Davidson Cahill Morrison LLP was proud to support the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) Cup, the association’s annual trial advocacy competition for Ontario law students. This year’s moot took place on March 5, 2026 at the Hamilton Superior Court of Justice, where students from law schools across the province argued a demanding tort case before a sitting of the bench.
The OTLA Cup is organized each year by volunteer OTLA lawyers to develop trial skills, civility, and professionalism among the next generation of advocates. Teams compete in a full simulated trial in a real courtroom: openings, examinations in chief, cross-examinations, and closings, all built on a single complex fact scenario. The competition rotates among courthouses around Ontario, and the problems are generally drawn from the law of personal liability and torts, the core of civil litigation practice.
This year’s competition was presided over by a special sitting of three members of the bench: the Honourable Justice Bale, the Honourable Justice Spurgeon, and the Honourable Justice Bordin. Arguing before a three-judge panel gave participants a realistic sense of the rigour and expectations of trial practice.
A demanding fact scenario
The problem put to the students was a layered negligence action arising from a catastrophic gas explosion in a residential setting. A homeowner had retained a utility-locating service before undertaking backyard excavation. Despite those precautions, a gas line was struck when borrowed excavation equipment malfunctioned. Gas then leaked undetected into a neighbouring home and ignited when the neighbour went to light a barbecue.
The injured plaintiff brought claims against multiple defendants: the homeowner, the friend operating the machinery, the utility-locating service, the equipment provider, and the gas company responsible for emergency response. The scenario asked competitors to grapple with the kinds of issues that define multi-party civil litigation:
- the standard of care in residential excavation;
- reliance on utility-locating services;
- negligent equipment maintenance and lending practices;
- emergency response obligations; and
- causation in a multi-defendant, multi-factor accident.
It is a fact pattern that mirrors the work our litigators do every day: dense facts, several potentially responsible parties, and a causation analysis that has to account for more than one contributing failure.
Congratulations to this year’s advocates
The calibre of advocacy was high throughout. Students distilled a complicated record into clear, persuasive narratives, framed their examinations with purpose, and held their footing under judicial questioning. We congratulate every competitor, and in particular this year’s award winners:
- Will Trial Lawyers Award for Best Opening: Fiona Mucko (University of Windsor)
- Greg Monforton Award for Best Examination-in-Chief: Caitlyn Brennan (Queen’s University)
- Bonn Law Award for Best Cross-Examination: Owen Zimmer (Lakehead University)
- H. Bruce Hillyer Award for Best Closing: David Grout (Osgoode Hall) and Julia Shanta (University of Ottawa)
- Tim Boland Award for Best Overall Advocate: Owen Zimmer (Lakehead University)
- Hooper Law Award for Best Witness: Paul Nitafan (Queen’s University)
The Bergeron Clifford Award for Best Team went to the Bora Laskin team from Lakehead University: Caitlyn Aune, Minahil Choudhary, and Owen Zimmer, coached by Jeff Moorley of White Macgillivray Lester LLP.
Why we support the OTLA Cup
Trial advocacy is learned by doing, in front of real judges and on real records. Sponsoring the OTLA Cup is one of the ways Davidson Cahill Morrison LLP invests in the future of the plaintiff bar and in the advocacy training that serves clients and the justice system alike. We were glad to stand alongside the other firms who made this year’s competition possible.
The OTLA Cup heads to Thunder Bay for the 2027 competition, and we look forward to supporting it again.
Davidson Cahill Morrison LLP is a civil litigation and appellate advocacy firm with offices in Toronto, Huntsville, and Bowmanville.
