Making the most of your law school years

Once I settled into law school, I turned a portion of my focus to what I wanted to do after I completed my degree.

What type of lawyer did I want to be?

Where did I want to work?

What did I want my work/life balance to look like?

Although law school classes explore the necessary substantive concepts underpinning the legal world, I found they didn’t provide me with as much insight into what being a lawyer was really like. In the latter half of my first year of law school, I took advantage of the resources available to law students to interact with practicing lawyers willing to lend their time and share their knowledge and wisdom about our profession. Additionally, I made considerable efforts to observe the legal system at work; the courtroom is often the best classroom and I make it a point to keep track of important legal issues moving through our courts locally or nationally. If you’re looking to maximize your familiarity with the legal sector while still in law school, I’d recommend you consider the following ways to do so.

Make active efforts to be curious

Examining a legal process from a task-by-task view kept me from understanding the greater context of the process, the parties and the end goal. When starting a project, studying for a final or working on a deliverable for a lawyer, ask yourself: where does this task or process fall in relation to the overall goal of a client or litigant? Legal tasks don’t happen in a vacuum; for example, drafting a statement of claim is a crucial part of the litigation process that sets the parameters of how the dispute might play out. Don’t be afraid to ask your supervisors, professors or contacts about what they do, how it gets done and how they do it. Curiosity arms you with the context you need to progress and learn as a future lawyer.

Take advantage of experiential learning in school

Nothing has been more formative for me than the experiential learning opportunities I’ve received during my time at Windsor Law. I’ve clerked with an Ontario Court of Justice judge, represented Windsor Law at provincial moot competitions, worked with clients at our community legal clinic and externed with Legal Aid Ontario. These experiences allowed me to get up close and personal with the practice of law. Working with real clients on real legal issues, all while learning substantive law in the classroom, gave me the necessary perspective to hit the ground running for my summer student position at Harrison Pensa.

Stay on your own path

I consider law school to be best described as a “fishbowl” with highly intelligent, ambitious and nervous people. It can be tempting to compare yourself with others in your cohort, especially when it comes to professional development, summer positions and academic success. I find it helpful to remind myself that I’m on my own journey within the profession with different goals, checkpoints and values than my peers. Comparison is the thief of joy, and it was draining me to continue to be concerned about hitting milestones that weren’t even on my radar in the first place.

I love hearing about the variety of reasons people came to law school, how their reasons changed and their ultimate destination in the profession; the fact that we’re on different trajectories is something to be celebrated, not looked down upon.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

As a law student, there’s no doubt you’ll be doing plenty of things for the first time. Expert litigators, transactional lawyers and judges didn’t leave law school with the knowledge and competence they have now. It’s okay — and expected — to not know things. At law school, my previous legal positions and at Harrison Pensa, I’ve been put into plenty of situations where I was nervous about doing things correctly; I already have several stories about blunders in front of judges and I can’t wait to keep having them as I progress through my career.

One partner at Harrison Pensa provided us with the wisdom that nothing we’re doing as law students is unfixable; summering and articling programs are designed with the proper supports in mind to allow students to gain experience and learn the ropes of the profession. I’ve found it most effective to be honest about what you don’t know; your firm, the law school and other members of the profession are willing and able to help you.

Be yourself. Seriously!

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, don’t lose track of who you are. The director of career services at Windsor Law gave me great advice about putting my best foot forward as I participated in firm events and recruits: be polite, be professional but be yourself; it’s exhausting to be someone you’re not. Law school is the time to explore your areas of interest and think about not only the type of lawyer you want to be but the type of person you want to be. Through exposure to different opportunities, I found I was better able to remain true to myself and my goals all while leaving room for my goals to change.

Don’t lose track of your favourite hobbies and keep up with your friends outside of the profession; it will help keep your life balanced.

Mark McKelvie is a law student at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law, and completed his summer law student term at Harrison Pensa LLP.

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