From the boardroom to U of M classroom

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/08/2009 (6145 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG businessman and lawyer David Asper will soon be adding a new entry to his resumé — teacher.

The executive vice-president of Canwest Global Communications Corp. has signed on as a sessional instructor at the University of Manitoba’s law school to teach a third-year course on professional responsibility and legal ethics. The compulsory course, which is offered in the second term of the coming academic year, will require three hours of classroom lectures per week and 45 hours in total. It’s expected he’ll have about 50 students and he’ll earn $4,500.

Chris Axworthy, dean of the faculty of law, said Asper’s experience representing David Milgaard — who was wrongfully convicted in 1970 for the murder and rape of a nursing assistant in Saskatoon the year before — as well as the judicial inquiry that followed his release more than two decades later, gives him unique experience on professional responsibility. (Milgaard was freed in 1992 and given a $10-million payout from the Saskatchewan government.)

"He knows a lot about this kind of thing and he’ll be great. He’ll add an interesting practical perspective, which is what students like," he said.

Asper, who was called to the Manitoba bar in 1986 and practised law for seven years before joining Canwest, said he’s "grateful" for the opportunity to work with the legal leaders of tomorrow. He lectured to U of M law students this spring for a course on crime, law and society and has made numerous other guest appearances in the classroom but he’s not taking the move from the boardroom lightly.

"I don’t think it’s any secret I think I’ve got something to contribute," he said. "There’s a difference between trying to govern a business and teach. I’m working hard to prepare myself," he said.

Asper, a graduate of the University of Toronto and the California Western School of Law, said he hasn’t thought about what kind of instructor he’ll be, but he hopes his students will leave his class and the school "proud of what they’ve accomplished and eager to make a positive contribution to the world."

News of the newest faculty member has been spreading quickly throughout the corridors of Robson Hall. Marie MacLellan, a soon-to-be second-year law student, said she thinks Asper’s arrival will be good for the school.

"It’s always exciting when people come (to teach) and you recognize the name. But it’s his teaching that he’ll be judged on…" she said.

Chris Bitonti, a third-year law student said Asper would help raise the school’s profile.

"I think it’s a good thing at a smaller law school to get high-profile instructors," he said, adding he’d be interested if Asper’s duties were expanded to include a course on business ethics.

Axworthy said he’s enjoying his recent spate of job interviews. The law school recently hired three professors and it’s accepting applications for a two-year term position to teach criminal law. "This is pretty major for us to be able to hire these people in the middle of a recession," he said.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca