Legal Services
The general counsel and lawyers working with the office of the general counsel represent the university. When these lawyers interact with faculty or staff on legal matters, it is important that the faculty and staff understand that these lawyers owe their allegiance to the institution. The duty of confidentiality is a duty owed to the institution and not to any individual. If at any time, a conflict of interest arises between the institution and an employee, the lawyers working with the office of the general counsel will represent the institution.
If someone asks you to accept legal papers on behalf of Thompson Rivers University, you should refuse to accept the papers. Direct the person to the office of the general counsel, in the TRU Clocktower or call 250-828-5002.
Contract Review
Under the university's Signing Authority Policy, prior to signing, all contracts being entered into by the university require legal review except for:
(i) contracts with a value less than $30,000.00; and
(ii) contracts with a value up to $50,000.00 that use a template approved by general counsel's office.
(iii) employment contracts that use a template approved by general counsel's office.
Despite the above, any document that contains a guarantee or indemnity must be reviewed by TRU Risk Management Services (risk@tru.ca), prior to such a document being signed.
Indemnity is a commitment under which a person undertakes to secure another person against a loss or to prevent the other person from being injured by the legal consequences of an act. Signing officers who are unsure whether a particular commitment constitutes an indemnity should consult general counsel.
See The Signing Authority Policy.
The Contract Review Request Form and templates are located on OneTRU.
Once the contract review has been completed by TRU legal with/without risk, the Recommendation to Sign Proposed Contract must be completed and attached to the Contract Review Request Form and submitted to the appropriate signing delegate.
Legal Help Desk
Requests for contract reviews should be submitted, with the completed Contract Review Form, to Legal Help Desk at http://legal-whd.tru.ca or by email to ldesk@tru.ca. Once a request has been submitted, the requester will receive an e-mail confirming that the request has been received and will provide the requester with a ticket number that allows the requester to track the status of their request.
NOTE: You must be on campus or connected to the VPN to access the Legal Help Desk.
Contract Database
The office of the general counsel maintains a central repository of major contracts entered into by the university. A staff member wishing to request a copy of a contract should contact general counsel gc@tru.ca or the office coordinator abiro@tru.ca.
