From a desire to help others to working in litigation
I barely remember 2019, but two years of a pandemic will do that to you. It sits squarely in the “Before Times”: when we could stand shoulder-to-shoulder at a concert and we were inundated with free pizza at in-person school events. We weren’t brushing up on our Greek alphabet to keep track of the various variants or figuring out whether we needed to bring proof of a negative COVID-19 test to board a plane. Apparently, it was the year we, the Class of 2022, started law school.
Every year, Ultra Vires asks the graduating class to reflect on their law school journey and where it all started: their applications. Students submit excerpts from their personal statements and compare it with their post-graduation plans.
The following have been edited for brevity and clarity.
“Nothing brings me greater joy than helping others. [H]elping people in small, everyday ways has always been a part of my life. However, I also want to play a part in tackling wider issues in society, and I believe law can help me do so. My role as a volunteer at my school’s drop-in centre for LGBTQ+ students […] has further strengthened my desire to help marginalized groups and individuals through the legal system, whether through legal activism and mobilization on a wider scale or representing affected individuals who have been treated unfairly. As an individual, I know my influence on the legal system and society is limited, but I want to do the most I can to ensure that people get the justice they deserve.”
While they were able to help individuals seeking equity and justice during their time at the Faculty, this student has not been very involved in legal activism and pushing for wide-scale change. After articling at the Ministry of Attorney General, they hope to work in wills and estates, ideally helping low-income, LGBTQ+, and Indigenous clients.
“As an engineer, I have a special appreciation for novel ideas and inventions. [I]nformation travels around the world almost instantly which can lead to theft or misuse, [and] as a result it is important to protect people’s ideas and ensure their rights are upheld. I plan to help do that by specializing in intellectual property and patent law. I see myself using my law degree to help stop infringement of ideas and theft of intellectual property.”
Reading what they wrote back then makes this student laugh: one of the main things that drew them to law school initially was making money. They’ve since realized that the legal profession has terrible work-life balance and they don’t know if they’ll be practicing law for very long; they’re considering doing freelance work, moving into a solo practice, or shifting into a different field entirely. This student will be articling in a litigation boutique that specializes in construction law.
“I think that the biggest social issue facing Canada at this moment is the government’s neglect of the Indigenous community. I spent [a] summer fundraising for Amnesty International Canada [where] I learned about the awful conditions facing Indigenous women and children, especially in Northern communities such as Attawapiskat. Though I was able to enact minimal change as a fundraiser, I was deeply inspired by the lawyers and advocates that work with Amnesty International. I realized that my dream was not just to study law, but to use law to enact real change and help people in need.”
This student thinks their personal statement was full of shit. They don’t think they ever really wanted to go into public interest law, but knew the buzzwords the school wanted to hear. They also believe that there are people better placed than themselves to work in advocacy for Northern communities. They will be articling in a management-side labour and employment boutique.
“I relished these opportunities to help others, both by advocating on their behalf and helping them advocate for themselves. Now, I want to be in the center of the country’s most bustling legal environment to gain practical experience in various legal specialties and in policy work. Interacting with Toronto’s diverse communities will give me countless opportunities to better understand the intricacies of human behaviour. A legal education at UofT would be the first step to gain the versatile skills needed to become the lawyer best-suited to help people seek justice.”
While several of this student’s extracurriculars screamed social justice, they will be articling at a full-service law firm because they like money. Their feelings toward their future legal career are ambivalent at best; they’re quite eager to quit, travel the world, and chill. They think the Faculty, the LSO’s recruit guidelines, and the pandemic killed 90 percent of their intellectual curiosity. They call for the LSO and the Faculty to rethink how they’re contributing to burnout before graduates even enter the profession.
“Law is appealing to me because it balances logic and rigour with the ability to make tangible change. I am currently in an environmental policy course and, although I am not sure whether I want to practice environmental law, seeing firsthand some [of] the severe effects of environmental policies, or lack thereof, is truly eye-opening. […] I aspire to be able to help people and their communities feel empowered and assist with accessible solutions for all.”
