Western Law’s focus on business law in the global environment is unique among all Canadian law schools. As Canada’s premier business law school, our vision of business law is multi-dimensional, encompassing a wide range of economic, critical, public law and social justice perspectives. Indeed, our strength in business law complements our nationally and internationally recognized strengths in many other areas, including, among others, international and comparative law, law and philosophy, public law, and intellectual property information and technology law.
George Akerlof (winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001) spoke at Western Law as part of the Beattie Family Business Law Lecture Series Our approach to business law is characterized by national leadership and international perspective. Our commitment to expose our students to the world’s most influential business law scholars is complemented by our curricular offerings covering a wide-range of subjects on the cutting-edge of regulatory and practical business law issues. • George Akerlof (co-recipient of 2001 Nobel Prize in
Economics) • Robert R.Glauber (Harvard-former CEO, National Association
of Securities Dealers, and former U.S. Undersecretary for the Treasury) • Leo E. Strine, Jr. (Vice-Chancellor, Delaware Court of
Chancery) • Roberta Romano (Yale) • Reinier Kraakman (Harvard) • Ronald Gilson (Stanford) • William Bratton (Georgetown) • Brian Cheffins (Cambridge) • Merritt Fox (Columbia) • Lynn Stout (UCLA) • Douglas Baird (University of Chicago) • Henry Hansmann (Yale) • Myron S. Scholes (co-recipient of 1997 Nobel Prize in
Economics) • Robert J. Shiller (Yale-author of Irrational Exuberance) • Robert Daines (Stanford) • Donald Langevoort (Georgetown) • Hal Scott (Harvard) • Alan Schwartz (Yale) • Ian Ramsay (Melbourne) • Jay Westbrook (Texas) • Bernard Black (Northwestern) • David Skeel (Pennsylvania) Business Law visitors to Western Law in 2011-12 will
include: John Armour (Oxford) Reinier Kraakman (Harvard) Ian Ayres (Yale) Henry Hu (Texas) Hideki Kanda (Tokyo) Western Law and the Richard Ivey School of Business The Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario is one of the world’s leading business schools, and Western Law regularly collaborates with our colleagues at the Ivey School. Western Law, for example, offers two joint programs with the Ivey School: the Concurrent HBA/JD program and the JD/MBA program which, we are proud to say, was the first three-year JD/MBA program offered in Canada. In addition, we have a Joint arrangement with the Ivey
School whereby second and third year law students and MBA students
may cross-register in courses offered by the other faculty. This reflects the natural community of
interest shared by the law and business schools in much of what we do. In the spring of 2009, counsel involved in the Supreme Court of Canada’s groundbreaking BCE decision visited the school to share their insights on this seminal case with a “standing room only” audience of Western Law students. Later in 2009, lawyers from the Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg firm participated in a special panel on the practice of mergers and acquisitions law during the current economic turmoil. And of course, the law school is also home to the Western Business Law Clinic, which provides small start-up and early stage businesses with affordable legal counsel, while at the same time creating an environment for students to learn invaluable practical skills. For many years, the majority of our graduates have begun their working lives in large law firms with corporate practices, principally in Toronto and other large Canadian cities, but also in major international financial centres such as New York and London (U. K.). Our alumni today include some of the most well-known and highly respected business law practitioners in the nation. Western Law boasts a long tradition of leadership in the research and study of business law. In the 1960s, Earl Palmer and Dan Prentice (who later became the Allen and Overy Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Oxford) developed the first published teaching materials in Canada on corporate law. In the 1970s, former Dean David Johnston (now the Governor General of Canada) wrote the first Canadian text on Securities Regulation. More recently, Prof. Richard McLaren’s multi-volume works on Secured Transactions and Commercial Reorganization have become recognized as the leading treatises in their areas in Canada. Similarly, Prof. Bruce Welling’s treatise, Corporate Law in Canada: The Governing Principles, now in its third edition, is the only work of its kind in Canada. We also offer expertise in the fields of commercial law,
international business law, industrial relations law, and insurance law. Prof.
Tom Telfer's research and teaching interests include bankruptcy law, secured
transactions and consumer law. Prof. Chi Carmody teaches and writes in the
areas of international business transactions and trade law. Prof. Carmody also
serves as Canadian Director of the Canada-United States Law Institute. Prof.
Craig Brown's book, Insurance Law in Canada, (now in its 7th student edition)
is the country's leading insurance law text. Western is also a recognized leader in the fields of
intellectual property, information and technology law, offering an extensive
program of courses in these subjects, and an opportunity for interested
students to complete an Area of Concentration in this area as well. The Western Advantage Our depth of faculty expertise, our rich array of academic and practical educational opportunities, and our keen appreciation for the breadth and diversity of all dimensions of the modern law school curriculum along with an abiding commitment to a vision of law that is mindful of the goals of human development and the demands of social justice, make the business law program at Western Law an exciting, dynamic and enriching experience for our students, faculty and friends.
Business Law
Business Law in the Global Environment
Unparalleled Programs and an International Focus
Professor Christopher Nicholls is the director of Business Law at Western and oversees the area of concentration in business law. This area of concentration is designed to allow students to develop knowledge and expertise in business law and policy. Prof. Nicholls joined the Faculty in 2006 and brings a wealth of expertise—both professional and academic—to the business law area. Professor Nicholls is the author of numerous articles and monographs in the business law area as well as five books: Corporate Finance and Canadian Law,Mergers, Acquisitions and other Changes of Corporate Control,Corporate Law, Financial Institutions: the Regulatory Framework, and (with Jeff MacIntosh of the University of Toronto) Securities Law.
Canada’s Finest Visiting Business Scholars Program
Economist and author Robert Shiller of Yale University delivers the first annual Beattie Family Lecture in Business Law [read more]
Western Law’s pre-eminence in Canadian business law studies
is reflected in its visiting business and law speakers programs. These programs
are, without question, the finest in the country and are second to none
anywhere in the world. Since 2007, for example, the following top international
scholars have visited Western Law to speak about their research:
We also recognize the important interplay between business law scholarship and the private practice of law. Western Law regularly organizes events featuring some of the country’s most prominent practitioners discussing leading edge developments. In the fall of 2007, for example, several of Canada’s top mergers and acquisitions and tax lawyers—proud alumni of Western Law—visited the school for a special seminar on mergers and acquisitions transactions. Participants (pictured above) included William Braithwaite (Stikeman Elliott), Gary Girvan (McCarthy Tétrault), Grant Haynen (Bennett Jones), Ronald Durand (Stikeman Elliott), and Joan Weppler (Dofasco).
Western’s Business Law Tradition
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