Desautels Leadership
Leadership
Dr. Laura Reimer
Director
Dr. Laura Reimer leads the Desautels Business Law Accelerator as Director of Program Development for the Faculty of Law. In this role, she chairs the Faculty of Law Business Advisory Committee and provides strategic leadership across the many facets of the Desautels Accelerator.
With broad and diverse experience working with businesses and business owners, Dr. Reimer brings a strong applied perspective to her work. She holds a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Manitoba, a Master of Public Administration from the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, and a BA in Political Science from the University of Manitoba.
She also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in teaching, administration, and program development at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. As a former assistant professor and award-winning teacher, she has held academic posts in Canada and the United States and has authored and edited multiple books on leadership and conflict transformation.
Her work focuses on the intersection of policy, governance, leadership, and education. In addition, she is a trained mediator and serves on the Manitoba Law Reform Commission, the J.W. Dafoe Foundation Board, and the Operation Walk Board of Directors.
For more information about Dr. Reimer, please visit: UM Faculty of Law
Dr. Richard Jochelson
Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba
Dr. Richard Jochelson is the Dean of Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba. As a senior leader, he partners with the Desautels Accelerator leadership to provide strategic advice and innovative ideas. He also ensures additional levels of financial oversight for Accelerator activities.
His academic credentials include a PhD in Law from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University and a Master of Laws from the University of Toronto. Previously, he earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Calgary, where he received the Gold Medal, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Zoology with Distinction from the same institution.
Before entering academia, he served his articling year as a clerk at the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Court of Queen’s Bench. Afterward, he worked at one of Canada’s largest law firms. He later taught criminal law for 10 years at the University of Winnipeg before joining the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law as a Professor.
For more information about Dr. Jochelson, please visit: UM Faculty of Law
The Business
Advisory Committee
The Business Advisory Committee is a dynamic team of legal experts from the Faculty of Law who oversee the activities and operations of the Desautels Business Law Accelerator. The Advisory Committee works collegially and collaboratively to provide advice for program development, advice for matters when required, and scrutiny for any proposed expenditures for research or program development proposed by the Director of Program Development in collaboration with the Dean of Law. As experts in their respective legal fields and all related to business law, the members of the Business Advisory Committee provide diligent and thoughtful oversight of the Desautels Business Law Accelerator.
Dr. Akinwumi Ogunranti
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba
Associate Professor Curran is primarily focused on using empirical methods to study labour & employment law and dispute resolution. Dr. Curran has developed and honed skills for innovative and high-quality scholarly research, and is also a member of the national Labour Law Casebook Group, a group of Professors from across Canada who have published the authoritative Canadian casebook for labour and employment law. In addition to his research abilities and extensive publishing record, Dr. Curran is an outstanding teacher and has received numerous awards for his teaching.
For more information about Dr. Curran, please visit: UM Faculty of Law
Dr. Bruce Curran
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba
Associate Professor Curran is primarily focused on using empirical methods to study labour & employment law and dispute resolution. Dr. Curran has developed and honed skills for innovative and high-quality scholarly research, and is also a member of the national Labour Law Casebook Group, a group of Professors from across Canada who have published the authoritative Canadian casebook for labour and employment law. In addition to his research abilities and extensive publishing record, Dr. Curran is an outstanding teacher and has received numerous awards for his teaching.
For more information about Dr. Curran, please visit: UM Faculty of Law
Dr. Michelle Gallant
Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba
Professor Gallant’s areas of teaching and research focus are on Taxation, Philanthropy of Law, International Law, Dispute Resolution, Money Laundering and Terrorist Finance. She has been a Commissioner of the Manitoba Law Reform Commission from 2012 to 2018, and was Deputy Commissioner of the Residential Tenancies Commission from 2008 to 2011, and most recently served on the national Emergencies Act Inquiry into the conduct of the Trudeau government during the COVID-19 crisis.
For more information about Dr. Gallant, please visit: UM Faculty of Law
Yvan Guy Larocque
Clinical Counsel, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba
Yvan Guy Larocque is the Clinical Counsel for the L. Kerry Vickar Business Law Clinic at the law school. His legal practice is focused on Indigenous Economic Development and Governance. Yvan has extensive experience advising Indigenous governments and Economic Development Groups on a wide range of corporate, financing, tax, and development matters.
For more information about Dr. Guy Larocque, please visit: UM Faculty of Law
Dr. Bryan Schwartz, K.C.
Professor, Asper Chair Emeritus of International Business and Trade Law
Professor Schwartz is the Asper Chair of International Business and Trade Law. Over the years he has received numerous awards and honours for teaching, research, and community service. He teaches labour law and has advised or presented in a wide variety of public and commercial law cases in a wide variety of courts and tribunals. He has participated in the drafting of briefs or the presentation of oral argument in over a dozen Supreme Court of Canada cases. He is the founding and general editor of both the Asper Review of International Business and Trade Law and the Underneath the Golden Boy series, an annual review of legislative developments in Manitoba, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Manitoba Law Journal.
Dr. Katie Szilagyi
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba
Dr. Katie Szilagyi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law. Dr. Szilagyi studies the intersection of technology law and legal theory with artificial intelligence, tracing the impacts of predictive analytics and algorithmic decision-making on the organizing force of the Rule of Law. Her innovative research brings together her educational backgrounds in both engineering and law, as well as her experience in legal practice, applying foundational legal concepts like property, autonomy, consent, and privacy to emerging technological settings.
For more information about Dr. Szilagyi, please visit: UM Faculty of Law
Prof. Darcy MacPherson
Professor, Research Director
Professor MacPherson is the appointed Research Director. He has taught and researched in areas of corporate law, secured transactions, and partnerships. His research has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada and numerous Courts of Appeal across the country. He is responsible for the original creation of Robson Hall team in four different appellate mooting competitions, and for three different for-credit judicial clerking experiences at various Manitoba courts. Professor MacPherson is Co-Editor in Chief of the Manitoba Law Journal.
For more information about Prof. MacPherson, please visit: UM Faculty of Law