While they still hope their career can lessen the disproportionate environmental impact that policies can have on marginalized groups, this student will almost definitely not be practicing environmental law. They’re excited to be working at the Ministry of the Attorney General in a division where they will be able to tackle socially-relevant and potentially change-making cases.
“Our visits to these [towns in Pakistan] were evidence that mere access to medicines was insufficient for achieving a general improvement in community-level healthcare. News of [a pharmaceutical company’s] withdrawal of vaccines from the local market, due to an en masse cultural aversion to vaccination and correspondingly inadequate returns, also revealed the limitations of well-resourced private companies in improving public health. The ability to combat the witnessed national and global disparity in the provision of healthcare and any subsequent infrastructural development clearly rested in complete overhaul. […] Earning a Juris Doctor will empower me to work with greater expertise on such international and national initiatives at the desired scope. Besides providing me with an internationally renowned legal education, a JD from the University of Toronto will [provide] an opportunity to integrate the skills I learn with an up-close understanding of the workings of Canadian universal healthcare, and the equitable society being constructed on its foundation.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and the IHRP scandal threw many things off for this student. Much of their exposure to development and human rights at law school was largely academic. They think the focus on healthcare in their personal statement reads weirdly now, but it was meant to be a proxy for international development. They will be working in litigation in New York after graduation and wonder if the golden handcuffs will have an effect on them.
“I believe that law is a vessel for positive change, influencing our ideas from how we approach sexual assault cases to corporate data collection policies. It can provide the infrastructure on which societal shifts are based but can also serve as a reinforcement mechanism for harmful modes of thought. I hope to use my law degree to help people navigate the intricate world of laws, precedents, and court attendances. What draws me to the University of Toronto is its world-renowned teaching team, the numerous opportunities for legal research, and the experiential courses that focus on problem-based learning. In law school and beyond, I hope to continue thinking critically about the world around me while continuously trying to make a difference, one case at a time.”
After realizing how costly the litigation process is, this student no longer believes law is a “vessel for positive change”. Too many of their classes were taught by adjunct professors so they can’t speak to the “world-renowned” teaching team. They look forward to working at a litigation boutique and helping companies resolve disputes, one case at a time.
“I’ve learned as a legal assistant […] that commercial contracts typically include “representations and warranties”: definitive statements by each party regarding matters it is essential to confirm, such as the party’s bona fide corporate existence and legal authorization to consummate the transaction. Similarly, jury verdicts provide clear findings of fact with respect to a controversy, establishing a definitive account of how things stand between the parties. In other words, such documents provide assurance regarding facts of vital significance to those concerned. And thus they lend these facts potency: by certifying that certain propositions constitute facts worthy of confidence […] legal documents make it possible for us to treat those facts as authoritative guides to deliberation and action.”
This student is struck by how little direction their personal statement showed which ironically encapsulates their law school experience—muddling through without a clear sense of what their path would be. They have more direction now and they hope their goals become clearer as they get a better sense of what lawyering is like at a litigation boutique.
“My idea of the law is form and function inextricably tangled together. This tangle is so interesting that it would be easy to forget about ‘why’. But the truth is that ‘why’ does matter, more than anything else. I want to study the law and understand why it exists, and how to reconcile competing interests. I would be interested in policy, international law, or education.”
This student thinks they are better at recognizing how little they know about the law. They also think their writing was too flowery and vague. During law school, they pursued what interested them and their career goals have changed; they will be articling at a litigation boutique.
“I hope to become a plaintiff-side class action lawyer. After seeing the injustices of how large corporations profit off the weakness of the majority of the population, I am determined to join a profession that can rein in and punish these large corporations from exploiting the powerless majority. The legal profession is probably the only one such profession that allows me to make such an impact beyond becoming a politician; however, being a politician beholdens you to your donors while being a lawyer does not.”
Reading back their personal statement late at night, this student feels ashamed and questions where their moral compass went. They wonder if law school desensitized them to social justice issues and if they turned into the very thing they decried that caused them to pursue law. They will be articling at a full-service firm that only does defence-side class actions. They now aspire to be a partner at this firm.
Editor’s Note: Annecy Pang is part of the graduating class of 2022.
