BACKSTAGE BANTER: MORE THAN GOLDEN: David R. RELAX, DAMMIT!: Tim Caulfield’s Law Show’s 25 years remembered Percy’s 51 years as a professor latest great advice E T C U I WINTER 2020 O D H U T J I E W R P UALBERTA LAW ALUMNI HAVE FORGED FIRSTS IN MANY FIELDS THIS IS OUR FIRST-EVER AUGMENTED REALITY MAGAZINE COVER. LEARN HOW TO ACTIVATE IT ON PAGE 3. OUTLaw and Friends Inclusivity Award Supporting the LGBTQ2+ community at the Faculty of Law OUTLaw Alberta is a student group within the University of Alberta Faculty of Law that was founded in 2008 to serve and aid LGBTQ2+ law students and their allies. The primary goal of OUTLaw is to promote a LGBTQ2+ positive atmosphere at the Faculty of Law. “ The sense of community among the students and faculty at UAlberta Law is absolutely incredible. By participating in a number of Faculty groups, I was able to experience this camaraderie first-hand and build relationships that will last far beyond my time at law school. Being acknowledged by the Faculty with an award for student involvement validates the work we OUTLAWha veA donDe to make the Faculty of Law more inclusive and welcoming than ever!" BRANDYN RODGERSON, Past President, OUTLaw Your Gift Matters DID YOU KNOW? Please contact our development office at 780.492.5573 if you would like more information on how to support LGBTQ2+ students are one of the few minority groups who do not qualify this important initiative. for the majority of diversity scholarships. OUTLaw’s initiative to create a scholarship specifically for students who are involved with the LGBTQ2+ DONATE ONLINE by visiting ualberta.ca/law/make-a-gift community, will be filling a void that exists within our current awards, and further promoting an environment that is supportive and inclusive Gifts of any amount to this endowment are appreciated. of the LGBTQ2+ community. A charitable receipt will be issued by the University of Alberta. UALBERTA LAW WINTER 2020 UPFRONT CONTENTS 4 Dean’s Update 6 Highlights STUDENTS 22 Life Experience Counts 8 From first year to graduate studies, UAlberta Law students bring deep insights from their previous lives FACULTY 14 26 Stacks of Stature Books, research and major awards underscore our faculty's international acclaim 30 Faculty Highlights ALUMNI 34 Law alumnae start DirectHer Network 18 to prepare women to join boards Chantel Cabaj and Elsa Johnson hope to raise female participation EDITORIAL 8 THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW SHOW Helen Metella, Denis Ram, Scott on Alberta boards to at Law Show celebrates its 25th year with fond recollections Rollans, Sarah Kent, Brent least 30 per cent Wittmeier, Phil Schofield from its creators and past participants 35 Dick Wilson ART DIRECTION + DESIGN FKA: Gord Montgomery, 14 FIRSTS IN CLASS honoured for decades Mark Watson of volunteer service Throughout the Faculty's history, UAlberta Law alumni DIGITAL/ALUMNI SUPPORT to UAlberta have forged impressive firsts in their field and in others, too Tim Young Law alumnus thanked Without Prejudice is 18 TIME AFTER TIME with 2019 Alumni published bi-annually by the Service Award Faculty of Law. All material During more than 50 years at the Faculty of Law, Interim Dean is copyright ©2020 and may David R. Percy, QC, has repeatedly enhanced and advanced the 36 Class Notes not be reprinted without legal profession express written permission COMMUNITY of the Faculty of Law. 37 Philanthropist, lawyer, Canada Post Publications Agreement educator, advocate The cover of this issue has an AR No. 40063511 (Augmented Reality) feature that can be Chancellor Douglas R PRINTED IN CANADA experienced with the ROAR Augmented Stollery’s exceptional Burke Group, Inc. Reality app. Here’s how: service has greatly Return undeliverable copies to: benefited UAlberta Law Faculty of Law 1) G o to either the Google Play or Apple App University of Alberta Store on your mobile device 38 In Memoriam 177 Law Centre Edmonton, AB T6G 2H5 2) Search for ROAR and install it on your device 3) O pen the ROAR app and follow the brief Visit us online at set-up instructions ualberta.ca/law 4) Hold your device over the cover and enjoy! and find us on: Please note, this feature will expire on April 30, 2020. || 3 || UAlberta.ca/law UPFRONT We lcome to the Winter 2020 edition of “Without Prejudice,” our University of Alberta Faculty of Law alumni magazine. A MESSAGE FROM As we launch a new decade and anticipate this year’s imminent change INTERIM DEAN of dean, in this issue we’ve decided to reflect on several notable turning points that have contributed to our law school’s sterling reputation. DAVID PERCY This summer, Professor Barbara Billingsley, an expert in Civil Litigation and Canadian Insurance Law and a full-time member of the Faculty since 2001, will become the first woman to serve as Dean of Law (p. 6). This highly deserved, widely applauded appointment is a watershed event. It reminds us that for all the headway our profession helps establish in everyday life, there is always more progress to make, even in our own backyard. The “changing of the guard” that occurs on July 1 when Professor Billingsley becomes dean will also mark my 51st year on the faculty. This led to kind members of staff and colleagues engaging in some creative writing about my own career (p.18). As a counterpoint, we are also sharing some of my favourite “firsts” accomplished by alumni during our Faculty’s history, which I hope are never overlooked