Law Bilingual Program News Archive

March 24, 2023 — 
The University of Manitoba Faculty of Law team competing at the Concours de Plaidoirie Michel-Bastarache at the University of Ottawa, March 17 – 19, 2023, earned much praise from judges and organizers when they took second-best pair overall and second and third-best oralists, especially since French is not the first language of any of the team members.

March 3, 2023 — 
The University of Manitoba’s 2023 Laskin Moot team proudly took home the Spirit of the Laskin Award, and finished in the Top 6 for their factum after competing in the annual bilingual competition held February 23, 24, and 25 at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

March 3, 2023 — 
Three University of Manitoba Faculty of Law teams from Robson Hall put in extremely strong performances at the seventh annual Canadian National Negotiation Competition (CNNC). The team of Chris Dick and Kennedy Pinette won second place in the inaugural French stream of the competition, an accomplishment that is all the more significant given the fact that four out of the six teams participating in French were from Québec. In the English stream, Ramsay Hall and Samantha Harvey placed third, and Benjamin Leahy and Jodi Plenert also performed at an extremely high level in a very talented field of 18 teams. This year, the CNNC was held at McGill University, Faculty of Law in Montreal on February 24 and 25, 2023.

September 8, 2022 — 
This September, the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba will welcome the first cohort of its Access to Justice in French (A2JF) Concentration. One of few English Common Law institutions to develop and deliver a bilingual legal education, the A2JF program is unique in this regard.

March 25, 2022 — 
March 18 to 20 was the fourth annual version of the Michel Bastarache Moot Court Competition, named for the Honourable Michel Bastarache, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and leading jurist and champion of language rights. The Manitoba team was nominated by their fellow competitors – and won – the Michel-Bastarache Prize, which is awarded to the team that exemplifies the spirit of fair play and dedication to French.

March 18, 2022 — 
It takes a village to train a moot team, as Associate Professor Gerald Heckman pointed out after completing another year as Laskin Moot Faculty Advisor. “Acting as a faculty advisor for a competitive appellate moot is probably one of the most rewarding teaching opportunities at Robson Hall,” he said, after the national bilingual appellate moot in Constitutional and Administrative Law wrapped up February 25 – 26. This year’s Laskin took place by videoconference.

December 23, 2021 — 
Another year of virtual teaching and learning has passed, another Spring graduating class of law students endured final exams, convocation ceremonies, grad celebrations and commencement of articles in front of a screen at home. Another cohort of 1L students were introduced to law school virtually. Professors spent another year recording and uploading lectures, staring at boxes on screens hoping students were behind them, heeding the lessons. At some point, everyone wondered where the community was and what was happening at Robson Hall?

December 10, 2021 — 
Manitoba’s francophone jurists’ association and Francofonds (the community foundation of Manitoba’s francophone community) have just established an Access to Justice in French Endowment Fund that will assist law students.

September 3, 2021 — 
In June of 2019, the Department of Justice Canada provided the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law with $768,372 in funding over four years (2018/19 to 2021/22) through its Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund. The purpose was to develop a common law certificate in French, making a more formal program out of what has so far consisted of a collection of bilingual course offerings. So far, two years’ worth of law students have been able to take advantage of the funding, and have been working towards being able to represent French-speaking clients once they graduate as lawyers.

June 6, 2019 — 
Access to Justice program to train Manitoba law students in both official languages