Digital Cohort

  My name is Spencer Klug. I graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the King’s university, and am currently a second year student at the Faculty of Law. I have been married to my lovely wife, Sydney, for five years. We added a dog, Kirkland, to our little fam this spring. I enjoy cooking, watching movies, and drinking coffee and beer.

I moved from Ukraine to Canada at the age of 16 to pursue an undergraduate degree. I settled down in Edmonton and completed my Bachelor of Political Science at the University of Alberta. While waiting for my permanent residency (PR), I worked with Accessibility Resources at the U of A for 3 years. I earned my PR and enrolled into the Law School in 2019. In my first year, I volunteered with SLS and the ECLC. I truly enjoyed getting a taste of working with clients and representing them in court. My 2020 summer student position with an Edmonton law firm was postponed until next year due to Covid-19. I fortunately have spent my summer working with the Faculty of Law as an Electronic Casebook Project and Pooled Research Assistant. I am now looking forward to completing my second year.  Accessibility Resources, SLS, and the ECLC have shown me the issues of access when it comes to people with diverse accessibility and income needs. I am a very strong proponent for developing and integrating technological solutions within the legal system to improve access to justice. Outside of Law School, my free time is solely occupied by a fluffy, mischievous, 40-pound corgi named Mishka.

  Denis Ram is a 3L at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law; with a Graduate Certificate in Business from Harvard Business School, Bachelor of Arts in Professional Communication with distinction from Royal Roads University, and Diploma in Print and Online Journalism from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Ram is a national moot champion, winning Top Individual Oralist, Top Team, and Top Factum at the 2020 Davies Corporate/Securities Law Moot. He is currently President of the Energy Law Club, and works as a Communications Associate for his law school. In prior years, he sat on the Alumni and Friends Committee and volunteered as a Caseworker for Student Legal Services. Before law school, Ram worked as an On-Air Reporter and Producer for Global News Calgary and as a Journalist for the Hill Times. Currently, Ram works as a political consultant for a number of elected officials. He has also volunteered extensively throughout his life, and has won numerous awards and accolades for his work in the community.

  Hi, my name is Barrett. My interest in the Digital Law area stems from my interest in technology. This began through music and working in a recording studio. Since then I have quickly become enthusiastic about tech and start-ups, specifically in the areas of renewable energy, space exploration, and fintech. I have also continued to become increasingly interested in artificial intelligence and its effect on the legal world, but for legal work and for the implications it has on the law itself.

When I am not worrying about these subjects, I spend a lot of my time watching/playing sports, hanging out with my dog, and hiking/camping in the mountains. The Digital Law Cohort is a great chance for all of us to explore and learn about topics like these and I look forward to the experience!

  I saw the opportunity to get involved with the Digital Law Cohort and I knew it would be a valuable experience in law school. The growth of the digital economy and the rapid spread of startup clusters has made me interested in getting involved in associated practice areas that can assist these companies. The practical challenges that these startups face in getting off the ground and producing innovative technologies is something that is becoming increasingly important to the overall economy's growth. I also found this program to be beneficial because I have had a long-standing interest in privacy law. The difficulties of personal privacy and how it is being challenged by the integration of the internet of things is an area I am hoping to explore more throughout the program.

In joining the cohort I want to deepen my understanding of both the practical elements of how these digital systems work, as well as how the law is going to impact startup businesses and privacy rights moving forward.

  Sruthi is a second-year law student at the University of Alberta. She joined the Digital Law Cohort because she believes that it is important to understand both how technology impacts legal institutions and how the law should respond to issues such as algorithmic bias that arise alongside technological advancement. Prior to law school Sruthi completed a Masters in Public Policy, making her particularly interested in when legal perspectives may be needed in public policy discussions surrounding new technology. During her time in law school, Sruthi has also been involved with Pro Bono Students Canada, Student Legal Services, and the Women’s Law Forum. In her free time Sruthi enjoys hiking, kayaking and just generally being outdoors!