McGill alumnus and lawyer AMA

[ccq35]

@PzabbytheLawyer, another question for you: what skills/classes/extracurricular activities/other stuff do you think have been the most helpful to you as a lawyer so far? I hear a lot of “I learned everything I needed for my job after I graduated, McGill is entirely impractical” and have my own thoughts, but would be curious to hear from someone who’s been practicing for a few years. 

[PzabbytheLawyer]

12 hours ago, ccq35 said:

@PzabbytheLawyer, another question for you: what skills/classes/extracurricular activities/other stuff do you think have been the most helpful to you as a lawyer so far? I hear a lot of “I learned everything I needed for my job after I graduated, McGill is entirely impractical” and have my own thoughts, but would be curious to hear from someone who’s been practicing for a few years. 

Good point.

My answer, as always, is "it depends". As you progress in your career, different skills become required. Further, it depends on your practice area.

As a student/junior (yes that distinction is fairly arbitrary in most practices), I found skills involving legal research, journal work, and others to be helpful. This is in a more "large client/government/corporate" environment. I didn't find my experiences with client management matters often here (though they were helpful every now and again). Learning to write well, and quickly, is very helpful. Focus on that and joining a journal which allows space for writing blogs, etc is helpful.

As a mid level (jeez, I'm old!), I find I'm managing people a lot more than I expected to. So I've been relying on being more senior and an exec at a journal. Being able to ask people for work, get it in good time, and getting a good draft, is helpful. As is communication, time management, and being a "generalist" in the sense that you're less in the weeds day to day, and are tasked with being aware enough of a broader array of matters at any given time.

[enpassant]

The cries of "impracticality" are, in fact, what drew me to McGill in the first place haha. I'm very drawn to "theoretical" approaches to the law (or any discipline for that matter) and, while I have no pretensions to becoming an academic (I know how difficult these sorts of jobs are to get, which is the reason why I declined a couple PhD offers), I think it'll be nice to study the law in this manner and it's why I'm very excited to attend. 

Edited April 1, 2024 by enpassant