Disponible uniquement en anglais.
It’s a well-known fact that the first-year of law school is a challenge. Most of us arrive with plans to change the world, but, by the time the second semester is drawing to a close, we are concerned only with making it through the next round of exams. The law, it turns out, is an infinitely complex web of principles and decisions that require near-total immersion from us if we are to understand them. The weeks fly by in a blur of rulings and ratios, and the first-year student soon begins to lose sight of what brought them to the study of law in the first place.
But there is more than the hectic pace of law school that makes it a small wonder that any of us are able to remember what our professional goals were when we set ourselves upon this path. There is also the fact that law school constantly exposes the student to new professional opportunities, and it soon becomes difficult to separate the ardent aspirations that we held prior to studying law from the amazing possibilities that we were introduced to only recently. Soon enough, many first-year students feel just as bewildered by these limitless options as they are by the task of learning the law. What the law student requires, it seems to me, is some way of gaining perspective on the legal profession writ large; and that is what I believe the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) offers.
I first joined the CBA because I thought that it was more or less mandatory if one was to become a successful lawyer. And while I am prepared to concede that I was probably mistaken, I would nevertheless maintain that membership is tremendously helpful. The CBA has provided, for me at least, a new outlook on the legal profession – the realities of which, if we are to be frank, are not the principal focus of law school itself.
By offering a wealth of information on nearly every kind of legal practice that exists, the CBA has exposed me to the opinions and reflections of the professionals working in those fields. Moreover, these first-hand accounts are highly relevant and up-to-date, rather than being the recollections of people who haven’t worked outside of academia in years, if not decades. In other words, as I begin to grasp what life as a lawyer might be like, I feel it is crucial that my impression be informed by practicing lawyers as much as it is by professors and academics. I say this not to disparage my teachers, but rather to point out that the thriving world of law is certainly viewed differently from within the profession than from a campus.
I am still uncertain as to what direction my legal career will take, and truth be told I am enjoying the freedom I have to explore the many different aspects of law. I know, however, that it won’t be long before I have to concretize my plans, and through the CBA I have begun to shape a balanced understanding of the possibilities that a legal career affords. And this, it seems to me, is a part of law school as important as any exam, grade, or internship.