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10.12 Preparing for Trial Exercise

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Imagine you are going to court and are seeking a judgement ruling whether cake or pie should be served at your next birthday.

 

Assume the following:

  • June 2, 2015 you filed a notice of claim and the respondent filed a response on June 11, 2015. You both attended a mediation session on September 15, 2015, but were unable to come to an agreement. 
  • You plan to call Mr. Critic, a renowned food critic, as a witness. He recently wrote an article highlighting the superiority of cake.
  • There is a Food Law that says that you should serve food to your guests that they enjoy.
  • In the case of Savory v. Sweet the court ruled that when your guests don’t all enjoy the same foods you should serve the food that the majority of your guests enjoy.
  • In a recent poll done by the government cake was more popular amongst people aged 5- 40 while pie was more popular amongst 40-70 year olds.

Choose what you want the judge to rule and think about what evidence you can bring to convince the judge. Think about the witnesses you might call and the laws you will use. Feel free to get creative.

Prepare an opening and closing statement.

 

Opening Statement.

 

Opening

Orders you seek/oppose:

Cake should be served instead of pie at your next birthday

Chronology of your case:

• Brief court overview: (e.g. when court documents were filed, any orders made, previous hearings or conferences attended and their outcomes or settlements you reached)

  • June 2, 2015, I filed a notice of claim, the respondent filed a response on June 11, 2015. We attended a mediation session on September 15, 2015 but were unable to come to an agreement.
     

    Theory of the Case: Briefly state the reasons why you want what you want.

    • We should serve cake instead of pie at the party because the majority of people going to the party will enjoy cake more.
     

    The Witness: Who and what they will say (in a sentence or two):

    • I intend to call Mr. Critic, food critic and author, to discuss his recent article on the superiority of cake. I will also be calling Ms. Invitee, a friend who will be attend my birthday next year. Etc.

Closing Statement.

 

Closing

Orders you seek/oppose:

  • Cake should be served instead of pie at your next birthday

Theory of the Case:

  • We should serve cake instead of pie at the party because the majority of people going to the party will enjoy cake more.

Legal Position:

  • Relevant Laws:
    Food Law that says that you should serve food to your guests that they enjoy.

  • Supporting Case Law:
    Savory v. Sweet the court ruled that when your guests don’t all enjoy the same foods you should serve the food that the majority of your guests enjoy.

  • Related to Facts: (supported by evidence presented at trial)

    The majority of people in their 20s or 30s enjoy cake more than pie. The majority of the people at my next birthday will be in their 20s and 30s. Therefore to follow the law set out in Savory v. Sweet that you should serve food that the majority of your guests enjoy, we should be serving cake at my next birthday.

    • We heard evidence that In a recent poll done by the government cake was more popular amongst people aged 5- 40 while pie was more popular amongst 40-70 year olds.
    • Mr. Critic’s evidence on popularity of cake among younger people
    • Ms. Invitee’s evidence on the likelihood that the majority of people at my birthday will be around 30 years old.
    • My own affidavit stating that I am inviting mostly people in their late 20s or early 30s to my birthday.
 
10.12 Preparing for Trial Exercise