Clayton Bangsund

Biography

Clayton Bangsund joined the College of Law in 2014. He is an expert in secured finance and various other fields of commercial law. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta in 2005, Clayton practiced law in three western Canadian provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. He gained expertise in a variety of corporate and commercial practice areas, and developed a special focus on debtor-creditor law – both front-end lending and back-end realization. While engaged in private practice, Clayton penned numerous articles and newsletters, and wrote bar course (CPLED) materials for the Law Societies of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Following six years of practice, he embarked on an academic path. In 2012, Clayton earned a Master of Laws from Columbia Law School where he was recognized as a James Kent Scholar and awarded the Walter Gellhorn Prize for graduating with the highest grade point average in his class. He then returned to the University of Alberta to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy under the supervision of internationally renowned scholar, Professor Roderick J. Wood. Clayton’s doctoral research focuses on the deposit account (i.e. bank account). He is interested in answering the question of whether and to what extent Canadian common law jurisdictions ought to amend the Personal Property Security Act (PPSA) in a manner that permits or mandates a security interest in a deposit account to be perfected by control. The project is inspired by the financial industry’s recent push for reform in the “cash collateral” arena, and driven by the need for a carefully thought-out legal framework for the governance of the deposit account as an item of commerce and personal property security. He has received numerous scholarships and prizes in support of his doctoral research including the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (administered by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)), the Viscount Bennett Scholarship (administered by the Law Society of Alberta) and the President’s Doctoral Prize of Distinction. Clayton is a member of the Canadian Conference on Personal Property Security Law (CCPPSL) and the CCPPSL’s Legislative Review Subcommittee, which has been tasked with reviewing the Canadian PPSAs and setting forth proposals for change. Clayton is also a member of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers. His teaching responsibilities with the College of Law include Contracts, Commercial Relationships, Secured Transactions in Personal Property, and Banking, Payment & Transfer Systems. In 2016, he was awarded the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union Teaching Excellence Award.

Research Interest

Bankruptcy/Insolvency Law Commercial Law (Domestic) Contract Law Secured Financing Law