2023 Legal Innovation & Digital Law Conference

Ryan Clements

Dr. Ryan Clements is an assistant professor and Chair in Business Law and Regulation at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law. His expertise is in the regulation of capital markets, fintech, blockchain, crypto-assets and financial product innovation, and he has published and spoken extensively on these topics throughout his career. He is currently a member of the Investor Advisory Panel of the Canadian Securities Administrators. He has worked in Calgary and Toronto at both large and boutique firms, practicing corporate, securities, and start-up company law. Dr. Clements is also a former senior policy advisor at the Alberta Securities Commission and a former member of crypto-asset working group of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. Dr. Clements has advised various levels of government, domestically and internationally, as well as been on advisory boards of private and public fintech ventures.

Marco Donadeo

Marco Donadeo is a venture capitalist in Edmonton, Alberta and a University of Saskatchewan Edwards School of Business alumni. During his undergraduate studies, he was awarded for excellence in managing the Dembrowski Student Managed Investment Portfolio. Notably, his investment interest did not start here, but at the age of twelve. Since then he has continued to excel in his career and manage multi-million-dollar portfolios. He currently serves as a General Partner at Weave WC, Red Thread Ventures Director, and the Director of Deal Flow for Valhalla Private Capital. In addition to his career, Donadeo is an active member of society in advancing others’ knowledge on new business opportunities, entrepreneurship, start-ups and all things fintech through his participation in webinars and podcasts.

Kintxo Freiss

Kintxo is based in Montreal, where he works as an Alliances & Legal Practice Manager and former Sales Engineer for DiliTrust, a software provider specializing in governance and legal management solutions. Kintxo holds an LL. B. from Universite de Montreal, a Master 1 in European Law from University of Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, and an LL. M. and M. A. in International Law and Affairs from Universite Laval. Having received training in Canada and France and holding numerous research positions, Kintxo has extensive knowledge in international law and global affairs.

Randy Goebel

Randy Goebel is a professor of Computing Science in the Department of Computing Science at the University of Alberta, and a Fellow and Co-Founder at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. Randy’s work in the fields of abduction, hypothetical reasoning, and belief revision is internationally renowned. Specializing in the logic of machine learning, Randy has helped make strides toward creating applications that make legal research faster, more precise, and more easily accessible to all. His machine learning acumen has also been applied to fields including autonomous driving and precision health.

A globetrotting scientist, Randy’s work has taken him to universities and research institutes from Tokyo to Germany; Kuala Lumpur to Sydney. He currently resides in Edmonton, but is involved in research projects around the globe.

Michael Grantmyre

Michael’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and securities law in the technology sector. As a partner in Osler’s Emerging and High Growth Companies group, Michael advises both technology companies and a wide range of investors in connection with a variety of transactions including acquisitions and divestitures, venture capital, growth equity and private equity financings, recapitalizations, joint ventures and strategic alliances, all in addition to supporting the day-to-day corporate needs of the companies that he acts for. Michael recently relocated from Osler’s Toronto office to lead Osler’s EHG practice in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to support the rapidly growing emerging and high growth companies’ ecosystem in these geographies, while continuing to work for new and existing clients from all across the country. Michael’s move, and Osler’s investment in the Prairies’ ecosystem of emerging and high-growth companies, represents a clear indication of Osler’s commitment to its EHG clients and the leadership role that Osler occupies in the ecosystem.

---

Paul Paton

Dr. Paul D. Paton is recognized internationally as an expert on legal ethics, professional responsibility, the regulation of lawyers, legal education and corporate governance. He was Dean of Law at UAlberta between 2014-19 and served as Interim CEO of the Canadian Bar Association in 2021. He was appointed by the American Bar Association President to the ABA Standing Committee on Professional Regulation (2020-23), was Reporter to the ABA Ethics 20/20 Commission, and was a member of the Arizona Supreme Court Working Group that drafted new rules to implement ABS and non-lawyer ownership in 2021 in that state. Dr. Paton holds a B.A. and LL.B. from the University of Toronto, an M.Phil in International Relations from Cambridge, and master’s and doctoral degrees in Law (JSM, JSD) from Stanford. Called to the bar in Ontario and Alberta, he practiced commercial litigation as an associate and partner with one of Canada’s leading firms, was in-house counsel to an international professional services firm, and served as Justice and Social Policy Advisor to the Premier of Ontario. He has been a professor and university administrator in both Canada and the United States. He is a four-time finalist in the Canadian Lawyer Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada, most recently in the “Changemaker” category in 2021. He was named Queen’s Counsel in Alberta in 2020.

Amir Reshef

Amir Reshef graduated from the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law in 2014. He went on to work at Dentons Canada in a general corporate commercial practice focused on venture technology and emerging growth companies, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and share and asset purchase transactions.

In 2017, he left the practice of law to focus on his legal technology company, Dealcloser, where he’s the CEO and co-founder. Dealcloser automates or eliminates the soul-crushing manual labor that makes up the legal deal closing process — labor that is required but inefficient and full of errors when done manually. Dealcloser has customers all over North America and works with firms of all sizes.

An active member of the local startup community, Amir was included in Edify Edmonton’s 2021 Top 40 under 40. He has spoken at numerous legal technology conferences and events, including ILTACON and the Canadian Legal Innovation Forum.

Doug Schweitzer

Doug Schweitzer is a Senior Advisor for Technology, Media and Telecommunication at Deloitte, and the former Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation for the province of Alberta. A lawyer by training, Doug’s career has taken him from private practice to public office, and into the world of consulting.

His innovation bona fides speak for themselves: while working for the province, Doug led the development of Alberta’s economic Recovery Plan, had direct responsibility for provincial tech and innovation strategies, and coordinated planning for industries from aerospace to pharmaceuticals. His work for Deloitte sees him support companies of all types as they adapt, scale and modernize in an increasingly digital world.