Six externships in addition to the new Rights Clinic and the continuing Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) clinic were open for applications this summer. These included:

• Legal Help Centre
• University of Manitoba Community Law Centre (UMCLC)
• Manitoba Law Reform Commission
• L. Kerry Vickar Business Law Clinic
• Cochrane Saxberg Indigenous Community Clinic
• RobsonCrim Attorney General Externship

Clerkships with the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench and the Manitoba Court of Appeal are also staples of hands-on for-credit opportunities available to third-year law students.

The Legal Help Centre, UMCLC, the Manitoba Law Reform Commission and the Vickar Business Law Clinic are mainstays of the annual roster of externships. This year, the Faculty of Law celebrates a 50-year partnership with Legal Aid Manitoba in running the UMCLC, in addition to implementing a new expansion of services that will see students now helping with a wider range of files. Law students have assisted at the Legal Help Centre almost since its origins in 2011.

As with other clinics, the new Cochrane Saxberg Indigenous Community Clinic will provide hands-on opportunities for students to interview clients, provide counsel, develop and manage client files, and conduct qualitative research. Students will especially have an opportunity to learn theory about decolonizing and Indigenizing law, and integrate these principles into the practice of law.

The RobsonCrim Attorney General externship will see law students placed with the Manitoba Department of Justice’s Crown Law Analysis and Development department. Students will work directly with legal counsel and policy analysts at the branch to help with related legal research, cross-jurisdiction analysis and policy development.

With the growing number of clinics and engaged students, the Faculty has appointed Associate Professor David Ireland as Director of Clinics. He will be working with a team that includes Assistant Professor Brandon Trask (clinical professor), Senior Clinical Instructors Elizabeth McCandless and Dr. Rebecca Jaremko Bromwich, along with staff members Marc Kruse (Indigenous Legal Studies Coordinator) and Trina McFadyen (Director of Professional Development).

Dr. Gerald Heckman

“Teaching is the most important thing we do at Robson Hall,” said Dr. Richard Jochelson, Dean of Law. “Being nominated and recognized by students and peers is one indicia of excellence and both Gerald Heckman and Liz McCandless bring passion, expertise, clarity and empathy to their classrooms.”

Heckman has taught administrative, constitutional law, advanced public law and language rights at the University of Manitoba since 2006. He is co-director with colleague Dr. Lorna Turnbull, of the Bilingual Certificate Program, and helps coach the Faculty’s French Language moot teams including the Laskin and the Bastarache. He also actively conducts research and regularly shares his expertise with the press either in editorials or media interviews, and occasionally appears before the Supreme Court of Canada on matters of administrative or constitutional law.

Upon receiving the award, Heckman said, “It felt wonderful to be recognized by my students, particularly after the challenging times professors and students have lived through in the past two years and the efforts we have all made to adapt our teaching and learning to a distance learning environment.”

While he had never met Barney Sneiderman personally, Heckman heard much about him when he arrived at Robson Hall as a new professor in 2006. “He was already the stuff of legend among his colleagues and former students, and I regret not having had the opportunity to come to know him.”

Heckman said that when preparing his lessons, he reflects on what he appreciated from his own law professors and tries to incorporate those best practices into his approach to teaching. “I think that it’s important to be respectful of students’ perspectives, experience and learning styles and remember that we are all members of a community of learners,” he explained. “We need to be patient and provide our students with as much feedback as we can.

“For example, it takes time – and many drafts and practices – for students participating in competitive moots to craft a persuasive written or oral legal argument. That process of creation offers so many wonderful learning opportunities and its rewarding to see my students grow into skilled advocates. It’s also important to convey our enthusiasm for what we teach to our students.”

 “My professors inspired me to focus my legal studies, practice and research in the area of public law. I hope to inspire some of my students to do the same!” – Dr. Gerald Heckman, Associate Professor

Elizabeth McCandless, Practicing Professional Instructor

Lawyer Elizabeth McCandless teaches Advanced Legal Research at the Faculty of Law, which she designs with the aim of giving students the practical knowledge and skills they will use as they enter the practice of law. She was recently hired to the full-time position of clinical Senior Instructor starting July 1, 2022. She holds a BA, LL.B., and LL.M.  from the University of Manitoba, and has practiced law since 2008, most recently as director and legal counsel at the Manitoba Law Reform Commission.

“It truly is an honour to be nominated by my students. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with students, and I will continue to learn how to be a better instructor.” – Elizabeth McCandless, Practicing Professional Instructor

“This award means a lot to me, particularly as I transition from being a practising professional to a full-time instructor in the Faculty of Law,” she said. “Every year I’m impressed by the range of abilities, interests, and passions of law students – it is energizing to be around students at this stage of their legal education and it is exciting see what comes next as they embark on their legal careers.”

Business Law Clinic

Operating virtually for the past two years of the pandemic, the Business Law Clinic, under the direction of practicing professional lawyer Nick Slonosky [LLB/1979] and retired faculty member, former Associate Dean (JD) Lisa Fainstein [LLB/ 1979], the clinic has provided law students with hands-on experience advising small business clients while counting as a for-credit course. Starting in the fall term, practitioner Rebecca Jaremko Bromwich will join the team as a Faculty presence for the Clinic.

