Report to Community 2020

Professor receives funding for project on clean energy diversification

Dr. Rudiger Tscherning, PhD, was named the 2020-2021 Stikeman Elliott LLP Research Fellow in Corporate Law for his research in low-carbon energy diversification in the Canadian oil and gas sector. Tscherning’s project will examine the opportunities and challenges of decarbonizing Canadian oil and gas operations using emerging low-carbon technologies. In addition to the fellowship, Tscherning also received funding from the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation for his research.

“The project could not be more timely as the global energy sector is urged to place a greater focus on low-carbon technologies for its post-pandemic recovery projects,” explains Rudiger. “I’m grateful to Stikeman Elliott LLP and the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation for their continued support of my scholarship.”

Professors receive teaching grant from Taylor Institute

Professors Nickie Nikolaou and Lisa Silver have received a two-year teaching grant from the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning for their project "Creating the “Whole Advocate” through experiential learning in the law classroom." The project will identify key features of the Advocacy course that are contributing to student learning, and suggest necessary revisions for future iterations of the course to enrich and enhance student learning and to ensure alignment with the “Whole Advocate/Lawyer” approach in current legal education. A Template for Advocacy Learning in the Classroom will also be created for use across our curriculum, by other law schools (nationally and internationally), and by other professional and non-professional faculties for which advocacy is a core competency.

Law students learn how to be great businesspeople as well as great lawyers

In February 2020, law students had the opportunity to participate in a Legal Lean Sigma® Process Improvement and Project Management certification course, to gain hands-on experience in process and project management principles.

“Giving students the opportunity to earn this certification will flag to employers that they have an awareness of the principles, while also signaling that they can think outside of the box and bring greater value to clients,” says instructor Kyla Sandwith, whose students were able to participate in the opportunity.

The law school was able to offer the certification because of support from Ingenio Solutions Ltd., a Calgary company developing software to improve collaboration between lawyers, paralegals and clients.

This was the first such offering by a Canadian academic institution since the courses were created in 2008.

The Legal Lean Sigma® course fits well with the law school’s Calgary Curriculum, which is focused on giving students practical, hands-on learning to prepare them for the future of legal practice.

Professor wins national award for outstanding contributions

Professor Jennifer Koshan was named the 2020 winner of The Ramon John Hnatyshyn award from the Canadian Bar Association in February 2020. The award is presented annually to recognize outstanding contributions in law reform, legal scholarship and/or legal research.

"I am so honoured to have been recognized by the CBA for my research and law reform work, especially because so much of it has been collaborative. This award is the product of the commitment and activism of many, and I'm so thankful," says Jennifer.

Jennifer’s contributions to law reform are many and varied, and has participated in formal law reform processes at two stages in her career. Early in her career Jennifer was retained by the BC Law Institute to work on Civil Remedies for Sexual Assault. She has also been serving as the Faculty’s nominee as a Director of the Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI) and as such has been involved in providing oversight for ALRI’s ongoing projects including projects on Property Division for Common-law Couples, Adverse Possession, and the Alberta Evidence Act.

Professor researches key legal issues in fight against COVID-19

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Professor Lorian Hardcastle has been working on several projects relating to COVID-19, which address drug shortages, virtual medicine, public health emergencies, and care rationing guidelines. She has also done many media appearances on COVID-19, covering such topics as advance directives, the drug approval process, and Health Canada’s investigation of fraudulent COVID-curing products.

Lorian's research interests include public health law, regulation and governance of the health care system, patient safety, and hospital and governmental liability and accountability. She is the author of Introduction to Health Law, which is a textbook for policy-makers, managers, and health professionals.

Lorian is part of a team that was awarded $6.13 million by the province's Major Innovation Fund to study antimicrobial resistance. This project involves researchers from across the University of Calgary from such disciplines as medicine, veterinary medicine, biology, economics, and public policy. This project adopts a "One Health Approach," which means that researchers will explore the issue by looking at human health, animal health, environmental health, and their relationship to one another. The University of Calgary recently recognized One Health as an Emerging Cross-Cutting Research Theme.

Lorian is also currently working on projects relating to artificial intelligence in health, regulation of long-term care homes, and regulation of health professionals.

Dinos’ Brett Layton named Canada's most outstanding university men's basketball player

Second-year law student Brett Layton was named the 2019-20 winner of the Mike Moser Memorial Trophy as the U SPORTS men’s basketball most outstanding player in March, capping off a record-setting season. It’s the fourth such honour for a Dinos player and the first since Richard Bohne in 1996. Karl Tilleman won back-to-back Moser trophies in 1982 and 1983.

Among his myriad of accomplishments in 2019-20, he became the first player in conference history to record a 40-point, 20-rebound night Nov. 23 against Trinity Western. On the final night of the regular season he set a single-game conference record with 27 rebounds at his old stomping grounds, Mount Royal’s Kenyon Court. He led the nation with 299 rebounds — also a CW record for a 20-game season — while leading Canada West in field goal percentage (62.8) and blocks (43) — third and second in the nation, respectively, in those two categories.

“We wouldn’t have won many games without Brett Layton. He has the ability to impact a game on offence, both scoring and rebounding the ball, and then defensively he can alter shots, then sprint the floor. The guy is a very, very special player,” says Calgary head coach Dan Vanhooren. 

Law students represent complainant at Human Rights Tribunal, and win

In the case Salazar v J.S.L. Investments Corporation, 2020 AHRC 8, the complaint alleges discrimination in the area of employment on the grounds of mental disability under section 7(1)(a) of the Alberta Human Rights Act (the Act). The respondent, a dental clinic operating as JSL Investments Corporation, filed a response on July 22, 2013, denying such discrimination.

Third-year students Aaron Marchadour and Julie Ward represented the complainant as part of Pro Bono Students Canada - Calgary's Human Rights Project.

In the January 14, 2020 decision from Duncan Marsden, the Tribunal Chair, made the following comment:

"I pause at this stage to thank the complainant’s and the respondent’s representatives for their conduct throughout the hearing. I would note, in particular, that the complainant was represented by two students, Julie Ward and Aaron Marchadour. Both provided a significant amount of their own personal time, as I understand it, on a pro bono voluntary basis and I wish to take this opportunity to applaud their service to the community. I encourage them to continue to be active in pro bono initiatives, throughout their respective legal careers.