The skill set required of lawyers is evolving, and the ability to creatively and expeditiously resolve client concerns through effective negotiation is increasingly important. The negotiation competition is designed to teach the knowledge, skills, attitudes, judgment, and values that are vital to law students’ success in legal practice. Such competencies include knowing key negotiation concepts; managing information and process; communicating and relationship-building; advocating for client interests in a problem-solving environment; internalizing ethical decision-making in negotiation; and engaging in reflective practice. The competition gives law students the opportunity to engage in negotiations like those that lawyers experience in practice and to receive feedback from expert negotiators.

In teams of two, the students met with another team representing the other side, each team possessing confidential details about their client’s circumstances and settlement preferences.  The purpose of this year’s negotiation was for a wildlife sanctuary to hire an expert to assist with the development of bird and animal shows and additional programming to support eco-friendly tourism. The students negotiated an agreement on important points such as the expert’s duties and responsibilities, contract length, time commitment, and compensation.

All this took place under the close scrutiny of the judges, who scored each team’s negotiation skills.  At the end of each session, the judges provided detailed feedback to each team about what they did well, and potential areas for improvement.

The event was generously sponsored by Fillmore Riley, which has a very long history of supporting the competition.  In addition to covering all competition costs and supplying cash prizes, lawyers from the firm volunteered to judge the students.  These lawyers have extensive knowledge about and experience in negotiations. They were: Ari Hanson [JD/12], Kalev Anniko, Donald Baker [JD/17], Amber Harms [JD/21], Samantha Harvey [JD/23], Hannah Humphries, Nick Noonan [JD/21], Amelia Peterson [JD/19], Tamara Reimer [JD/16], Alexa Smith [JD/21], Rhiannon Swan [JD/23] and Michael Zacharias [JD/18].

These judges were tremendously impressed with the caliber of the students’ negotiations, and were faced with the unenviable task of selecting a winner.  Due to their stellar performance, the negotiating team of Emily Dueck and Kate O’Rourke were awarded first place. The runners up, who also did a tremendous job, were Dena Aminzadeh and Mitchell Klippenstein.  Both teams will now represent Robson Hall and compete in the Canadian National Negotiation Competition, which will be in Montreal at the l’Université de Sherbrooke – Campus de Longueuil on March 13th and 14th, 2026.

Robson Hall students have a long history of success in inter-school competitions: The winner of the 2014 Robson Hall competition went on to win the 2015 International Negotiation Competition in Dublin, Ireland. For the past three years, both French and English language streams have been held at the national competition, with Manitoba’s students placing strongly in both. In 2023, the English language team placed third, and the French language team placed second. In 2024, Robson Hall’s French team brought home the French Spirit of Negotiation Award (le prix d’excellence dans l’esprit de la négociation pour la section française). Last year’s English stream won the award for “Best Process Management” for best demonstrating skills in time management, preparation, adaptability and self-reflection. 

The winning team. From left to right: Emily Dueck, Ari Hanson (competition judge) and Kate O’Rourke (photo credit: Daniel Cha).

The runner-up team. From left to right: Mitchell Klippenstein, Ari Hanson (competition judge), and Dena Aminzadeh (photo credit: Daniel Cha).

A sincere thanks to Fillmore Riley for its generous sponsorship of the competition.

Congratulations Emily & Kate and Dena & Mitchell!

I was involved in assisting with the administration of the competition, and I heard praise from many people, including judges, coaches, and fellow competitors, about their performances.

The pair of Heather Peterson and Erin Kyriakopoulos, who competed in the English stream, even received the award for “Best Process Management”, which goes to the team that best demonstrates skills in time management, preparation, adaptability, and self-reflection. Erin explained, “I feel privileged to have had Heather Peterson for my partner in the process, whose dynamism and ability to turn a phrase I deeply admire.” 

Heather Peterson and Erin Kyriakopoulos, received the award for “Best Process Management” (English stream) which goes to the team that best demonstrates skills in time management, preparation, adaptability, and self-reflection.

A Bit More About the CNNC

Nine years ago, the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law hosted the inaugural national negotiation competition at Robson Hall, which has been run annually since then.  The size of the competition has been growing each year, both in terms of total teams participating and number of law schools represented. 

The 2025 competition was hosted by the University of Windsor Faculty of Law, in collaboration with the Windsor Law Centre for Cities. The competition was generously sponsored by the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law.

This year’s competition theme was “Negotiating Housing”, and the competition problem involved negotiations between a municipality and a First Nation over the construction of infrastructure and affordable housing on a greenfield site.  The writing of the problem was a truly collaborative effort, with input from Professors from the University of Manitoba, the University of New Brunswick, the University of Saskatchewan, and the University of Windsor.

