Over 600 participants from 16 law schools gathered for four days of competition and camaraderie at the 2012 Law Games held for the first time at UBC. The event took place from January 2nd to January 6th and included, as usual, a wide variety of activities from sporting events to moots and talent shows.
While host school UBC has fielded small delegations for past Law Games, a team of nearly 100 students and a 15 person committee, all clad in gold tracksuits, welcomed participants to their campus and volunteered their time to make the Games a success.
This year's coveted Spirit Award went to the University of Victoria. University of Western Ontario dominated the sports competition, winning dodgeball, flag football and ice hockey. The University of Saskatchewan, fresh off their Spirit Cup win at the 2011 Games, won the Fun Games Award this year, participating in events such as the trike race (a long standing UBC tradition involving riding a child-size trike while being pummeled with water balloons), a Polar Bear swim at Wreck Beach and a Scavenger Hunt.
This years Talent Show was certainly memorable, with 10 teams displaying their schools considerable assets to a full house at Venue Nightclub. Laval's Asterix themed performance was judged to be the best, narrowly defeating UVic in one of the more "controversial" moments of the week.
McGill proved that trans-systemic teaching pays off and defeated UVic in the Moot final, judged by UBC Law Faculty and lawyers from Bull Housser & Tupper LLP.
The Social Events were undoubtedly the highlight of the week, with participants experiencing the best nightlife Vancouver has to offer, including the Opening Ceremonies party at the Commodore Ballroom, the Closing Ceremonies Banquet at the Vancouver Convention Center and a Pub Crawl touring through historic Gastown.
Hosting the Law Games in Vancouver made for a unique and memorable experience, and would not have been possible without the generous support of Stikeman Elliot LLP; Fasken Martineau LLP; Farris, Vaughn, Wills & Murphy LLP; Lawson Lundell LLP; Bull Housser & Tupper LLP; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP; Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP; McMillan LLP; Bowen Island Brewing Company; Scotiabank and Urban Rec.
Originally published in January 2012 News & Events. By Laura Hawes (3L student and co-chair of the UBC Law Games committee).