UWO Law hosted the 2009 BLG Client Counselling Competition. The winners this year were Andrea Yau and Jesse Mighton.

Finalists included Cassandra Tarrataca and Ryan Venables, Adam Somogyi and Mike Lickver, Kathryn Shani and Brittany Taylor and Ronald Fichter and Katie Sokol.

Omar Ha-Redeye played a client in the competition, which he won in 2007.

The American Bar Association (ABA) Client Counseling Competition for Region 6 was held this year the Thomas L. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.

Omar Ha-Redeye and Amelia Phillips-Lewis represented the University of Western Ontario as winners of the school’s Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Client Counselling Competition.

They were the top-seeded team through the preliminary rounds, with nearly 33% margin over second place, before being eliminated in the semi-finals.  Three Canadian teams made it to the regional semi-finals.

Canadian Competitors at Region 6: (From Left) Maria Barrett-Morris from Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (UofO Coach), Ellie Persichilli and Jyll Hansen (UofO), Omar Ha-Redeye and Amelia Phillips-Lewis (UWO), Russ Groves and Danielle Bisnar (Osgoode).

Omar Ha-Redeye won the 2007 Borden Ladner Gervais Client Counselling Competition with his partner, Amelia Phillips-Lewis.

The purpose of the competition is to develop students’ skills in interviewing and counselling clients. Practising lawyers assess the competitors and other students play the role of clients.

The other 2007 finalists included: Emily Hassin and Linsey Rains, Maciek Piekosz and Michael Beeforth, Ryan McKeen and Raj Kehar, Morgan Borins and Nathalie Freiman.

The competition is judged by lawyers from BLG.  This year the following lawyers participated: Halla Elias, Rick Morelli, Kammy Digambar, Robin Squires, Farah Ismail, Oneal Banerjee, Margot Finley, Doug Smith and Melanie De Wit.