This year, the competition involved three rounds of negotiation taking place over two days, with each round building on the last. Issues to be negotiated included the building of infrastructure; the purchase and supply of power from a hydroelectric power plant on the reserve; the construction of affordable housing units; the allocation of the housing between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people; the use/development of various recreational spaces; and most importantly, the reconciliation of the relationship between the municipality and the First Nation. For every round, each team possessed confidential details about client circumstances and settlement preferences.  The first two rounds were bi-party, with the last round involving a more complex four-party negotiation. Heather Peterson had the following observations about the problem: “The fact pattern for this year’s CNNC was very dense and multifaceted with a daunting four-party negotiation for the final round. I was very pleased to see that the theme included extremely important and topical challenges around housing, conservancy, and reconciliation.”

 All of the negotiating took place under the scrutiny of judges, who scored each team’s negotiation skills.  At the end of each session, the judges provided detailed feedback to each team about what they did well, and potential areas for improvement. 

The competition has always had an educational component, and this year was no exception.  There was a pre-competition symposium involving two panels.  The first panel focused on challenges and breakthroughs in how housing problems have been framed, debated and addressed.  The second panel involved an examination of the successes and challenges of housing in Indigenous communities. Yvan Larocque, Clinical Counsel here at the University of Manitoba and well-respected Indigenous business lawyer, was one of the speakers on the second panel, and discussed his experiences advising and representing Indigenous communities with economic development generally, and housing specifically. He was also one of the judges for the French stream of the competition.

Panelists left to right: Professor Dan Brant and Yvan Larocque.

French Stream 

This was the third year that the CNNC ran a parallel French stream, and this year saw the most teams ever participating in that stream. Teams competed in French using a translated version of the same problems as in the English stream.

The University of Manitoba Faculty of Law once again continued its participation in the French stream with skillful negotiators. Maia Bacchus and Tess Poulton, students in the Access to Justice in French Concentration, were excellent representatives of Robson Hall. Students in this Concentration pursue part of their legal studies in French by completing at least 26 credits of bilingual courses, including the French Negotiation course (Négociation juridique).

Andrea Doyle commented,

“I am pleased with how Maia and Tess demonstrated their excellent negotiation skills and strategies as well as their ability to represent clients in French at this year’s CNNC. They worked hard and impressed the judges with their preparation, complementary negotiating styles and insightful questions.

“Preparation for the CNNC was a team effort. Support was provided by our students who participated in the English stream (Erin, Heather, Larissa and Kirsten) and their coaches, Andrew Torbiak and Heather Wadsworth. Chris Dick of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada and Kennedy Pinette of MLT Aikins, both graduates of the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law, provided valuable advice and feedback to Tess and Maia.

“We appreciate the CNNC organizing committee’s work in continuing to expand the French stream providing students an important opportunity to apply their negotiation skills in French. We wish to thank Justice Canada, the Faculty of Law and members of the Franco-Manitoban legal community for supporting the Access to Justice in French Concentration. We also wish to acknowledge and thank the Faculty of Law and the Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law for their support of our negotiation teams.”

Student Experiences

The student competitors had an opportunity to reflect about their experiences after the competition concluded. All agreed that the competition was an invaluable experience, one they would highly recommend to their fellow law students.

The students emphasized the valuable professional skills acquired from the competition. “This experience has highlighted for me the importance of making space for collaboration and creativity in legal work,” said Erin. “I am confident that the skills I have honed and lessons I have learned through participating in CNNC will serve me in my future legal career.”

Kirsten described her acquisition of skills as follows: “The CNNC was a highlight of law school. Thanks to our fantastic coaches, we were able to further develop our negotiating skills that we will take into practice. The weekend was an exhilarating few days filled with collegiality, collaboration, and friendly competition. I feel truly blessed to have been able to participate!”

Regarding the impact of the competition on her skill-building, Larissa explained, “Collaborating with my partner and coaches to develop strategies for representing our clients’ interests not only enhanced my legal skills but also strengthened my ability to communicate, think critically, and adapt under pressure—skills that will serve me well as a lawyer and in everyday life. Applying these skills in a competitive setting was both challenging and rewarding.”

Heather Peterson found the final round particularly valuable, stating,  “The four-party negotiation was invigorating and infused with so much kindness and goodwill; I think it was excellent practice for the realities of legal practice where multiple interests and communities must figure out a way to equitably share resources.” 

The students also viewed the competition as an opportunity to network with and learn from law students from other schools. Heather Peterson explained, “It was absolutely awe-inspiring to negotiate with exceptionally talented law students from across Canada. The ways in which different teams incorporated environmentalism and aspects of truth and reconciliation were profound, and I was so excited to be a part of it.”

“It was inspiring to engage with law students from across the country. The level of professionalism and talent demonstrated by the other competitors underscored the strength of the next generation of Canadian lawyers.” – Larissa Einarson, 3L

All of the coaches were filled with praise for the students’ performances.  For example, coach Andrew Torbiak said, “The weekend of the CNNC is the culmination of months of practice, preparation and improvement. I couldn’t be more proud of Kirsten, Larissa, Erin and Heather, this year’s English competition representatives from Robson Hall, for the time and effort that they put into this competition.

