JUSTINE LINDNER
<Contributor>
I participated in the Osgoode Business Clinic (“OBC”) as a first year volunteer, and then as an upper year student in the clinic in my second year.
I really enjoyed volunteering with the Osgoode Business Clinic. It gave me an opportunity to try drafting contract provisions and memos, practical experience that law school doesn’t really provide otherwise. Since the work is divided between you and your partner or group, and supervised by lawyers from Stikeman Elliott LLP, there is a lot of support and assistance available. My group decided to draft most deliverables together so that we could all benefit from the opportunity and so that the workload was divided fairly.
The best aspect of OBC was working with the same client over the course of the entire school year. Since it is necessary to meet with the client multiple times, I found that it allowed me to gain a thorough understanding of her priorities and perspective as an entrepreneur. It was a good practice in developing communication and client service skills. At the end of the year, my group provided her with legal documents that assisted her business and that she will be able to use in the future. It’s satisfying to see that her business is successful and growing, knowing that we were a part of that.
The OBC requires less of a time commitment relative to the other clinical programs, because it is only 4 credits [2 credits per term]. My group chose to meet the client downtown rather than on-campus and we completed a lot of the work for the clinic from home. Since the deadlines for the various deliverables are negotiated among the group, the client, and the supervising lawyers, I found that the workload was very manageable. The deadlines could be made so that they did not conflict with a moot or an assignment for a different class.
I’d recommend the OBC to students interested in having some exposure to corporate law. I thought the experience was great and it fit into my schedule such that it didn’t take away from my other courses and volunteer/club activities. As a second year student at the time, I also didn’t feel that the material was over my head, and I felt comfortable because there were a lot of resources available to me when I did have questions.