Corporate/Commercial Legal
We provide legal review of non-research related agreements and other legal or governance support to senior administration in all UCalgary faculties and business units. All requests for assistance from Corporate/Commercial Legal should be sent to commercial.legal@ucalgary.ca and must:
- be from a ucalgary.ca email address and relate to a UCalgary matter;
- either:
- come through an established legal review channel (e.g., procurement agreements, student placement agreements, etc.); or
- have senior leadership team (SLT) approval (i.e. Dean, Senior Associate Dean or AVP), with the relevant SLT member copied on the request; and,
- provide an explanation of the background of the matter, the legal advice being sought, and the key business terms of any proposed arrangement or agreement.
Note that we are only able to accommodate urgent or time sensitive requests for matters requested directly by an SLT member.
The Corporate/Commercial Legal team supports on the following matters:
- Procurement and commercial contracts
- Software and technology acquisitions
- Funding and grant agreements
- Collaboration, affiliation and partnership agreements
- Student placement and practicum agreements
- Information sharing agreements
- Sponsorship and naming agreements
- Gift and philanthropic sponsorship agreements
- Construction and real estate matters
- Event and use of space agreements
- Intellectual property agreements
- Governance and delegation of authority matters
- Commercial risk management and legislative compliance
- Notary services for UCalgary-related business
The Corporate/Commercial Legal team does not support on the following matters:
- Legal advice or notary services to students in a personal capacity
- Legal advice or notary services to staff or faculty in a personal capacity or for non-UCalgary related matters
- Legal advice or notary services directly to external third-parties
- Agreements involving only research activities (please contact Research Legal or CSM Legal)
- Matters requiring the Corporate/Commercial Legal team to approve business terms or act as project managers
- Incomplete requests lacking sufficient approval or business context
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Corporate/Commercial Legal represents the University of Calgary; we advise senior leadership and act on behalf of UCalgary in all legal matters.
No. We cannot represent or provide legal advice to individual faculty members, staff, or students about non-UCalgary business or personal matters.
For non-UCalgary business or personal matters, please contact the Student Legal Assistance (SLA) Office in the Faculty of Law.
No. We cannot notarize or commission documents for individual faculty members, staff, or students with regards to non-UCalgary business or personal matters.
For non-UCalgary business or personal matters, please contact the Student Legal Assistance (SLA) Office in the Faculty of Law.
No. We cannot provide legal advice on a contract exclusively relating to faculty intellectual property rights or commercialization (such as copyright or patents). The Copyright Office may be able to offer guidance and respond to general questions in regards to author rights and publishing agreements.
No. Only University Legal Services has the authority to retain external counsel on behalf of UCalgary. Please contact us if you think external counsel needs to be retained for any reason.
The Delegation of Authority Policy sets out who has the authority to sign documents on behalf of UCalgary.
No person has the authority to make any decisions or sign any document (including legal agreements) if it creates an obligation or undertaking on behalf of UCalgary, unless:
- the person has authority as set out in the Delegation of Authority Policy,
- the person has authority as set out in a resolution of the Board of Governors or the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors, or
- the person has sub-delegated or temporary authority.
Currently, responsibility for signing legal agreements lies only at the executive and senior leadership level. Please refer to the DOA webpage for more details. Please review the Delegation of Authority Policy for more information.