“When I was a student negotiator, the fact patterns we dealt with typically involved simple, everyday contractual arrangements, or dealt with the aftermath of some outrageous or unrealistic incident between the parties. This year, the team grappled with scenarios involving access to clean drinking water and affordable housing, and building relationships between government and Indigenous peoples, all in the context of Reconciliation.

“Our students approached this subject matter with sensitivity and respect for the interests of their client and represented their school and province admirably. I’d like to thank each of them for being such a pleasure to work with.”

The admiration went both ways, as all of the students mentioned the extreme gratitude they felt for the invaluable mentorship of the coaches. 

He reviewed the collective agreement before speaking with CBC.

Curran said speaking generally, employers are allowed to offer top-up payments for parental and maternity leave. The CUPE agreement provides for maternity leave of 17 weeks, and unpaid parental leave up to 63 weeks.

To read the full story, please visit CBC Manitoba. 

The pair of Éric Gagnon & Seth Lozinski, who competed in the French stream, even received the “Spirit of Negotiation” award for that stream, which is peer-nominated and goes to the team that best illustrates the values of collaboration, humility, teamwork and respect.  Robson Hall teams have a long history of winning this award. Éric stated, “I was especially honoured to have been chosen by my national peers for the Spirit of the Negotiation prize, alongside my partner Seth Lozinski, for our commitment towards collegiality and collaboration throughout the negotiation process.”

The student competitors had an opportunity to reflect about their experiences after the competition concluded. Ryan Hall indicated that preparing for the CNNC was “an intimidating process”, but that the high quality of the competitors made the competition “fun, and exciting”.  He also highlighted the important social and networking aspects of the competition: “While the CNNC is largely about negotiating, it is just as much about making connections. This was one of the things I found the most valuable about the competition. It puts competitors in place to network with future legal professionals across Canada, something that is not offered anywhere else.” He ultimately described the CNNC as “one of my best experiences from law school.”

The development of collaborative skills were most important to Nicolas Nudler:

“My time at the CNNC was one to remember. The high-level negotiation and advocacy skills of my coaches, peers, and the other competitors during this competition really made this experience one that I can learn from and take with me as I navigate real-life negotiations throughout my law career. If I had to choose one thing that I took away from this competition, it’s that collaboration between the parties during a negotiation makes for the best result for the client.”

Seth Lozinski reflected, “One valuable lesson I learned from the competition was the importance of adapting my negotiation approach based on the other party, which I’m sure will serve me well throughout my career.”

Both Jamie Robertson and Rebecca Penner believed that the competition helped develop  the skills they needed to succeed in legal practice. Jamie stated, “Competing in the CNNC was a very rewarding experience. During the weeks of preparation, we developed valuable negotiation skills from our coaches that we will continue to use in our future legal careers. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to compete among the best negotiators in Canada.”

Rebecca explained, “Preparing for and competing in CNNC was truly a fantastic experience that vastly improved my confidence in navigating the strategic and artistic elements of negotiation. The case was nuanced, complex and highly relevant to current events and perspectives which made the whole experience very valuable as we head into our careers, and I feel very lucky to have competed alongside such an incredible calibre of students.”

For Éric Gagnon, highlights of the competition were a combination of collaborative opportunities and the location: “It was wonderful to negotiate and collaborate with colleagues from across the country in the heart of a city as vibrant as Montréal.”

The Manitoba teams were expertly coached by three Robson Hall alumni: Andrea Doyle, an Instructor at the University of Manitoba; Andrew Torbiak, who practises Estates and Trusts with Tradition Law; and Heather Wadsworth, who practises family law at Amica Law. The coaches were filled with praise for the students’ performances.  Andrew Torbiak stated,

“Our students had a great showing at this year’s competition, and represented Robson Hall admirably. This was one of the strongest groups of students Robson Hall has ever fielded in the competition. Having coached for the past 8 years of CNNC competition, I can also say that the overall skill of competitors from across Canada has never been higher. I’d like to thank the students for their diligent preparation for the CNNC weekend, and their dedication during the competition itself. We are very proud of their performances.”

According to Heather Wadsworth, “I am immensely proud of Rebecca, Jamie, Nicholas, Ryan, Seth, and Eric for both their hard work and dedication in preparing for the competition and how they conducted themselves at the competition itself. It was a delight to be one of their coaches and being a part of the CNNC is a highlight of my year.”

The admiration went both ways, as all of the students were also filled with praise and appreciation for the efforts of the coaches.   For example, Seth Lozinski stated, “Our coach, Andrea Doyle, was incredibly supportive and provided us with helpful feedback and encouragement throughout the entire experience.”

