the daily snivel

On July 12, 2006, I was Called to the Bar as a Barrister and Solicitor and a Member in Good Standing of the Law Society of Upper Canada. I am now a lawyer.

I'm pictured above in my legal robes, which are required court attire in the Superior Court and every appeal court, and you can't be Called to the Bar without them. While some people simply borrow or rent theirs, I know I'll be needing them sooner or later, and I wouldn't feel like a proper lawyer if I didn't have them ready for an unexpected trip to the Supreme Court (as happened to one of my mentors within a week of his first being Called). They cost me $500, all told, but I think they're worth every penny scrimped and borrowed to afford them. I think I look very, very smart in them... though in fairness to the inherent power of awesomeness within the robes, it's probably them more than me looking so damn smart. I'm on the record as saying that you could shave a gorilla and slap him in a set of those and people would still be saying to themselves, "Man that guy looks sharp."

This is the culmination of about 8 years of work. I can still remember the decision to switch gears in 1999 and enter the Criminology Program at Carleton University (transferring out of the Cognitive Science Program, where i was rapidly discovering that I'm Just Not That Into computer programming), which was amazing and daunting at first, just so I could follow the passion I'd long held for the rule of law, and social justice. In doing so, I kicked my GPA hard in the rear and came out of my undergraduate degree with highest honours.

You've read a lot about the following three years of law school, mostly spent as a student at the Legal Clinic where I honed so many skills, the past year of completing the Bar Admission Course, going to Toronto and back again, and the past ten months during which I completed my Articles of Clerkship at the Clinic. In that time I've studied, crammed, fretted, lost untold hours of sleep, and discovered a great deal of newfound confidence as I did things I would not have thought possible of myself. It's been a lot of hard work, and long hours, and on the way I lost a good friend whose mental health declined to the point where she could not continue, and I no longer know where or how she is. I've also proven myself to a lot of people who didn't think I would amount to much. More than that, though, I've shown that the faith and support of the many more people who believed in me was not misplaced.

It's a tremendously strange feeling being a lawyer all of a sudden. One day I'm just an articling student -- last in line to call cases at remand court, can't argue a bail hearing, can't appear in Superior Court, can't give legal advice -- and then, at a ceremony at the National Arts Centre, presto-chango, I'm a lawyer. I mean, it wasn't just that. First, we had to assemble at 8:00 am. Then we took our seats and one-by-one called us across the stage by name where we shook the hand of the Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada and were given the Degree of Barrister-at-Law and led back to the seats with the rest of our colleagues, where we took three oaths (a voluntarily oath of allegiance to the Queen and her heirs, and the mandatory Barrister's Oath and the Solicitor's Oath), and a special sitting of the Superior Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal confirmed our ability to practice before the courts. Plus lots of speeches, of course.

Nevertheless, it's certainly an odd feeling. I wish I could say I felt any wiser or more learned. If anything, being a lawyer is a lot like being an articling student, but a lot more expensive. No sooner have you taken your robes off from the ceremony but you're being sent invoices for your Law Society fees and your LawPRO (Lawyers' insurance) premiums. Not to mention there's the fact that you no longer have the security blanket of a Principal who must sign off on all your actions and correspondence. All the mistakes I make in the future are entirely my own. Meanwhile, I still have a lot of debts, and there's more to being a lawyer than simply hanging up a shingle and raking in the juicy retainers. There's a lot to be done first, and that's certainly the (slightly) scary part.

Happily, I'm going to remain at the Legal Clinic until the end of the summer, staying on to help supervise one of the divisions while one of the Review Counsel is away. I'm glad that I'll be there a bit longer, as it will allow me the chance to finish a couple of very important cases and projects I've already invested a great deal of care and labour into, as well as giving me time for a graceful and gradual exit. I've already moved out of my posh office to make way for the new articling student, who starts Monday and to whom we wish to give a proper welcome by having a permanent and comfortable space set aside for. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll work wherever there's space (probably in the supply office I used last summer when I was part-time and working on the website), though I've decided to take up the Director's offer to use her office while she's away for three weeks, since I know I'll miss my former office's window air conditioner before long.

The next couple of weeks will also be spent looking for a new job. I would prefer to work at a firm or organization for the next few years, while I perfect my advocacy skills and continue to learn the law and the many strange procedures and secrets that they don't teach you in law school (though I daresay I know more of these things than a lot of my fledgling colleagues thanks to the extensive client wrangling and court experience that the Clinic gave me). Ultimately, I will probably practice Clinic law, since the clients and issues that clinics engage are where my commitment runs strongest, but in the meantime I will probably gladly work wherever my conscience and budget will allow.

So, er, if you know anybody who needs somebody...

Meanwhile, I have to extend my congratulations, along with my thanks, to the wonderful friends I've made throughout law school who are also being Called this month. You've all made the process a lot saner, and I'm glad I could share it with you. And to my family, friends, and mentors: I can never repay the support and faith you've given to me, but I will spend my entire career trying, all the while striving to do honour to your values, and the priceless lessons you've taught me.