University of Western Ontario
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What's Happening
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Building criminal law competency without having previous experiences
Casual or part-time crim defence roles aren't really a thing. You are right that it's hard to transition to working for someone else in criminal law, as a lawyer without crim experience. I do know some full service firm/corporate lawyers who made the switch to criminal defence, but every single one of them that I know personally immediately hung their own shingle in criminal defence. This seems like an incredibly intimidating route to me, but there are conferences, CPD courses and materials, criminal defence organizations with support for members, etc. In any event I don't have the best advice to give about this and I apologize for that, but given your OP I just wanted to say that landing a casual or part-time crim defence gig seems less likely than getting hired as an full-time associate, not more, to me. And to be honest if there's a crim defence firm out there that will hire an associate (who they have no existing relationship with) with no crim experience, it's probably not a firm you want to work for. EDITED TO ADD: I actually I do know a former BigLaw associate that got a legal aid staff lawyer position in a remote location where they have trouble recruiting; if you're willing to relocate at least for a bit that could be a way to get the requisite experience. -
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Accepted 2024
Congrats! Are you accepting? -
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Insurance Defence Salary
If there's a specific place you're thinking of DM me and I'll get in touch or put you in touch with someone who give you the exact number. But speaking broadly Whitelaw Twinning seems to be on the higher end with a Mccauge and Bell Temple not too far behind. I saw FCL and ZTGH also both got a bump and seem to be fairly attractive. I don't know what Steiber is doing at a first year level but a few friends have latteraled as more senior calls and seem pretty happy with the comp. -
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Building criminal law competency without having previous experiences
So, aside from upper-year courses in evidence/advanced procedures, I have relatively little exposure to criminal law. Nevertheless, I want to build competency in this field and would be open to suggestions on the route to doing so starting from scratch and wanted to ask the criminal defence folks here how they would approach it. I understand the defence bar doesn't generally like lawyers who haven't shown a dedicated commitment to this field in the past, so I am open to taking casual or part-time roles if there is training value. -
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Insurance Defence Salary
If you wouldn't mind, would you mind naming the shops and what they pay? -
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Accepted 2024
Accepted yesterday. CGPA 3.64, LSAT 160, strong softs and references -
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Clerkship Interviews: 2025-2026
Thanks for your advice! I have a trial clerkship lined up (at the ONSC) which I will be completing from 2025-2026 (my articling year). I am planning to apply to the Fed Courts, appellate courts (ON and BC) and the SCC next year and see what happens. I did not interview at any appellate courts this year. I only received ONSC interviews, FC interviews, and BC interview first round. Any advice for what I can do between now and when I apply in 3L to improve my chances of getting an appellate clerkship? Would you say that having publications would improve my chances? I am trying to raise my GPA and do better but sometimes it can be hard with tricky and time-constrained exams and the curve... -
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Entering 1L Advice
Just finished 1L and in hindsight, there are several things that I regret not doing (many of which were explicitly recommended on this forum). 1. Rest the summer before 1L. I was extremely burnt out coming into 1L. If you can afford to, I'd highly recommend not working and just chilling at least during the month of August before 1L starts. 2. Bouncing off the first point, I recognize that this is definitely easier said than done but try to address any mental health challenges before starting law school. Whether that means identifying healthy coping strategies or learning to set boundaries or learning to effectively prioritize, it cannot be understated how important protecting your mental health is. If you think you may need accommodations, apply for it! I didn't realize that I would qualify until speaking with an upper year a week before exams. 3. Start seeking mentorship before 1L - I realized late into 1L that I was interested in a specific field that I didn't really know existed prior to 1L. I only realized my interest when speaking with upper years later in the year. I would highly recommend connecting via linkedin with upper years at the law school you're attending, especially ones pursuing areas of law that you're interested in. It will give you a better understanding of whether it's actually right for you and if so, what extracurriculars/opportunities are available at your law school to build relevant experience. 4. Get any medical/dental/banking appointments out of the way before you start 1L. 5. Others may disagree, but I found that prioritizing lectures over readings was a much more efficient use of time. 6. Consider participating in a moot. I have never thought of myself as someone who'd enjoy mooting. I only tried it because a friend couldn't find a partner. It ended up being the highlight of my 1L experience.- 1
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Finished law school, feeling defeated
I do not think there’s anything not normal about how you’re feeling. We all process things in different ways. If it persists after a few weeks, consider seeking professional help. Poor mental health management among lawyers and judges is well documented. Take care of yourself. Congratulations.- 2
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Accepted 2024
Waitlisted on April 10th, got offer of admission through email and portal today April 19th. LSAT 163, B20 3.7ish, applied access. Provisionally accepted today as well. Good luck to all those waiting on an A, the waitlist is moving!! 😊 -
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Insurance Defence Salary
I've been seeing $92k-$115k as the general range in Toronto. Can only speak to bonus structure at one or two places but there seems to have been a bit of a positive shift in that direction too.- 1
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Finished law school, feeling defeated
Your only other post states that you secured an ONCA clerkship. I'm sorry, but it's ridiculous for you to fret over one exam at this point, after I can only assume you were at the top of your class throughout law school and then possibly (not even confirmed yet) performed less than perfectly on a single exam.- 3
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Finished law school, feeling defeated
Well, generally speaking people who finish law school are happy to be done and move on to whatever comes next. And they aren't usually too anxious about performance in the last term of 3L because barring some massive flop, it probably doesn't matter because they already know where they are going. Both of those observations, however, default to what I suspect is the real issue. Where are you going next? Have you secured articles, do you know what your intentions are following law school? I strongly suspect if you have a problem here it relates more to uncertainty regarding your next steps, rather than sorrow at having no further exams to write. -
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Finished law school, feeling defeated
Are you talking about the exam or law school as a whole? -
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Help! I want to be a solicitor but I have a clerkship lined up
I know of one person that clerked and came back as a corporate lawyer. He spent his summer in corporate and everyone knew he was going to come back as a corporate lawyer, but he clerked at the ONCA instead of articling. Movements between groups do happen but setting up to be a litigator only to switch post clerkship is a bit harder.
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