A Bit More About the CNCC

Eight years ago, the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law hosted the inaugural national negotiation competition at Robson Hall, which has been run annually since then.  The size of the competition has been growing each year, both in terms of number of teams participating and number of law schools represented. 

The 2024 competition was hosted by McGill Business Law Platform, McGill Faculty of Law, in collaboration with McGill’s Sustainable Growth Initiative (SGI).

 This year’s competition theme was “Negotiating Sustainability”, and the competition problem involved negotiations over the location of battery plant to a fictious community. The writing of the problem was a truly collaborative effort, with input from Professors from McGill, University of Saskatchewan, University of New Brunswick, and University of Manitoba and a practising lawyer in Montreal.

This year, the competition involved three rounds of negotiation taking place over two days, with each round building on the last. Issues to be negotiated included the precise location of the plant, the proportion of foreign workers employed, affordable housing for the community, and transportation infrastructure.  During each round, each team possessed confidential details about client circumstances and settlement preferences.  The first two rounds were bi-party, with the last round involving a more complex three-party negotiation. All of the negotiating took place under the scrutiny of judges, who scored each team’s negotiation skills.  At the end of each session, the judges provided detailed feedback to each team about what they did well, and potential areas for improvement. Yvan Larocque, Clinical Instructor here at the University of Manitoba, was one of the judges for the French stream, and did an excellent job.  He was also a member of the organizing committee, along with me, and we helped to administer the competition in Montreal.

French Stream

This was the second year that the CNNC implemented a parallel French stream. Teams competed in French, using the same problems (which were translated) as the English stream.

According to coach Andrea Doyle, “Our team of Éric Gagnon and Seth Lozinski negotiated in French and won the Spirit of Negotiation Award for the French stream (le prix d’excellence dans l’esprit de la négociation pour la section française). Seth and Éric were recognized for their collaboration and collegiality as well as their engaging and personable attitudes. They were great ambassadors for Robson Hall.”

Professor Lorna Turnbull, Director of the Access to Justice in French Concentration stated, “The University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law has for the past decade offered students the opportunity to pursue part of their legal education in French. Beginning in the Fall of 2022, the Faculty of Law introduced the Access to Justice in French Concentration thanks to generous support from Justice Canada’s Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Fund.”

Students in the Access to Justice in French Concentration pursue a portion of their studies in French by completing at least 26 credits of bilingual courses, including the French Negotiation course (Négociation juridique).

Andrea Doyle, who is the Coordinator of the Concentration in Access to Justice in French at U of M Faculty of Law in addition to being the coach of the French team, had the following to say:

“Preparation for the CNNC was a team effort. I wish to acknowledge and thank the support that was provided to our French team by our students participating in English (Jamie, Rebecca, Nico and Ryan) and their coaches, Andrew Torbiak and Heather Wadsworth, as well as articling students Chris Dick, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada and Kennedy Pinette, MLT Aikins LLP. Chris Dick and Kennedy Pinette, recent graduates of the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law, successfully competed in last year’s inaugural French stream of the CNNC and provided valuable feedback and insights in Éric and Seth’s preparations.”

We appreciated all of the work of the organizers in ensuring that a French stream was offered again this year and their commitment to continuing and expanding the French stream of the CNNC in the future.

Both Seth Lozinski and Éric Gagnon are taking the Concentration in Access to Justice in French, and expressed the importance of the French stream to them. Seth Lozinski stated,  “I was … able to enhance my advocacy skills in French, which is a step toward my goal of representing the Franco-Manitoban community in the future.” Éric stated, “As a Franco-Manitoban, I was extremely appreciative of the opportunity to do this in French.”

All of the Robson Hall students found the experience of competing very worthwhile.  Pinette said, “Participating in the very first French section of the CNNC was a very rewarding experience! Negotiating is such a practical skill for lawyers and I am happy to have had the opportunity to practice those skills in my second language.”

 “The competition was an incredible experience and the negotiations tips and advice received from our coaches will be something that will benefit me throughout my career,” said Harvey. “I especially appreciated our coaches non-stop support and willingness to be there for us at any time and put their very busy lives on hold. We were also incredibly fortunate to travel with an amazing team and to learn some great skills and tactics from not only our coaches but the talented students competing in the competition.”

Jodi Plenert added, “We were so fortunate to not only participate in the competition, but to have such incredible coaches and teammates. It really makes the experience that much more fun and meaningful when you are not only learning a lot but laughing a lot, too!”

Hall had the following sage advice for future negotiators: “I think it’s normal for students to be nervous about negotiating: not only is it a form of public speaking where you are being judged on what you say, but it can also be stressful to be sitting directly across from your competition.  However, as with anything, the best way to become more comfortable with something is to practice it, and by the end of the competition it felt almost routine to sit down at the negotiating table.”

