Dean's MessageThe last six months have been among the most consequential in the recent history of UNB Law. In May, we publicly launched the Where Leaders Are Made Campaign, the most ambitious fundraising initiative that UNB Law has ever undertaken. The same evening, we hosted an unforgettable Gala Dinner where we celebrated our Faculty’s great history and promising future.
These events demonstrated the remarkable goodwill that UNB Law enjoys from its alumni, faculty, staff, students, the legal profession, governments, and the wider community. This is perhaps our greatest asset. Everyone associated with UNB Law knows that it’s a special place. Our contributions to society far exceed our small size and reach far beyond our region. The fact that nearly $14 million has already been raised is proof that what UNB Law stands for and what it offers have tremendous value, and people are ready to invest in it.
One of the reasons that this Campaign is resonating is that it’s about enhancing the core values of UNB Law. Our fundraising priorities, and our move to the Justice Building, reflect the priorities that our Faculty has held for generations. This is not about changing UNB Law; it’s about giving UNB Law the resources it needs to realize its full potential.
Our $23 million goal focuses on maintaining UNB Law’s intimate learning environment, augmenting our career-ready curriculum with cutting-edge experiential learning opportunities, ensuring that the increased quality of our program doesn’t come at the expense of its financial accessibility to all qualified students, and promoting research and teaching that’s engaged with the world around us.
This month, I’ll be speaking at the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges National Education Conference and AGM, which is being held in Fredericton. I was invited to speak about UNB Law’s vision for legal education. This is a big topic, but it’s pretty simple, actually. The UNB Law model of legal education is one that is embedded in society. In other words, we aren’t separate or above the needs of our community—our goal is to find solutions to societal problems and to train people who will carry on that mission for generations to come. At the same time, we aren’t just focused on immediate concerns; we’re also anticipating what’s around the corner.
A great example of UNB Law’s embeddedness is the work that my dedicated and brilliant faculty colleagues are doing on AI and legal pedagogy. You can read more about it in this issue. Over the summer, they put a great deal of thought into how a law school committed to training useful and adaptable lawyers should use AI in its program. In doing their important work, my colleagues consulted with leaders in the legal profession, which speaks to their dedication to the idea of embeddedness. The result is an incredibly thorough, creative, and practical report that will shape not just what we do on this pressing issue at UNB Law, but also influence how legal education more broadly responds to the challenges and opportunities of AI.
Just as we’re engaged with what’s happening today and thinking about what may happen tomorrow, UNB Law continues to cherish its history. In fact, it’s the legacy of our greatest people who inspire us every day to carry on with our important mission. On June 12, 2025, UNB Law lost its intellectual giant, the Hon. Gérard V. La Forest, who passed away at the age of 99. It is most fitting that the cover story of this issue of Nexus is dedicated to his extraordinary contributions to Canada, New Brunswick, and UNB Law.
For me, Gérard La Forest’s legacy represents our Faculty’s greatest values and aspirations. A person from humble beginnings, he reached the pinnacle of achievement through a combination of hard work, talent, humility, mentorship, and a passion for justice. And that incredible journey started right here at UNB Law. Today, more than seven decades after Gérard La Forest’s graduation, we are still the place where a brilliant and ambitious young person from a small town takes their first steps toward greatness. We should never stop being that law school.
We also continue to draw inspiration from the amazing things that our alumni are doing with their UNB Law degrees. I’m very pleased that this issue of Nexus features stories on five graduates who are making their mark in practice, business, and the charitable sector. Each of these graduates embodies UNB Law’s emphasis on leadership. Their desire to solve important problems, ability to spot and seize opportunities, and interpersonal skills reflect the qualities that we hope to instill in our students.
Speaking of leadership, I want to welcome Prof. Benjamin Perryman to his new role as Acting Associate Dean. He is stepping in for Cathy Cotter, who is on a well-deserved one-year sabbatical. Prof. Perryman is an accomplished legal scholar and practitioner. In addition to being a Trudeau Scholar and publishing influential works in his field of constitutional law, Prof. Perryman is a skilled human rights adjudicator and has represented marginalized people in significant Charter cases. I’m very grateful to be working closely with Ben this year, and I know UNB Law will benefit from his experience and good judgment.
In closing, I hope you’re proud of your connection to UNB Law. Since becoming Dean over five years ago, this has been one of my most important goals. That’s because, as lawyers, where we went to law school is part of our professional identity. If your law school does things that are worthy of pride, then by extension, they will make you proud too. And when we’re proud of where we came from, we have the confidence to go wherever life will take us. During this transformative period in UNB Law’s history, I urge you to take pride in your law school and contribute to the achievement of its full potential.
Please email your comments, story ideas, and alumni updates to nexus@unb.ca.
Editor & Creative Director: Ed Bowes
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue.
Special thanks to Candace Perry (3L), who provided writing/editing support.
