Future litigators: New bursary invests in trial skills

Aug 21, 2025
A student in a black robe stands at a podium in the Moot Court Room at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
Brynne Dalmao (JD 2025) presents arguments to a panel of distinguished Canadian jurists at The Grand Moot (photo by Alice Xue Photography).

After viewing the courtroom from the other side of the bench, retired British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Elaine Adair (LLB 1981) realized that younger trial lawyers could use help in developing some of their skills. A longtime donor to the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Adair decided she could do more to assist individual students there.

“I began talking with the faculty about financial support for law students,” says Adair, who had a long career practising civil litigation before her judicial appointment in 2008. “I don’t know how they afford to go to law school, and assisting them seemed more meaningful than writing a cheque to the general fund.” 

“In thinking about what I saw once I was appointed to the Court, I decided that younger litigators needed better background and training in more practical things, such as trial advocacy and the rules of evidence. I thought, let’s start at the law school level,” Adair says.

As a result, Adair has created the Faculty of Law Bursary in Trial Advocacy and Evidence Law. The bursary will be awarded to a full-time JD student at U of T, on the basis of financial need, with a preference given to a student who is enrolled in a courses relating to evidence law and trial advocacy or has shown a keen interest in the area. The bursary will be fully realized in 2028.

Although cases must be decided on admissible evidence, Adair saw lawyers who didn’t seem to have a good understanding of the rules of evidence. In addition, many of them didn’t have much training in courtroom advocacy.

Often, younger lawyers don’t get the training we got in the old days

“Often, younger lawyers don’t get the training we got in the old days, when I started practice,” she says. Adair believes that learning basic skills at law school, such as how to put together a persuasive argument, prepare and conduct a witness examination and use discovery evidence at trial, could greatly support students who are interested in pursuing litigation and trial work.

Adair retired from the B.C. Supreme Court in 2022.

“It was the best job I ever had, without a doubt, but also the hardest,” Adair says. “The cases were always interesting, and I often saw people in very emotional circumstances.”

Often, younger lawyers don’t get the training we got in the old days

“Even though I practised as a litigator for 26 years and went to court when necessary, I had no real idea how hard-working judges are. My workload was exponentially greater than it was in private practice.”

She is more than willing to share her experiences with students and looks forward to meeting recipients of her bursary in the coming years.

By Elaine Smith

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