One tip I have for future competitors: when you begin speaking and the opposing counsel picks up a pen to take notes, take a look at their hands.  Their hands are usually shaking uncontrollably, and it may be reassuring to know that you are not the only person who is nervous! – Ramsay Hall, 3L

The Manitoba teams were expertly coached by three Robson Hall alumni practising in Winnipeg: Andrea Doyle, a lawyer engaged in a broad practice at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP; Andrew Torbiak, who practises Estates and Trusts with Tradition Law; and Heather Wadsworth, who practises family law at Hague Law. The coaches were filled with praise for the students’ performances.

Andrea Doyle, who was the coach for the French team, said, “I was honoured to coach these dedicated students. Kennedy and Chris worked very well as a team and spent considerable time preparing their strategies for each of the three negotiation rounds as well as practising their negotiation skills. Their complementary negotiating styles benefited them well. It was rewarding to see their confidence increase in further developing their negotiation strategies in French.

The judges were impressed with Chris and Kennedy’s preparation, application of negotiation skills and strategies in French as well as their excellent teamwork. I am very proud of Chris and Kennedy’s accomplishment! – Andrea Doyle, coach

 “This was a special year, and not just because we were back to an in-person competition. To hear the University of Manitoba’s name called not once but twice during the award ceremony was very special,” said Andrew Torbiak. “I’d like to congratulate all six Robson Hall students for their accomplishments, and their dedication leading up to the competition. On a Friday night in Montreal, all six students were back in the hotel preparing for their second and third rounds of negotiations the next morning and afternoon. From a coach’s perspective, it is so gratifying to see that kind of motivation.”

Robson Hall will continue to enjoy a reputation of strong student negotiators thanks to the performance put in by Jodi, Ben, Chris, Kennedy, Ramsay and Samantha. – Andrew Torbiak, coach

The admiration went both ways, as the students were also filled with praise for the coaches.  Pinette stated, “Many thanks to our coach, Andrea Doyle, for helping us perfect our strategy and practice our French. We could not have done it all without her.”

In speaking about Wadsworth and Torbiak, Harvey described “how absolutely incredible our coaches are and how fortunate each year the negotiations teams are to have them.”

Other local lawyers generously gave of their time to coach the students, including the late Andrew Slough, and Shimon Leibl, who together won the International Negotiation Competition on behalf of Robson Hall in 2015, and subsequently competed in Ireland. Slough recently and tragically passed away last month. Wadsworth, Torbiak, and Doyle wanted to recognize his involvement in preparing the Robson Hall teams for the CNNC. They stated, “A week prior to his untimely passing, Andrew Slough spent considerable time with the teams providing insightful and helpful comments to the students, which comments were continually referred to in the preparation for the competition. His knowledgeable and valuable comments were indispensable to the success of the Robson Hall teams at the CNNC.” 

A Bit More About the CNCC

Seven years ago, the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law hosted the inaugural national negotiation competition at Robson Hall, which has been run annually since then.  The size of the competition has been growing each year, both in terms of number of teams participating and number of law schools represented. 

The 2023 competition returned to an in-person format after being on-line for the past two pandemic years. This year, it involved three rounds of negotiation taking place over two days. Teams of two law students, each representing opposing parties to a fictitious business deal related to the purchase and sale of a wildlife sanctuary for a commercial tourism development, met in an attempt to negotiate an agreement, with each team possessing confidential details about client circumstances and settlement preferences.  The first two rounds were bi-party, with the last round involving a more complex three-party negotiation.  All of the negotiating took place under the scrutiny of judges, who scored each team’s negotiation skills.  At the end of each session, the judges provided detailed feedback to each team about what they did well, and potential areas for improvement. 

French Stream New This Year

This year was the first time that a parallel French stream was introduced to the CNCC.  Teams competed in French, using the same problems (which were translated) as the English stream. 

The timing of the introduction of the French stream is fortunate, as Robson Hall has recently enhanced its bilingual program, and the two members of our French team (Dick and Pinette) are students in that program, which allows students to develop their legal skills in French with the goal of improving access to justice in French.  Incidentally, Hall and Harvey are also students of that program, and all four took the Négociation juridique course taught by Andrea Doyle last year.

Professor Lorna Turnbull, who is a Co-Director of the bilingual program along with Professor Gerald Heckman, stated, “The University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law has for the past decade offered students the opportunity to pursue part of their legal education in French. Beginning in the Fall of 2022, Robson Hall introduced the Concentration in Access to Justice in French thanks to generous support from Justice Canada’s Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Fund.”

“To place so highly in English and in French is a testament to the quality and hard work of both the students and their teacher and coach, Andrea herself,” Turnbull added.

“We wish to thank the organizers of the CNNC for implementing a French stream to the competition this year,” said Doyle. “Kennedy and Chris found that participating in the CNNC was a valuable learning experience demonstrating their ability to represent clients in French.

“Our participation in the French stream of the CNNC would not have been possible without the support of the Robson Hall community, including Dean [Richard] Jochelson, Professor [Bruce] Curran and Professors Turnbull and Heckman, the co-directors of the bilingual program. We also appreciated being able to spend time preparing with the Robson Hall teams participating in the CNNC in English and their coaches, Andrew Torbiak and Heather Wadsworth. We are thankful for everyone’s support in this endeavour.”

In teams of two, the students met with another team representing the other side, each team possessing confidential details about their client’s circumstances and settlement preferences.  This year the hypothetical problem centred around the alleged breach of a contract with a morality clause. A fictional organization with a mission to reduce the number of intoxicated-driving incidents hires a famous guest speaker to give a talk at its annual conference, and this speaker is charged later that evening with driving under the influence, leading to bad publicity for both the organization and the speaker. The organization refuses to pay the speaker, relying on a “morality clause,” and both parties are threatening litigation. All this took place under the close scrutiny of the judges who scored each team’s negotiation skills.  At the end of each session, the judges provided detailed feedback to each team about what they did well, and potential areas for improvement.

The event was generously sponsored by Fillmore Riley, which has a very long history of supporting the competition.  In addition to covering all competition costs and supplying cash prizes, lawyers from the firm volunteered to judge the students.  These lawyers were: Don Baker, Annika Friesen, Aron Grusko, Sven Hombach, Rachel Loewen, Keith Senden, Delaney Vun , Ranish Raveendrabose, Andrea Signorelli, Brynne Thordarson, and Sarah Thurmeier. Additionally, Ukrainian Natella Roskoshna, who is a Visiting Scholar at Robson Hall, judged the competition.

Second place Negotiation Competition team of Benjamin Leahy and Jodi Plenert with Delaney Vun of Fillmore Riley. Photo by Dr. Natella Roskoshna.

These judges were tremendously impressed with the caliber of the students’ negotiations, and were faced with the unenviable task of selecting a winner.  Due to their stellar performance, the negotiating team of Ramsay Hall and Samantha Harvey were awarded first place. The runners up, who also did a tremendous job, were Benjamin Leahy and Jodi Plenert.  Both teams will now represent Robson Hall and compete in the Canadian National Negotiation Competition, which will be held in Montreal in February of 2023.  Robson Hall students have a long history of success in inter-school competitions: the winner of the 2014 Robson Hall competition even went on to win the 2015 International Negotiation Competition in Dublin, Ireland.

A sincere thanks to Fillmore Riley for its generous sponsorship of the competition.

Congratulations Ramsay & Samantha and Jodi & Ben!

“Congratulations to both Professors Curran and Ireland,” said Dr. Richard Jochelson, Dean of Law. “Tenure-granting is a multilevel process with input from external scholars, the Faculty, the Dean, the Provost, the President and the Board of Governors,” he explained, emphasizing the weightiness of the process.

“This represents a tremendous vote of confidence in both scholars,” Jochelson continued. “I am excited to see where the future leads for both and I am hopeful that it continues to  involve Robson Hall. Outstanding colleagues make for outstanding learning and research environments and Profs Curran and Ireland are two examples of that.”

Dr. Bruce Curran recalled the moment when the Dean notified him of the approval of his application for Tenure. “Professor Jochelson called me personally to share the news just as the December holidays were starting, and I remember feeling equal parts immense relief and extreme joy.  It was the best Christmas present!  The achieving of tenure represents one of the most significant milestones in one’s academic career,” he said. 

“I am thrilled to have been granted tenure, effective July 1, 2022,” said David Ireland. “This is an incredible faculty of dedicated teachers and scholars and I am proud to be joining the tenured ranks. The Robson Hall community of students, alumni, staff and faculty is very important to me and I am simply delighted with receiving tenure.”

Obtaining Tenure at a university is significant to a faculty member because it means that person has security and academic freedom. “I can now do long-term planning for my career at Robson Hall and the University of Manitoba, and for my life in Winnipeg,” Curran explained. “I am originally from Ontario, and while I’d hoped to stay here in Winnipeg, there was always a lingering fear that I wouldn’t get tenure, and would be forced to go elsewhere for my forever job.  I feel more settled now.”

“Although the stereotype is that one slows down after receiving tenure, I plan to continue to keep working hard with my new-found security and freedom and being a force for good at Robson Hall.” – Dr. Bruce Curran

The biggest change that Curran anticipates that will come with his tenure is how he spends his time.   “My pre-tenure days were unusual in that I spent a disproportionately large amount of time on administration and service, and I now plan to spend more time advancing my research agenda.”

Curran’s research is primarily focused on using empirical methods to study labour & employment law and dispute resolution. He holds a PhD in Law from the University of Toronto’s Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, and two Master’s degrees, one in Industrial Relations from U of T and the other in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Osgoode Hall Law School. His JD is from Western University. As a legal educator at Robson Hall, Curran teaches Contracts, Negotiation, and Trusts. He has taught at the Faculty since 2016.

