A Mooter With a Future

Growing up in the suburbs of Toronto, first-year Windsor Law student Joshua Ginsberg did not always know he wanted to be a lawyer. He did know that he liked to argue (just ask his brother), and that he felt oddly at home onstage, graduating from a performing arts high school where he studied acting.

But it took more than a healthy gift of gab and an affinity for spotlights for Ginsberg to win this year's Lerner's Cup Mooting Competition. The oral argument competition features six finalists selected from all Windsor Law first-years. While natural talent may have won Ginsberg a spot in the finals, it was teamwork that sealed the deal.

"I workshopped my arguments with a professor and a group of upper-year students who coached me. They were fantastic," says Ginsberg. "The panel of students sacrificed a lot of time to help me for no credit and certainly no money, but just because that's the atmosphere at Windsor — collegial and supportive."

Ginsberg graduated from McGill University in 2007 with a degree in Political Science ("Like 90 percent of law students," he jokes). He took a year to decide on law school, but only minutes to choose Windsor.

For Ginsberg, the main attraction was Windsor's dedication to experiential learning. Never a fan of sitting behind a desk, Ginsberg knows that he learns best by working on real projects with real responsibilities and real results.

That is why Ginsberg is spending the summer as a caseworker at Community Legal Aid (CLA), one of three community legal and mediation clinics run by Windsor Law students.

At CLA, Ginsberg assists clients facing a wide variety of legal issues from small claims matters to landlord-tenant disputes to criminal summary convictions. The best part for Ginsberg is that he spends three days a week in court making submissions and answering questions from judges and veteran prosecutors.

"I don't have to wait to appear before a judge until I'm a first-year associate at a law firm," he says. "I already have that experience under my belt, which is just a tremendous advantage."

After only a year of legal studies, Ginsberg already feels like he is part of the profession. Sure, he has made his share of mistakes ("Sometimes you learn by getting humiliated," he says), but overall the judges respect the Windsor Law students for the service they provide to marginalized community members.

Next year, Ginsberg will be a volunteer coordinator and mentor at the clinic. He will also join one of Windsor Law's many competitive mooting teams, hopefully with the same upper-year students who helped coach him to victory in the Lerner's Cup.

Learn more about Community Legal Aid as well as Legal Assistance of Windsor and the University of Windsor Mediation Services.