Visiting Speakers

On February 13th, the CLCW and FLSQ co-hosted guest Anna Chapman.  Anna is the Associate Professor and Co-Director for the Centre for Employment & Labour Relations Law at Melbourne Law School.  The title for her talk was "The Continuing Resonance of Breadwinner Norms in Australian Labour Law.

On January 16th, Jed Kroncke from the Sao Paulo Law School of Fundacao Getulio Vargas presented as the Douglas Cunningham Visitor in Law. His topic was The False Hope of Union Democrazy, Corporatism and Power in Nonparticipatory Workplaces.

On March 18th, Sara Slinn (Osgoode) presented as the Douglas Cunningham Visitor in Law. Her topic was Recurring Dilemmas in Labour Law Reform. Her presentation made an argument for the creation of a new perspective from which to consider labour law reform: the Free Association Perspective. Previously, she argued, there had been 4 perspectives, which emphasized different goals for union and non-union labour & employment law reform. These goals included increasing or decreasing bargaining power, union density, and worker voice. The Free Association Perspective has as its goals increasing worker bargaining power and worker voice through robust policies on Unfair Labour Practices, good faith bargaining and worker strikes on the union side, and permitting or perhaps requiring the formation of employee associations on the non-union side. The CLCW thanks Sara for her informative and innovative presentation, which encouraged a great deal of discussion in the Q&A portion.

Professor Virginia Mantouvalou visited the Faculty of Law on Monday, November 10th, 2014 and delivered the Douglas Cunningham Lecture entitled "The Expoitation of Domestic Workers Under Restrictive Visa Regimes". Bio to Professor Mantouvalou. The regulation of domestic work has often been criticised for placing domestic workers in a precarious position. This seminar focused on a specific aspect of the law: immigration legislation that ties migrant domestic workers to their employers. On the basis of theoretical and empirical research, it will be argued that the UK 2012 Overseas Domestic Worker visa leads to situations of grave exploitation, and possibly to a breach of European human rights law.

Professor Matt Dimick visited the Faculty of Law on Monday, March 10th, 2014 and delivered the Douglas Cunningham Lecture entitled "Productive Unionism". Bio to Professor Dimick. Matthew is an engaging U.S.-based scholar who writes and teaches at the intersection of labour markets, firms and states. Professor Dimick holds a Ph.D in economic sociology in addition to a JD. His interests are wide ranging and include, in addition to labour law, voting behaviour in industrial democracies, and the plight of the working poor.

On Monday, February 4th, the Centre hosted the Douglas Cunningham Visitorship in Labour and Employment Law webinar with Roger L. Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Bio to Roger Martin (PDF, 161KB).  His webinar titled "Fixing the Game: Bubbles, Crashes and What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL" can be viewed live free in the link provided below.

On Monday, January 28th, the Centre hosted the Douglas Cunningham Visitorship in Labour and Employment Law webinar with Cynthia Estlund, Professor at the New York University School of Law. Her webinar titled "What is Democracy For in China? The Case of Trade Union Elections" can be viewed live free in the link provided below.

Professor Cynthia Estlund is the Catherine A. Rein Professor at the New York University School of Law. She has written extensively on workplace regulation and governance; worker voice and participation; freedom of expression and procedural fairness at work; diversity, integration, and affirmative action; and many aspects of collective labour law. Her current research is primarily comparative, with a major focus on Chinese labour law and labour relations. She is the author of Regoverning the Workplace: From Self-Regulation to Co-Regulation (Yale Univ. Press, 2010), and Working Together: How Workplace Bonds Strengthen a Diverse Democracy (Oxford Univ. Press, 2003).

On Monday, March 5th, the Centre hosted the Douglas Cunningham Visitorship in Labour and Employment Law webinar with Lynn Stout, Paul Hastings Distinguished Professor of Corporate and Securities Law, UCLA School of Law. Her webinar titled The Unintended Consequences of Pay for Performance can be viewed in the link provided below.

Professor Lynn A. Stout is the Paul Hastings Distinguished Professor of Corporate and Securities Law at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. Professor Stout is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of corporate governance, securities regulation, financial derivatives, law and economics, and moral behavior. She is the author of numerous articles and books on these topics and lectures widely. Her most recent book is Cultivating Conscience: How Good Laws Make Good People (Princeton University Press, 2011).

On Monday, October 31st, the Centre hosted the Douglas Cunningham Visitor in Labour and Employment Law Webinar which featured Alan Hyde, Professor of Law and Sidney Reitman Scholar. Bio to Alan Hyde.

His webinar titled Intellectual Property Justifications for Restricting Employee Mobility: A Critical Appraisal in Light of the Economic Evidence can be viewed in the link provided below. In this talk he advances a provocative critique of the justifications for enforcing non-compete clauses in employment contracts, a growing area of concern in today's knowledge-based economy. The time has come, he argues, for the law to refuse to enforce restrictive covenants, and to restrict employer claims that departing employees will disclose trade secrets.

On Monday, September 12th, the Centre hosted the Osler, Hoskin & Harcout LLP Distinguished Lecture in Business Law Webinar which featured Simon Deakin, Professor of Law and Fellow of Peterhouse College, University of Cambridge. Bio to Simon Deakin.

His webinar titled The Corporation as Commons can be viewed in the link provided below where Simon Deakin propsed a conceptual rethinking of the role of the corporation as a legal form of business enterprise. He delivered his paper, "The Corporation as Commons", to Queen's Law students and faculty.