Curran is a member of the national Labour Law Casebook Group which has published the authoritative Canadian casebook for labour and employment law, and has himself published numerous peer-reviewed articles and chapters in the area of labour and employment law.  He is also is a reviewer for a number of academic journals, including the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies.

Ireland is an alum of Robson Hall having obtained both his JD and LLM from the Faculty, and began teaching here in 2016. He returned to his alma mater after practicing criminal law in both defence and prosecution work, and has been involved in public interest legal work concerning inquests, public inquiries and human rights. He teaches criminal law and procedure, evidence law and advocacy, and engages in a research program that centres on improving the delivery of criminal justice in Canada.

Ireland is co-editor of the Manitoba Law Journal’s annual special edition in criminal law and an editor of the criminal law research website, robsoncrim.com. He is currently a co-investigator in three SSHRC-funded research projects all of which focus on the mechanics of the criminal justice system. Research he is involved with is in the area of common law police powers and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as it pertains to the delivery of criminal justice in Canada. He has co-authored Privacy in Peril: Hunter v. Southam and the Drift from Reasonable Search Protections (UBC Press) and is the principal investigator on a research project funded by the Canadian Bar Association titled Common Law Police Powers in Canada – Judicial Creation in the Charter Era.

The course and all students involved in Desautels Centre-related activities fall under the supervision of Dr. Virginia Torrie, Associate Dean (Juris Doctor Program). “The Desautels Review is an excellent opportunity for students to learn about the mechanics of scholarly publishing. It is also great to see students actively involved with the Desautels Centre – it is a unique experience for them to be involved with building something with both academic and scholarly dimensions.”

Students currently enrolled in the Desautels Review course are close to publish the inaugural issue, and are thankful for the dedication and guidance of the new editorial board consisting of professors, alumni and internationally-respected legal scholars. The Review’s rolling call for submissions accepts academic articles focusing on the integration of business, law, and the humanities as they apply to family-controlled and other private enterprises in Canada.

“What we learned at school is not just some text, but a useful tool to solve problems in daily life.” – Xiyuan Feng, 2L

Xiyuan Feng is a second-year law student currently engaged in doing work for the Desautels Centre. “Through this work, I found so much fun in commercial law,” said Feng. “I am very grateful for the opportunity of sitting in the commercial symposium, which introduced so many interesting ideas and inspired me to explore more afterwards. Through writing the blogs, I start to think how to use the law to help people.”

To encourage law students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and early-career practitioners across Canada to conduct research in this area of law, the Review launched two paper competitions. The deadline for doctoral candidates is February 28, 2022, and the deadline for JD students is June 17, 2022.

A National Business Law Network is emerging through the Centre’s initiatives, and law students at Robson Hall are forming clinical connections through the L. Kerry Vickar Business Law Clinic. Conference and research opportunities are starting to be announced, and the Faculty can already boast the formation of a Desautels Research Cluster consisting of Professors Jennifer Schulz and Darcy MacPherson, Associate Professor Virginia Torrie, and Assistant Professors Bruce Curran, Krish Maharaj, and Katie Szilagyi.

The Desautels Centre will host visiting scholar Dr. Matthew J. Bellamy, an associate professor at Carleton University, on January 25, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. as the inaugural speaker for the Annual Desautels Lecture Series. Dr. Bellamy will discuss parts of his new book, Brewed in the North: A History of Labatt’s in a talk titled “Family Firm to Managerial Enterprise: Three Generations of Labatt’s and the Bootlegging Manager-Entrepreneur Who Saved the Brewery from Prohibition.”

The Desautels Centre’s mandate is to integrate the disciplines of law, business and the humanities as they apply to family-controlled and other private enterprises.

Follow the Desautels Centre and the Desautels Review on Twitter @DesautelsCentre and @DesautelsReviewand on LinkedIn at The Marcel A. Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law and Desautels Review of Private Enterprise and the Law.

The paper is titled “Negotiating About Bad Faith: The Effect of Honda on Wrongful Dismissal Settlements,” and examines a gap in legal literature on the negotiation of dismissal settlements left by the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2008 decision of Honda Canada Inc. v. Keays which revised legal principles regarding employers’ duty of good faith in the dismissal process. “Since this decision, opinion has been sharply divided about the case’s potential impact on employers and employees,” Curran explained in his abstract.

Dr. Bruce Curran. Photo by Dr. Amar Khoday.

“In order to address this gap in the literature,” he continued, “I performed an experiment involving the negotiation of a fictitious wrongful dismissal lawsuit with allegations of employer misconduct.  I randomly assigned 288 law students into either a Honda-era condition or a pre-Honda-era condition.  Each student was assigned the role of employer counsel or employee counsel, and paired for a negotiation with a student playing the role of the opposing counsel.  Negotiators were provided with a package that contained confidential information related to their client’s experiences and settlement preferences, and a summary of the law of the relevant era.”

