two respondent’s counsel.  Some schools, including Allard, also have a fifth student as a researcher/alternate for the team.  The factums are usually due in early/mid-February and the oral part of the competition is typically held in late February. A number of practice moots are held in the first three weeks of February to help students refine their arguments and oral advocacy skills. There are separate team awards for both the written and the oral argument sections of the Moot. The oral argument consists of a preliminary round, during which the mooters compete twice against their counterparts from other law schools, and the final round. The top two schools after the preliminary round compete against each other in the final.  The Wilson coaches this year are Professor Hoi and Counsel Dustin Klaudt.

The goal of the Vis Arbitral Moot is to foster the study of international commercial law and arbitration for resolution of international business disputes through its application to a concrete problem of a client.

The Moot two phases: the writing of memorandums for claimant and respondent and the hearing of oral argument based upon the memorandums -- both settled by arbitral experts in the issues considered. The forensic and written exercises require determining questions of contract -- flowing from a transaction relating to the sale or purchase of goods under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and other uniform international commercial law -- in the context of an arbitration of a dispute under specified Arbitration Rules. In the pairings of teams for each general round of the forensic and written exercises, every effort is made to have civil law schools argue against common law schools -- so each may learn from approaches taken by persons trained in another legal culture. Similarly, the teams of arbitrators judging each round are from both common law and civil law backgrounds.

This moot is generously sponsored by Borden Ladner Gervais and Blakes.  The moot takes place in Vienna, and students receive coaching assistance from a number of highly experienced arbitration counsel, including a number from Borden Ladner Gervais and Blakes.  The faculty advisor for this year is Professor Biuković.

Information provided from the VIS Moot website