West Coast Environmental Law announces national Twitter debate
Vancouver. West Coast Environmental Law is inviting law students from across Canada to participate in a unique competition about climate change and the law. The “Twitter Moot”, to be held on November 20th, 2012, at 10am PST, will see teams from Law Schools from all across Canada participate in a mock court hearing over the Twitter social media platform, arguing about whether or not the Canadian public has a legal right to a healthy global atmosphere.
In addition to inviting the students to audition for the event, West Coast Environmental Law announced the event’s three judges:
- Michael Geist (@mgeist) is the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, a leading expert on social media and the law, and (according to Lawyer Weekly Magazine), one of Canada’ top legal social media influencers.
- Polly Higgins (@pollyhiggins) is a U.K. Barrister, the author of the best-selling book, Eradicating Ecocide, and one of the world’s top 10 visionary thinkers according to Ecologist magazine.
- Lisa Taylor (@Listen2Lisa) is an accomplished journalist and professor of journalism at Ryerson University, but also holds a Masters in Law, created a Gemini-nominated CBC legal events show, the Docket, and mooted during law school.
“We want to get people talking about climate change and the law – and whether or not the failure of successive governments to address climate change is a violation of our rights,” explained Andrew Gage, Staff Lawyer. “This is taking an important legal debate out of the court room and onto Twitter.”
The hashtag for the Twitter Moot is #twtmoot. West Coast Environmental Law made social media history when it held the world’s first Twitter Moot in February 2012. The event was a trending topic in Canada and Victoria, with an audience in the thousands.
West Coast Environmental Law thanks Iler Campbell for its Silver Sponsorship of this event and invites inquiries about sponsorship opportunities.
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For more information contact:
Andrew Gage, Staff Lawyer at 604-601-2506 (Vancouver) or 250-412-9784 (Victoria).
See www.wcel.org/twtmoot for more information.
Click here for a pdf version of this press release.