or lost to time (p. 14). Finally, on January 31 and February 1, Law Show mounts the boards at Myer Horowitz Theatre, in an expression of generosity and ingenuity that is now 25 years young. Anecdotes shared by several Law Show alumni (p. 8) are an insightful reminder of the many critically important, non-academic lessons learned in law school, which our students and alumni take to heart daily. I sincerely hope that the milestones we mark in this issue inspire you and lay the foundation for your own such breakthroughs in the decade ahead. David R. Percy, QC Interim Dean of Law University of Alberta Faculty of Law || 4 || KEEP IN TOUCH! UAlbertaLaw Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn UPFRONT HIGHLIGHTS BARBARA BILLINGSLEY NAMED UALBERTA’S FIRST FEMALE DEAN OF LAW Barbara Billingsley, a professor at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law since 2001, has been appointed its new dean. She is the first woman to hold the position. Billingsley, who is originally from Calgary, earned her BA, LLB and LLM at UAlberta Law. Before joining the Faculty, she practised Civil Litigation in Edmonton at Brownlee LLP and Sharek & Co. She is a member of both the Law Society of Alberta and the Law Society of the Northwest Territories. Previously, she served as the Faculty’s Associate Dean of Research and of Graduate Studies; as a board member of the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice; and as a board member, vice-chair and chair of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Constitutional Studies. Her five-year term takes effect July 1. SEPTEMBER 4TH & OCTOBER 1ST DEC 3RD FACULTY HOSTS TWO JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT The Honourable Rosalie Silberman Abella, of the Supreme Court of Canada, delivered an Orientation Week welcome to incoming law students on September 4, and her colleague on the Court, the Honourable Sheilah Martin, ’83 LLM, addressed the University of Alberta Faculty of Law community in October. Both justices also spoke to members of Edmonton’s legal community during evening receptions. Justice Albella described her journey from post-Holocaust child refugee to first female Jewish judge of Canada’s top court and urged students to "never forget what the world looks like to those who are vulnerable.” In her addresses, Justice Martin stressed how vital the study of law is in the current age of misinformation. The most important skills law students can learn is “how to engage in respectful debate with others when you disagree ... these skills are at the core of being contributing citizens in a vibrant democracy,” she said University of Alberta Faculty of Law || 6 || UPCOMING EVENTS POLITICAL JOURNALIST VASSY KAPELOS DELIVERS LEITCH LECTURES Vassy Kapelos, the host of CBC TV’s Power & Politics, will deliver the 2020 Merv Leitch QC Memorial Lecture in Edmonton on March 16 and Calgary on March 17. Kapelos is the former Ottawa bureau chief and host of The West Block on Global News, who previously covered provincial politics in Alberta and Saskatchewan. She received an Edward R. Murrow Award for her work on a series that exposed the shortcomings of Edmonton’s emergency response system and was part of a team that won an RTNDA Award for the documentary that looked at how young girls living in Canada are lured to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS. JANUARY 9TH MARCH 16TH & 17TH DEBUT OF THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RUSSELL BROWN LAW LECTURE SERIES The first edition of a law lecture series created to honour Supreme Court of Canada Justice Russell Brown was held January 9. Justice James Edelman of the High Court of Australia delivered an address on “The Interpretation of Written Contracts,” with Justice Brown in attendance. Justice Edelman is internationally renowned for his legal intellect and scholarship, having been one of the youngest law professors ever appointed at Oxford, and also one of the youngest judges elevated to the High Court. The Honourable Mr. Justice Russell Brown Law Lecture Series was established with a pledge from Miller Thomson LLP to celebrate Justice Brown, a former member of the firm and a former faculty member of UAlberta Law, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2015. The day after the law lecture, Justices Edelman and Brown also participated in a public conversation about the similarities and differences between the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of Canada. || 7 || UAlberta.ca/law FEATURE THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW SHOW BY SCOTT ROLLANS | PHOTOS BY DENIS RAM University of Alberta Faculty of Law || 8 || LAW SHOW CELEBRATES ITS 25TH YEAR Two months before Law Show hits the stage in January, executive director Emily Machura is up to her neck in production prep. “Am I ever!” she laughs. Her role touches all of it, from supervising rehearsals to finalizing costumes, props, technical plans and promotional materials, and participating as a cast member. Every winter, University of Alberta Faculty of Law students manage to conjure a full-blown musical fundraising extravaganza completely from scratch—in their virtually nonexistent spare time. This year’s show, Shrek: Law & Ogre, marks the 25th anniversary of the cherished tradition. || 9 || UAlberta.ca/law “ GIVING BACK IS SOMETHING YOU CAN NEVER LEARN TO DO EARLY ENOUGH.” — MARK WOLTERSDORF University of Alberta Faculty of Law || 10 ||