“This new space is part of a transformational set of opportunities for hands-on clinical experience for our students,” said Dr. Richard Jochelson, Dean of Law. “The space will not only be a clinical hub but a site of discovery and collaboration as the clinical team reaches out to partners like the Stu Clark Centre and North Forge and beyond to become the Manitoba engine room for access to innovation.”

UMCLC expansion, Indigenous, Mediation and Rights Clinics

In addition to the L. Kerry Vickar Business Law Clinic’s ongoing operations, UM Law will be increasing the number of clinical experience opportunities next year with expanded services now available to Manitobans at the University of Manitoba Community Law Centre (UMCLC). Through an agreement with Legal Aid Manitoba, law students will be able to assist with family law, prison law and Indigenous legal services in addition to criminal law matters as before.

An Indigenous Community Legal Clinic will be for-credit starting in Fall 2022, thanks to the help of Marc Kruse [JD/2015], Indigenous Legal Studies Coordinator. A Mediation Clinic course, to be guided by Professor Jennifer Schulz and Chief Justice Glenn Joyal (Court of Queen’s Bench), is slated to begin in 2023. Also, a new Rights Clinic, which is being developed and supervised by Professor Brandon Trask, will be launched later this year, with a for-credit course being offered in Fall 2022. The Rights Clinic will be a site of innovation, focusing primarily on environmental rights and civil rights work pertaining to matters of importance for vulnerable Manitobans.

Launch of Robust Clinical Team

To facilitate the expansion of its clinical programs, UM Law has proposed a position of Director of Clinics to coordinate the increasing number of clinics, experiential learning opportunities, moots, competitions, articling integration and development of clinical and experiential programing while helping to administer the work of a newly formed clinical team.

The clinical team is comprised of faculty members Associate Professor David Ireland (clinical professor; clinical coordinator), Assistant Professor Brandon Trask (clinical professor), Senior Instructor Elizabeth McCandless (clinical instructor), and Senior Instructor Dr. Rebecca Jaremko Bromwich (clinical instructor), along with staff members Marc Kruse (Indigenous Legal Studies Coordinator) and Trina McFadyen (Director of Professional Development).

Ireland possesses years of experience representing clients in all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He teaches Criminal Law, Evidence and Trial Advocacy at Robson Hall while maintaining a practice at the law firm of Cochrane Saxberg, specializing in public law with an emphasis on criminal litigation and appeals. Ireland has experience both prosecuting and defending criminal charges as well as proficiency in public inquiries, inquests and human rights litigation.

Trask is a practicing lawyer focusing on public law who worked as a Crown prosecutor in Newfoundland and Labrador and later in Nova Scotia, most recently with the Appeals and Special Prosecutions Section of the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service. While practicing as a Crown prosecutor, Trask was involved with hundreds of cases across two levels of court in Newfoundland and Labrador and three levels of court in Nova Scotia. He also regularly appeared on behalf of the Crown at the Criminal Code Review Board in Nova Scotia. He is an Assistant Professor at Robson Hall teaching Constitutional Law and Evidence this year, and will additionally be teaching Criminal Law, Mental Health and Criminal Law, and the Rights Clinic courses next year.

McCandless and Jaremko Bromwich are both seasoned lawyers who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the clinical program at UM Law. McCandless most recently served as director and legal counsel at the Manitoba Law Reform Commission and holds an LL.M. from UM Law. Jaremko Bromwich practices law at Gowling WLG Canada where she has acted as the firm’s national manager of equity, diversity and inclusion. She holds a Ph.D. from Carleton University’s Department of Law and Legal Studies.

Kruse returned to his alma mater of Robson Hall after practicing criminal law at Rees Dyck Rogala Law Offices, and engaging in research on curriculum reform. He has published work on the moral foundations of professional ethics, social justice education, and Indigenous educational ethics.

McFadyen, also an alum of Robson Hall, was an associate at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman practicing civil litigation with an emphasis on commercial litigation, employment and labour law. She was later Legal Counsel at the Great-West Life Assurance Company, practicing civil law. She has returned to the Faculty as Director of Professional Development.

“We wanted to invest in young people who will make a difference,” said James Pitblado. “You will be role models, you will give back to your community. We are so gratified to make this investment and see the outcome.”

Kathleen McCandless [LLB/06] with James and Sandra Pitblado

“I wish to emphasize just how important the Pitblado Scholarship was to me as a student,” said McCandless. “Being a Pitblado Scholar allowed me the freedom to focus on my studies, but more than that, gave me the motivation that allowed me to succeed. It set me up for success and opened opportunities for me.”

At the event, Jim and Sandra Pitblado renewed their commitment to the University with a gift of $500,000 to bolster the Pitblado Scholars Program. This gift will inspire the next generation of law students in Manitoba to realize their full potential.

“The impact Jim and Sandra have had on law students over the past 15 years extends far beyond the considerable financial support provided through this prestigious scholarship,” said President and Vice-Chancellor David T. Barnard. “The Pitblados have always demonstrated the vision and commitment to ensure their philanthropy has the greatest impact possible, personally connecting with and developing a community of leaders who are helping to write the story of this province and its people.”

The Pitblado Scholars Fund was established in in 2001 with an initial gift in excess of $1 million by James and Sandra Pitblado. Since its inception, the Pitblado scholarship has supported more than 200 law students at the University of Manitoba. Pitblado scholars are the top 10 per cent of students in their first and second years in the Faculty of Law.