Networking and volunteering with the Faculty’s Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers student chapter
Although the University of Toronto has been home to a student chapter of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers for the last couple of years, this school year has seen a marked expansion in the club’s membership. Fittingly, this year, CARL U of T organized its first networking event to bring together law students and refugee law practitioners on February 13.
As CARL U of T Co-chair Enbal Singer (3L) explained, this sort of networking event is one of the main activities the club strives to engage in.
“A CARL chapter is a way for students to access the larger CARL network of refugee lawyers,” she said.
Accessing the larger network is especially important in a field like refugee law, she elaborated, as most refugee lawyers tend to either work as solo practitioners or operate in small firms. Given the limited resources available, there isn’t the same sort of clear path into a refugee law career as there is in a field like corporate law. Not only did the students seem to enjoy the event, but the lawyers did as well.
“All the lawyers we contacted were like, that’s a great idea … [and want] to come in future years,” said Singer.
Beyond networking, this year, CARL U of T has provided a year-long volunteering opportunity at the FCJ Refugee Center. Co-chair Kristen Kephalas (2L JD/MGA) volunteered at FCJ one summer as an undergraduate, and had such a positive experience she was determined to go back.
“This was the perfect opportunity,” she said. “Not only can I go back, but I can bring a bunch of law students with me.”
“law students …get to dive in right away.”
When Kephalas first reached out to FCJ to initiate the program, however, there was a problem. Kephalas thought that law students would likely be willing to commit to a shift once per month, but given the ongoing nature of the work (files are typically developed over several consecutive weeks) the center only wanted students who could commit to a weekly shift. Kephalas was doubtful that busy law students would be inclined to this level of commitment, but co-chair Rachel Bryce suggested they see who might be interested, and found a surprising number willing to do so.
One of the unique aspects of this volunteer opportunity is attributable to its quasi-legal nature. As Kephalas noted, “It is not as legal as some of the other clinics at the U of T [and so] law students …get to dive in right away.”
Kephalas is not kidding about the involved nature of the work—I know because I am one of the 1L volunteers who signed up. We had attended a group training session the week prior, but I was still overwhelmed by the task when given a thick file and a computer terminal to work at that first day back in October. The primary activity student volunteers help with at FCJ is compiling Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) grounds claims. These claims are submitted on behalf of individuals who have had their refugee claims denied for various reasons.
H&C claims are the last opportunity for these individuals to remain in Canada. So, you can imagine the pressure this places upon student volunteers. Of course, all the volunteer work is carefully supervised and inspected by FCJ staff, but there is no better opportunity for students to experience the high-stakes environment of refugee law. It has been eye-opening and rewarding for me, and I could not recommend enough that other students take the opportunity for themselves if they are at all interested in this unique and important area of the law. Fortunately, all who would like to will have the chance to get involved.
“In the fall, we will be running another group training [session],” said Kaphalas.
In the meantime, be on the lookout for other CARL U of T sponsored events.
