Canadian Lawyer 4Students

60 AUGUST 2017 C A N A D I A N L a w y e r 4STUDENTS When Ria Guidone was a third-year law student at Dalhousie University, she was looking forward eagerly to the national moot trial in Toronto — the only competitive trial advocacy event in the country. She and her partner had already won the regional compe- tition earlier in Moncton, N.B., and they were preparing once again to tackle the issue of criminal negligence causing death. Winning, of course, would be the brass ring, but Guidone, who gave the closing argument, also wanted to get first-hand feedback from the four seasoned advocates seated among the spectators. And that was where everything fell apart. "e moot trial had a significant impact," says Guidone. "is was like hitting a wall for me. My gender was never an issue." Here's what happened to make it one. One of the advocates, an experienced trial litigator, provided Guidone with feedback that, ultimately, had her questioning whether she belonged in law school at all. She was told "your argument was good, but your manner is too cold. Try and warm up, try and smile a little. You should seduce the court." It wasn't only Guidone — who had deliberately opted not to smile during her closing argument given the gravity of the topic (the death of someone in a car accident) — who was surprised by the com- ments. Another advocate spoke up to commend her style, and coaches from the University of Toronto came up to her later to suggest she ignore the advice because it was sexist. (e same man who wanted Guidone to seduce the jury also applauded the per- formance of the only male student in her mock trial noting that he had a "great voice. It carries loudly, not like my wife's voice.") For Guidone, the issue was not the specific com- ments from one person but the professional foun- dation on which these might be based. "is was an important les- son for me," she says. "I don't want to judge him," Guidone adds, "but we have to be careful about what we say before we say it. ere are inherent biases and perceptions." Carefulness comes naturally to Guidone. e Ottawa native who grew up in Gatineau, Que. waited a year before she wrote about her experience, an article in the Weldon Times entitled "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice." In that article, she writes, "[N]ationals brought with it a more unexpected truth: women still have to fight "The moot trial had a significant impact. This was like hitting a wall for me. My gender was never an issue." At first, Ria Guidone was floored when she was told to 'seduce the court,' but it helped open up a conversation about women in the profession By donalee Moulton Sexism is not moot

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