These tech-savvy students helped to digitize the academic operations of the Faculty, working closely with management, Faculty members and others to support hybrid learning, special events, and other innovative projects.
With that mission now largely accomplished, the students are aiming higher – all the way to the metaverse.
In March, for the first time in Canada and likely the world, the Faculty will host the finals of its annual moot competition not in person but in virtual reality (VR).
In moot competitions, teams of students prepare written submissions on a legal point and then argue their case in front of a panel of judges.
This year’s finals, which will be presided over by three human judges, will take place in a virtual courtroom specially built by EngageVR.
Our three judges will be:
- The Honourable Ian Binnie, retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
- Justice Jodie-Lynn Waddilove of the Ontario Court of Justice
- Mr. Ron LeClair of Principal of LeClair and Associates and Sponsor of the Moot
“This is yet another example of how uOttawa’s mooting program continues to lead and innovate,” says Professor Anthony Daimsis, who supervises the annual mooting competition.
“We have many students who are hungry to sharpen their advocacy skills. I’m very proud of what is now a long list of outstanding students who have become exceptional members of our profession.”
At the start of the pandemic, the Tech Fellows believed that technology could be leveraged “to create immersive and engaging spaces to participate,” explains 3L student Ritesh Kotak.
Kotak is a tech entrepreneur who left a career in policing to pursue his MBA, then went on to do his Juris Doctor.
At that time, however, virtual reality was cost-prohibitive – a single decent headset for the participants to ascend into the metaverse would have cost $1000.
Still, Kotak approached Dean Adam Dodek and Professor Craig Forcese, then Vice Dean of Graduate Studies, and asked for permission to explore how access to justice could be enhanced by emerging technology.
As time went on, the VR technology got better, faster, more functional, and cheaper and tech giants and even the odd law firm and law school began investing in the metaverse.
“Since, the Tech Fellows had headsets, we wanted to explore the opportunities but also the challenges that the metaverse would bring. We believe that the best way to do it is to immerse ourselves into it,” says Kotak.
“So, that is what we did and started exploring different productivity tools in the metaverse and even started holding our weekly meetings in VR. We found it brought a physical presence to the virtual world. We are continuing to explore the potential of this technology as it is still in its infancy.”
The Fellows are no strangers to technological innovation.
Last year, a team of Fellows – Kotak, Ayushi Dave and Ryan Mosoff - won the Faculty’s Harley Finkelstein Entrepreneurship Challenge. The competition, endowed by Harley Finkelstein, joint J.D. & MBA, ‘09 and President of Shopify, was designed to develop the entrepreneurial mindset that is critical to leadership, helping students to become better leaders, lawyers, and entrepreneurs.
The concept for the students’ innovative and unique business, jusTech, was originally conceived as part of a Hackathon competition.
JusTech, is a privacy breach tool. The online workflow automates the data breach reporting process, for small businesses. In the event of a data breach, by answering a series of questions on the jusTech site, business owners will be provided with multiple auto-generated documents: a completed Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) breach reporting form, client notification, internal communication letter, a how-to-guide for breach reporting, and sample cyber policies. The process is easy to use and saves money, and stress and is completely free for small business.
The new virtual mooting project is generously sponsored by London, Ontario law firm LeClair and Associates.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to support the University of Ottawa, the creators and hosts of the first ever virtual reality moot,” said Ron LeClair, principal at the firm who will serve as one of the judges for the finals.
“It is exciting to help law students – our future colleagues – explore innovative ways to promote access to justice for everyone.
“Over the past 24 months, we have seen how technological tools can be leveraged, allowing us to collaborate from various locations. Virtual reality further enhances this remote collaboration in many ways, including by bringing people together in the same virtual space. We commend the students, faculty and administration of the University of Ottawa for their vision and initiative!”
Ayushi Dave, another Fellow who has worked on the mooting project, says virtual reality brings individuals together regardless of location into a single space.
“Location is no longer a barrier,” Dave says.
“We have already seen the power of technology to improve access to justice by eliminating costly travel and allowing individuals to participate from the comfort of their own homes.
“VR is in its infancy but will be able to enhance the experience from a 2D zoom screen to a 3D virtual environment. It will allow for the 3D recreation of incidents and virtual testimony while costing a fraction of what trials cost today. As time progresses, the tech will be more accepted. We are currently only scratching the surface of its true potential.”