Former U of M law dean’s disciplinary hearing temporarily on hold

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This article was published 21/09/2023 (767 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The professional disciplinary hearing of a law dean who was ousted from Robson Hall under mysterious circumstances in 2020 has been adjourned for a month.

Rocky Kravetsky, who is representing the Law Society of Manitoba, began to present his case against Jonathan Black-Branch during public proceedings at the watchdog’s downtown headquarters this week.

Black-Branch has been charged with an alleged “breach of integrity” in connection to his spending habits while employed at the University of Manitoba between 2016 and 2020.

This week, Kravetsky said the former dean spent about a half-million public university dollars on inappropriate expenses, ranging from U.S. Ivy League university courses to bolster his personal resumé to his personal dinner tabs.

Black-Branch, who is living abroad, has not participated in the public sessions to date.

The defendant has repeatedly attempted to delay the hearing over the last three years, citing his mental health. This week he also offered to resign as a member of the society — the legal profession’s regulatory agency in Manitoba — in order to cease proceedings, but a panel rejected Black-Branch’s request because he did not plead guilty alongside a resignation notice.

On Thursday, the disciplinary panel accepted a joint request from both parties for a “short adjournment” of the hearing.

The proceedings are slated to resume Oct. 20.

Kravetsky did not provide an explanation for the month-long break.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca