Take Charge by Bacal Norman

Author:Bacal, Norman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-988387-22-2
Publisher: Iguana Books
Published: 2021-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

Keep your options open

I’ve heard stories about the recent pressures on students to declare their practice interests while in first or second year or in advance of OCIs. To say that is both unrealistic and unnatural might be the understatement of the year. How can you possibly know what practice area will interest you based on some coursework? If you must do this to survive OCIs, then play the game, but remember to keep your options open for as long as you can. Few students know yet how or when their passion will develop or where the current of their career will take them. In the future you may retain the same basic values, but your experience, skill development, and psychological adjustments will change you in ways you cannot yet imagine. Here are some examples:

André Bacchus walked away from a lucrative career as a Manhattan securities lawyer and found a job more suited to him developing young professionals in Toronto.

Erin O’Toole, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, practised law until he succumbed to the voice in his head to follow in his father’s footsteps to serve the public good as a member of Parliament. As a former soldier (twelve years in the armed forces), he was also a founder of True Patriot Love, a charity whose mission is to inspire Canadians to contribute to the resilience of military and veteran families.

Erin is a big believer in orientation. “Most important, choose a work environment consistent with what is important to you. For me it was social justice.”

Mark Le Blanc was practising at an intellectual property boutique when the chance to move in-house at CBC presented itself. It turned out to be a wise move a few years later when the GC position at TVO arose. Mark now leads a group that has been part of a corporate transformation, testing his legal and business skills.

There are countless cases of lawyers who like their work environment but don’t enjoy what they’re doing. Lorene Nagata is one of the leading head hunters in the country. She runs NagataConnex out of her office in Toronto. She began her career as a litigator in a mid-size firm, and when she realized after more than four years in practice that she was not having fun, she called a search firm to help find her something else. After a few meetings they concluded she might be best suited to recruiting rather than law. That was the start of a fruitful career, which later saw her branch off to begin her own business. A leap of faith—into herself. She had a unique take on her situation when she made that jump.

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