Art of the deal’s ‘simulated learning’ Posted Wednesday, March 7, 2012 4:21 PM   NEWS   The Marcel A. Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law (Desautels Centre) is partnering with virtual data room provider Firmex Inc. to host “mock deals” to enhance its course on Business Transactions: The Art of the Deal in the Faculty of Law. By using real-world tools like a virtual data room, the course is able to improve the practical application and understanding of the advisory role of counsel in transactional matters. “We are very excited to be adding this technology component to our curriculum,” said John Pozios, director of the Desautels Centre. “Experience with the actual software tools used by transactional professionals better prepares our students to not only compete for jobs but to excel at them post-graduation.” Firmex Inc., a Canadian software company, is a cloud-based provider of secure document sharing services. Virtual data rooms differ from other cloud-based document sharing services because they provide stringent document-level security, such as encryption and digital rights management. Virtual data rooms are well-suited for processes that need to share large amounts of confidential documents, in a compressed timeframe, with individuals that sit outside the corporate firewall, including M&A deals, financial audits, compliance and litigation. “We are proud to work the Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise to support their unique approach to this important area of law,” said Joel Lessem, CEO, Firmex. The Desautels Centre integrates the disciplines of law, business and the humanities as they apply to family-controlled and other private enterprises, the principal foundation of all economic activity in Canada. This focus on private enterprise, rather than public corporations, and a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding business people, as well as their businesses, makes the Centre unique for a Canadian law school. Through the Centre’s academic programs, students develop the necessary skills, and acquire relevant perspectives to address, in a holistic manner, issues faced by these enterprises and their owners at all stages of the private business life cycle, from conception through growth and development, to maturity, succession and disposition.   For more information, contact: Jennifer Chlopecki Communications Coordinator Faculty of Law jennifer_chlopecki@umanitoba.ca Phone: (204) 480-1452 Fax: (204) 474-7580