Preparing Tomorrow’s Lawyers Today
Last December, I had lunch with a group of friends who I hadn’t seen since I started law school. So much had happened since the last time we were all together, making us eager to catch up and share what we’d been up to. Naturally, we all took turns sharing stories about our lives, but something shifted when it was my turn to speak. Faced with questions about whether I was liking Toronto, loving law school and pursuing my dreams, my mouth grew dry, not because these were provocative or difficult questions, but because I wasn’t sure I could tell the whole truth.
What I wanted to say was that I wasn’t sure I could survive too many Toronto winters, I sometimes felt like I didn’t fit in at Osgoode, and, after a year of law school, I wasn’t sure this profession was for me. At the time, I wasn’t sure how to explain my strained relationship with the law and law school, and so I smiled and reassured my friends that it was challenging, but that I would figure it out. Like any good friends, they accepted my response in good faith.
Before coming to law school, I was committed to using my legal education to assist refugees and influence immigration policy. But as I learned more about the general limits of the law, and the reality of running a refugee practice, my confidence in this dream began to fade. I knew I needed to explore other areas of law, but was at a loss for where to start.
Despite my efforts to land a law job for the summer after 1L, I hadn’t secured a position by the time April rolled around. I worried that without legal experience, or a job, I might fall behind. So, when I got back home to Vancouver, I applied to a range of jobs – to be a research assistant, to work in retail, to waitress, to work at a grocery store – I even cold-called about 30 employers listed under the “Law” section in the phone book. Eventually, I stitched together a couple opportunities that I felt might help me figure out my future. It was a bit of a haphazard approach, but my summer experience felt varied and rich. I worked in one of Vancouver’s skyscrapers for half the summer, and at low-income legal clinics in East Vancouver and the Downtown Eastside for the other half. I worked as a research assistant for a professor whose work I admired. I learned about construction, immigration and poverty law. I also got to explore my passion for politics, and spend quality time reconnecting with family and friends.
As the summer went by, the buzz about On-Campus Interviews (OCIs) intensified and so I decided to sign up for firm tours hosted in Vancouver’s prestigious downtown business district. I attended eight back-to-back firm tours over the span of two days, perused countless websites, met with summer students who shared their experiences with me, crafted many thank you letters, and, eventually, drafted applications. While I learned a lot and ultimately opted to go through the OCI process, the logistics of attending the firms tours, navigating this new world and feeling uncertain about whether this would lead me to finding a challenging and fulfilling job overwhelmed me.
When I reflect on my trajectory so far, I wish I had spent more time finding professionals who used their JDs in unconventional, dynamic, and provocative ways. While I enjoyed spending my summer after 2L working at a large national firm, I continue to be interested in law as a tool for reform and change. The more I talked to friends about finding jobs either in 2L or 3L, the more I wished that Osgoode had a coordinated, supportive, non-OCI focused approach so that I could explore a wider variety of jobs.
This past summer, myself and three other Osgoode students — Justin Amaral, Angelica Buggie, and Lisa-Marie Williams — as well as a few members of Student Caucus and Kim Bonnar from the Career Development Office (CDO) got together to discuss how Osgoode could reframe the job search for students, particularly for 2Ls and 3Ls for whom pressures to find the “right” or “dream” job can be particularly intense. As a collective, we have three goals:
- To shift the place that non-OCI jobs currently occupy at Osgoode. Non-OCI jobs are not “alternative” fringe positions that only students who fail to secure OCI jobs apply for — they run the gamut and may be the only types of jobs some Osgoode students are interested in. We want to highlight the diversity of legal positions available to students who want international careers, careers that combine law and technology, or careers where JDs are an advantage, even if they are used by graduates working outside of black letter law. The demands on lawyers in the future will be different than the demands on lawyers today; we want to draw attention to areas where legal opportunities may be growing or rapidly changing so Osgoode students can remain at the forefront of innovative, ethical, and sustainable legal practice.
- To host a Career Week in early February. We will, in collaboration with anyone who is interested, put together a series of events over the span of five days – ranging from a resume workshopping session with career coaches who are experienced with helping students looking for non-traditional jobs, to a meet and greet mixer with recent Osgoode alumni who are passionately pushing the boundaries of professional practice.
- To host a monthly feature in the Obiter. Between now and the beginning of Career Week, we would like to introduce you to a group of talented and interesting JDs who we would like you to meet at our Career Week sessions.
When I arrived at Osgoode, I was most excited about how the diversity of my cohort would contribute to a fulfilling and enriched learning experience. I’m excited to be part of Career Week, which I hope will offer additional support for students interested in exploring a range of possibilities that go beyond the OCI process and work to prepare tomorrow’s lawyers today.