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» Go to news mainThe Schulich School of Law Appoints New Chairs
The Schulich School of Law is proud to announce the appointments ofAssociate Professor Liam McHugh-Russell as the inauguralInnis Christie Chair in Labour and Employment Law and Associate Professor Dr. Sara Ross as the Yogis and Keddy Chair in Human Rights Law. They began their appointments as of July 1, 2025.
Innis Christie Chair in Labour and Employment Law –
Liam McHugh-Russell
The recently established Innis Christie Chair in Labour and Employment Law is named to honour the memory of former H Law School Professor and Dean Innis Christie, QC, and his accomplishments in the field of labour and employment law. The inaugural Chair will provide intellectual leadership at the law school in labour and employment law, actively engaging in projects that seek to have an impact in the fields locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally, while contributing to teaching and supervision at both the JD and graduate levels.
ѳܲ-ܲ is an associate professor at the Schulich School of Law. He holds a PhD in law from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, where he received the Hans Kelsen doctoral scholarship and a doctoral award from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. He earned a Master of Laws from the Institute for Comparative Law at McGill University in 2013 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto in 2008.
McHugh-Russell's professional experience includes many years working part-time at the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and practicing with a union-side labour law firm. He is an associate member of the Labour Law and Development Research Laboratoryat McGill University, the International Economic Law Collective, and the Labour Law Research Network. He is also a lawyer member of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society.
"I am humbled to hold a chair named after Innis Christie. He was a trailblazer in Canadian labour and employment law, a pillar of the law school, and a giant in Nova Scotia's legal community,” says McHugh-Russell. “I am thankful for all the people who helped make this possible and am eager to use the Chair to build the law school's strength in the field."
Yogis and Keddy Chair in Human Rights Law –
Dr. Sara Ross
Established in 2007 by Judge Sandra Oxner in honour of her late husband, Donald Keddy, and esteemed colleague, Professor John Yogis, QC, the Yogis and Keddy Chair in Human Rights Law furthers the study of human rights at the law school, and plays a leadership role in developing collaborative programs with other academic institutions and governments.
Dr. Sara Ross is a former Banting postdoctoral fellow, Killam postdoctoral laureate, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) postdoctoral fellow. She articled at the Federal Court under the Honourable Justice Luc Martineau and is a member of the Bar with the Law Society of Ontario. Prior to joining the Schulich School of Law, Ross held teaching positions at Osgoode Hall Law School and the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. She also serves as the director of the Marine & Environmental Law Program and the associate director of the Marine & Environmental Law Institute at Schulich Law.
She has published in journals including theCanadian Bar Review,Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities, and theInternational Journal of Cultural Property. Ross is a former editor-in-chief of theMcGill Law Journaland is now the co-editor-in-chief of theCanadian Legal Education Annual Reviewas well as the book review editor for theCanadian Journal of Law and Society. Her most recent book, Law and Intangible Cultural Heritage in the City,was published in 2019 by Routledge.Her forthcoming book,Nowhere to Go: Housing Heritage, Hotels, and Homelessness,will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2026.
"Being entrusted with this Chair is immensely meaningful to me. It affirms the value of shining a light on human rights questions in our own backyard alongside underexplored approaches to the ways in which human rights violations can take place in a manner that is extraordinarily damaging to a community, but frequently flies under the radar of more common understandings of what these violations entail,” says Ross. “This appointment coincides with my SSHRC Insight Development grant to research and highlight the historic and ongoing, contemporary struggle of Acadian communities to safeguard their culture, livelihood, and language despite decades of prejudicial treatment from colonial to current governments. The funding for the Chair will amplify my ability to pursue on-the-ground field research across the region, and to share my findings with the international community."
Please join us in congratulating these members of our Schulich Law community as they embark on their new appointments.
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