The results of this experiment suggested to Curran that from an employee perspective, there may be less cause for concern about Honda’s impact than originally thought. “While wrongful dismissal cases involving bad faith allegations may be marginally more difficult to settle now than in the pre-Honda era,” Curran concluded, “where a settlement is reached it is equally likely to include some amount of compensation for bad faith conduct, and the amounts of bad faith payments have not changed since Honda.  A number of legal developments since the time of the previous empirical study help to explain this lack of difference in the eras, and the negotiation literature also assists in explaining the results, including the concepts of anchoring and corrective justice.”

Curran attributes much of the research paper’s success to the help of law students and the Faculty of Law: “I have been very supported by the Robson Hall community in this project,” he said upon receiving word of the award. “The students of Robson Hall invested substantial time to act as subjects. The Legal Research Institute of the University of Manitoba and The Manitoba Law Foundation gave financial support. Also, two law students, Caylene Foley and Edvanny Silva Burns, provided able research assistance.”

Curran is in the process of preparing the work for publication in a peer-reviewed law journal.

Within this long sub-title, the whole purpose of the report is clear. Addressing the origins of the strike, including the various trades disputes happening at the time, the specific cause of the strike, and the general discontent of Winnipeg’s working class, Robson concludes that the striking workers had legitimate reasons for their dissatisfaction, and that the strike was not primarily caused by radicals trying to over throw democracy as had been touted by the “Citizen’s Committee of One Thousand.” Comprised of local business owners and members of Winnipeg’s legal community, the Committee had worked to end the strike, which did officially conclude on June 26, 1919, after two people had died, and many had been wounded and arrested.

Title page of H.A. Robson’s Royal Commission Report, tabled Nov. 6, 1919.

Robson, the namesake of the building that has housed the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law since 1969 here at the Fort Garry Campus, established the Manitoba Law School in 1914, five years prior to being appointed Commissioner of the General Strike enquiry. At that time, he had already led an interesting life having been born in England, practiced law in Regina, and been an eye-witness at the trial of Louis Riel. Since 1899, he had practiced law at the firm of James Aikins in Winnipeg, served as a Bencher for the Law Society of Manitoba, co-authored several important text books on Municipal Law, and served as chair of a public utilities commission for Manitoba.

Dr. Bruce Curran, Associate Dean of the Juris Doctor (Bachelor of Laws) program at today’s Robson Hall, describes Robson “a lawyer and jurist remarkably ahead of his time,” which is evident in the report where

Hugh Amos Robson, co-founder of the Manitoba Law School.

Robson demonstrates awareness and sensitivity to the deplorable conditions of wage earners of his day. Curran, who holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Relations from the University of Toronto, will soon have a paper examining the impact of Robson’s Royal Commission report published in the forthcoming Manitoba Law Journal’s volume 42 (2), titled Chief Justice Robson: A selection of his original works and contemporary reflections on them.

According to Curran, Robson “viewed the Winnipeg General Strike as legitimate, and unlike some of his legal contemporaries, believed that the workers were, for the most part, exercising their rights in an attempt to obtain better terms and conditions of employment.”

Contrarily, Curran explains, Robson’s colleagues and contemporaries in the Winnipeg legal community viewed the General Strike as a challenge to “authority and the existing social order, amounting to nothing short of seditious conspiracy on the part of the strike leaders.”

Robson’s report clearly demonstrates his recognition and understanding of the dire circumstances the workers had reached, which drove them to take such drastic action in May of 1919. “Robson’s views on the nature and extent of workers’ rights to organize, collectively bargain, and strike were consistent with subsequent developments in North American labour legislation, international law, and Canadian constitutional jurisprudence over the next century,” said Curran. “Robson’s sympathy for workers, his understanding of the social, political, and economic context in which they found themselves, and his recommendations were all remarkably enlightened and innovative.  Such enlightenment and innovation demonstrated by Robson is still necessary today, as Canadian workers are even now facing some of the same problems he observed.”

The full text of Robson’s report is available to read online at the University of Alberta Website.

Curran’s paper and other essays on Robson’s life and works will be included in Volume 42 (2) of the MLJ, edited by Dr. Bryan Schwartz and recent Robson Hall graduate, Erik Gusdal. In addition to that volume, the Manitoba Law Journal will soon publish a revised version of Jack Walker’s book,The Great Canadian Sedition Trials: The Courts and the Winnipeg General Strike 1919-1920, which was originally edited posthumously by Duncan Fraser and published in 2004 by the Legal Research Institute at the University of Manitoba. Both of these volumes will soon be available online at the Manitoba Law Journal website.

The University of Manitoba Libraries’ digital exhibit of the 1919 General Strike, Unbreakable: The Spirit of the Strike, is available to view online.