[ MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN ]
The past year has been one of significant growth and transition for the law school. As shown on the cover of this issue, the law school celebrated a major milestone in its history with the announcement of a $30 million transformational gift from law alumnus, Mr. Peter A. Allard, QC. Mr. Allard’s gift is the largest gift ever to a Canadian law school. I encourage you to read more about the impact of Mr. Allard’s gift in the Report on Giving on page 6. During the past year, the Allard School of Law was very pleased to continue to enhance its course and program offerings, adopting a new Specialization in Aboriginal Law within the JD program and, at the graduate level, a new distance learning program designed for foreigntrained law students and lawyers working towards the accreditation requirements for practicing law in Canada, which complements our successful course-based LLM Common Law program. Enrollment for our graduate distance learning program exceeded initial expectations, and we are planning on developing new online course modules in the near future. We continue to focus as well on enhancing our experiential learning program with the addition of a new clinic focused on International Justice and Human Rights (IJHRC). This issue includes more information on the work of the IJHRC, along with an exciting update on our Indigenous Community Legal Clinic, on pages 25 – 26. The Allard School of Law continues to expand its international reach. The Faculty was delighted to formalize agreements with Melbourne Law School (University of Melbourne, Australia) and the Tsinghua University School of Law (Beijing, China) in this past year. These agreements build on important institutional connections and expand the law school’s global reach while adding to the international study opportunities for our JD students. You can read about one student’s exchange experience on page 38. This issue features some very significant faculty transitions. Several of our highly accomplished and respected senior faculty members are retiring after teaching thousands of students over the years and decades. At the same time, the law school has been successful in recruiting outstanding
4 Allard School of Law Alumni Magazine Spring 2015
new faculty members who are committed to the law school’s integration of outstanding teaching with world-class research. These transitions are an opportunity to celebrate beloved teachers, nationally and internationally-recognized scholars, and engaged community members, and I invite you to read more in the feature section beginning on page 18. As many of you know, my term as Dean of the Allard School of Law comes to an end this June. I have been greatly honoured to serve in this role since 2003. Those of you who were able to attend the UBC Law Alumni Association luncheon in April will know that my colleagues and I are enormously grateful for the strong support the law school has received from alumni who have offered the gifts of time, advice, funding, and expertise. In this, my last column for the Alumni Magazine, I would particularly like to offer thanks to each of you on behalf of the law school. The law school is on an exciting trajectory (described in more detail on pages 13 – 15), and I am confident that, while much has been accomplished, the future holds yet greater things for the Allard School of Law. Incoming Dean, Dr. Catherine Dauvergne (LLB ’95) will take up her term on July 1. I am filled with excitement about what the law school can and will accomplish under Dean Dauvergne’s leadership, with continued strong support and input from our alumni community. I sincerely hope you enjoy this edition of the Allard School of Law Alumni Magazine. As always, I welcome your feedback and ideas regarding this and any of our alumni communications and initiatives. Please get in touch with us at communications@allard.ubc.ca. Very truly yours,
Mary Anne Bobinski Dean and Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law