Do law students need a driver's license?

[Bluelike]

This may be a dumb question. 

Do law students need a drivers license to get summer positions etc? Has anyone gotten a license while being a full time student?

I don't think learning how to drive is a problem, I'm just worried the process would take a long time (I'm an ON resident). Also my family does not own a car so I may need to take some driving course. 

[GGrievous]

No you wouldn’t need one to apply. You will need ID for certain things but you can use a passport. There might be exceptions to this but I’ve never heard of one in my limited experience as a first year student, where you need a drivers license specifically. 

There are some kinds of law where you’ll need a car to get to various courts and meetings. Others were you don’t. 

 If you don’t have access to a car you would need to take a course I imagine, the process takes as long as you need to learn + 1 day to take the test. You can also get a G1 license without driving can't you? It's been a while. 

Edited December 24, 2021 by Barry

[Bluelike]

2 hours ago, Barry said:

 If you don’t have access to a car you would need to take a course I imagine, the process takes as long as you need to learn + 1 day to take the test. You can also get a G1 license without driving can't you? It's been a while. 

I can get a G1 without driving, but I was wondering if a full license would be required for some jobs or programs. I'm planning to get one sometime soon either way. It doesn't sound common for them to require a full license so I'm glad to hear this. Thank you!

[Ben]

The only context in which I've ever heard of a summer position requiring students to have a driver's licence is so that students can attend various set date courts. Set date court is all virtual now. If it returned to being in person (which it shouldn't, but who knows), you would need a car for that. 

It's possible there are other contexts in which that need arises but I don't know of any. 

[erin otoole]

I presume after Covid is over the era of Zoom interviews may end. I hope to be proven wrong. Therefore consider the following scenario: 

You are a 2L at Ottawa, struck out of OCIs. No worries still lots of opportunities to go around. You get an interview at a firm in London, how are you going to get there? Sure you can waste multiple days and stressing timetables on the train I guess, but you have classes you don't want to miss. You want to drive down for this opportunity. 

Get your drivers license so you can borrow/rent a car, we live in Canada, not Paris. I wish I could live without one, but I am a realist. 

[easttowest]

You mean you like interviewing on a screen? 

[erin otoole]

1 hour ago, easttowest said:

You mean you like interviewing on a screen? 

I don't like it, but it seems like a huge and easily trackable equity issue. I had a friend drive from Windsor to Toronto for an UNPAID articling interview. Waste of $60 in gas and still no articles. Zoom would have been more appropriate all things considered. 

I choked in my zoom OCI's and remain bitter for that. 

[Vizslaw]

OP - It depends on the type of firm you are looking to work at. Criminal defence? Almost 100% sure you will need it.

In response to some of the other posts - I'm not looking forward to doing Zoom interviews in the New Year for an articling student. Our last one was (and has been) a huge success. The student before (who we also hired over Zoom) was an absolute disaster. I think there are just some things you miss out on when you can't go for a boozy lunch with the final candidate to make sure you jive together.  

For what it's worth, we've always asked in interviews whether (a) you have a driver's licence; and (b) whether you have access to a car.

We need students to make regular court appearances so, while owning a car is not required, being able to drive one is. In the past we had a student who didn't have a driver's licence and it was a logistical nightmare making court appearances. It defeated the purpose of having a student since we either had to drive them to court or go ourselves. It's feasible if all you do is make appearances at Old City Hall or College Park, but we have cases in the GTA, Newmarket, Brampton, Oshawa, etc. Public transit only really worked for certain locations. It's been a relief doing everything over Zoom and being able to make a 9:00am court appearance in Lindsay and then a 9:30am appearance in Windsor, but once things go back to normal we need people able to drive (their car, our car, or a Car2Go car) to get there.

12 minutes ago, erin otoole said:

I don't like it, but it seems like a huge and easily trackable equity issue. I had a friend drive from Windsor to Toronto for an UNPAID articling interview. Waste of $60 in gas and still no articles. Zoom would have been more appropriate all things considered. 

I choked in my zoom OCI's and remain bitter for that. 

I drove from Windsor to Toronto for several interviews during 2L and it was not fun.

Edited December 24, 2021 by Vizslaw
typo

[Hegdis]

13 hours ago, Bluelike said:

This may be a dumb question. 

Do law students need a drivers license to get summer positions etc? Has anyone gotten a license while being a full time student?

I don't think learning how to drive is a problem, I'm just worried the process would take a long time (I'm an ON resident). Also my family does not own a car so I may need to take some driving course. 

You're going to need to learn to drive. May as well start now, especially if it's going to take time. Yes, it could be a requirement for work. Depends.