Category Archives: Legal Education

Experiential Learning in Legal Education – Creating “Whole Lawyers”

By: Nickie Nikolaou

Matter commented on: A Research Study on Experiential Learning in UCalgary Law’s Advocacy Course

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In 2016, the University of Calgary Faculty of Law’s third-year Advocacy course was completely redesigned to create an intensive capstone student-centered experiential learning program. The goal was for students to become “whole advocates” and “whole lawyers” who are equipped with the requisite knowledge, skills, and competencies to enter an evolving legal services market. In 2021, I undertook a research project with Lisa Silver (now the Honourable Justice Silver of the Alberta Court of King’s Bench) and JD student Alexander Dingman to reflect upon the teaching and learning occurring in this course. The project evaluated whether student learning was/is occurring as intended, how it was/is occurring, and what changes might be needed to deepen and facilitate that learning. This blog post discusses our research project, shares our findings, and makes suggestions for refining experiential learning in legal education, including in our Advocacy course. Continue reading →

Ethics Commissioner Confirms that Premier Danielle Smith Breached the Conflicts of Interest Act – and a Fundamental Principle of Our Democracy

By: Nigel Bankes, Jennifer Koshan, and Martin Olszynski

Matter commented on: Office of the Ethics Commissioner, Report of Findings and Recommendations into allegations involving Hon. Danielle Smith, Member for Brooks-Medicine Hat, Premier of Alberta, May 17, 2023

PDF Version: Ethics Commissioner Confirms that Premier Danielle Smith Breached the Conflicts of Interest Act – and a Fundamental Principle of Our Democracy

In early January of this year, Premier Danielle Smith participated in a lengthy telephone conversation with Pastor Artur Pawlowski, who was at that time facing criminal charges and charges under the provincial Critical Infrastructure Defence Act, SA 2020, c C-32.7 in relation to the Coutts blockade. Artur Pawlowski recorded a video of that call that subsequently became available to the public. That recording triggered complaints to the Ethics Commissioner under the Conflicts of Interest Act, RSA 2000, c C-23 (COIA) by a private citizen and by Irfan Sabir, MLA for Calgary-Bhullar-McCall and NDP Justice Critic. Continue reading →

Fighting Over History at a Special Meeting of the Law Society of Alberta

By: Drew Yewchuk

Commented on: Resolution on Rule 67.4 Defeated at The Special Meeting of the Law Society of Alberta held February 6, 2023

PDF Version: Fighting Over History at a Special Meeting of the Law Society of Alberta

This post describes the procedure and results of the Special Meeting of the Law Society of Alberta held on Monday February 6, 2023, and then comments on what it all meant. The purpose of the special meeting was described on ABlawg in a previous post by Koren Lightning-Earle, Hadley Friedland, Anna Lund, Sarah N Kriekle, Heather (Hero) Laird here, and I refer readers needing background on the Resolution, and the purpose of the Special Meeting, to their post. I attended the special meeting and this post follows up with notes on the meeting itself. Continue reading →

Law Society of Alberta to Hold a Special Meeting to Debate its Power to Mandate Indigenous Cultural Competency Training

By: Koren Lightning-Earle, Hadley Friedland, Anna Lund, Sarah N Kriekle, Heather (Hero) Laird

Matter commented on: Notice of a Special Meeting of the Law Society of Alberta dated January 26, 2023

PDF Version: Law Society of Alberta to Hold a Special Meeting to Debate its Power to Mandate Indigenous Cultural Competency Training

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from our colleagues at the University of Alberta and in the legal profession in Alberta. A number of members of the University of Calgary Faculty of Law have signed the open letter referenced later in this post, a copy of which can be found here.

This post provides background information about the Special Meeting of the Law Society of Alberta, which will be held on Monday February 6, 2023. At Monday’s meeting, practicing lawyers in the Province of Alberta will be asked to vote on whether their self-governing organization should be able to mandate training on specific topics to ensure that lawyers in the province are minimally competent. Continue reading →

Just Transition Friction Needs Interest-Based Negotiation

By: David V. Wright

Matter Commented On: Proposed federal just transition legislation

PDF Version: Just Transition Friction Needs Interest-Based Negotiation

For three weeks every January, I teach the University of Calgary Faculty of Law intensive block course on negotiations. This is a mandatory course for all second-year law students, and it’s a key part of the Calgary Curriculum. Each year I look for contemporary topics and events to use as examples that bring to life the approaches and concepts that we cover in the course. Like any good negotiations course, a core part of the curriculum is focused on interest-based negotiations, the approach long advocated by dispute resolution and negotiation experts around the world. This feeds one of the course’s key learning points: begin negotiations with an interest-based approach and then shift to more competitive, distributive stances later in the process if necessary. An obvious example for this year is the current friction between the federal government and the Alberta government with respect to a proposed federal just transition initiative. This short post examines what is painfully obvious and disconcerting in the present context: both levels of government contributing to this current tension are flouting even the most basic best practises in negotiations. They are adopting positional bargaining instead of an interest-based, problem-solving approach. While Alberta has been particularly aggressive, showing signs that it is more interested in short-term political gains than constructive resolution, no one is doing it right. Continue reading →