Faculty of Law

Dr. Bruce Curran

Biography

Professor Curran is primarily focused on using empirical methods to study labour & employment law and dispute resolution.  He has a diverse and extensive academic background.  He earned a Bachelor of Laws from Western; a Master of Industrial Relations from the University of Toronto; and a Masters of Law in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Osgoode Hall Law School.  Professor Curran has also earned a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, which further augments his interdisciplinary capacity. He obtained it at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, which has a rigorous emphasis on empirical methodology. The skills he has gained enable him to conduct empirical legal research, a burgeoning and fertile area.  His ability in this area has been recognized, as he is a reviewer for the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies.

Doctor Curran has developed and honed skills for innovative and high-quality scholarly research.  He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and chapters in the area of labour and employment law.  Many of these publications utilize sophisticated statistical analysis. Professor Curran is also a member of the national Labour Law Casebook Group, a group of Professors from across Canada who have published the authoriative Canadian casebook for labour and employment law. 

In addition to his research abilities, Dr. Curran is an outstanding teacher.  He is passionate about teaching many different areas of law, especially dispute resolution, negotiation, contracts, labour and employment law, trusts, and human rights.  He is especially interested in experiential and multi-disciplinary approaches to teaching. Before becoming a Professor at University of Manitoba Faculty of Law, he was a Lecturer in the Legal Studies program at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) (now Ontario Tech University), where he taught a number of courses roughly analogous to those on the JD curriculum.  Professor Curran has also taught courses at Osgoode Hall Law School, and the University of Toronto.

Professor Curran has received a number of awards and honours for his teaching. While teaching at UOIT, he was the 2015 recipient of the Award of Teaching Excellence in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities. Since coming to the University of Manitoba, he was honoured with the University of Manitoba Merit Award for Teaching Excellence for the Humanities and Social Sciences section. Moreover, he has been nominated twice for the Barney Sneiderman Award for Teaching Excellence, and he was selected by one of his former students for recognition at the Students’ Teacher Recognition Reception in 2020. His teaching experiences have inspired him to take a number of teaching courses, including an optional full semester course called “Teaching in Higher Education”, which provided an excellent foundation in pedagogical research and methods. 
 

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Research Areas

    • Contracts
    • Negotiation
    • Dispute Resolution (including mediation and arbitration)
    • Employment Law
    • Human Rights
    • Empirical Legal Research
    • Labour Law

Selected Publications

Peer Reviewed Journals

  • Bruce Curran, “Negotiating About Bad Faith: The Impact of Honda v. Keays on Wrongful Dismissal Settlements” (2022) 24:1 CLELJ 1. 
  • Bruce Curran, “Hugh A. Robson – A Labour Jurist Ahead of his Time” (2019) 42:2 Man LJ 85.
  • Bruce Curran, “Honda v. Keays—Employer Shield or Employee Sword? An Empirical Analysis” (2018) 21:1 CLELJ 51.
  • Bruce Curran, “Event History Analysis of Grievance Arbitration in Ontario:  Labour Justice Delayed?” (2017) 72:4 Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations 621.
  • Bruce Curran & Sara Slinn, “Just Notice Reform:  Enhanced Statutory Termination Provisions for the 99%” (2017) 20:1 CLELJ 229.
  • Bruce Curran, “Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401:  Case Comment” (2014) 52:1 Alta L Rev 185.
  • Bruce Curran & Scott Walsworth, “Can You Pay Employees to Innovate?  Evidence from the Canadian Private Sector” (2014) 24:3 Human Resource Management Journal 290.

Casebooks

  • Sara Slinn & Bruce Curran, “The Right to Join a Union” in Kevin Banks, ed, Labour and Employment Law: Cases, Materials, and Commentary, 9th ed (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2018.

Chapters in Books

  • Bruce Curran, “Compensation for Responders to a Nuclear Accident:  Where Should the Law Go?” in Jonathan Black-Branch and Dieter Fleck, eds,  Nuclear Non-Proliferation in International Law, Volume IV (Hague: T.M.C. Asser Press, 2019).

Community Involvement

  • Member, Canadian Industrial Relations Association, 2012 to present
  • Member, Manitoba Bar Association, 2017 to present
  • Organizing Committee Member, Canadian National Negotiation Competition, 2017-present
  • Reviewer for various academic journals, including the following:
    • Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations, 2017-present
    • Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal, 2018-present
    • Manitoba Law Journal, 2018-present
    • Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 2019-present
    • McGill Law Journal, 2020-present
    • UBC Law Review, 2020-present
    • Queen’s Law Journal, 2021-present
    • Ottawa Law Review, 2021-present
    • Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies, 2021-present
  • Member of Organizing Committee, Isaac Pitblado Lectures, 2018
  • Member of team organized by indigenous law students, Winnipeg Law Softball League, 2019

Awards

  • Faculty of Law’s Extraordinary Service Faculty Award, for his diligence, professionalism, and leadership in providing support to his colleagues in service work on governance, compensation and the Negotiations program. – 2023

  • Law of Work Award, for best paper submitted on the law of work to the 58th Annual Conference of Canadian Industrial Relations Association (CIRA) – 2021. 

  • Selected by a former student for recognition at the Annual Students’ Teacher Recognition Reception, University of Manitoba – 2020. 

  • University of Manitoba Merit Award for Teaching Excellence  – 2017

  • UOIT Award of Teaching Excellence in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities – 2015

  • Allen Ponak Award, for best student paper, 51st Annual Conference of Canadian Industrial Relations Association (CIRA) – 2014

    Allen Ponak Award honourable mention for best student paper, 50th Annual Conference of CIRA – 2013