Should I complete my unpaid paralegal placement before law school or allocate time towards working and saving up?

[flawless1551]

I will be attending law school in Ottawa this September and am on the verge of completing my accelerated paralegal program at Centennial College. The last credit needed is completing 120 hours at a paralegal firm working 9-5 unpaid. Between achieving honour roll all year in an accelerated program, working two jobs to save up for law school and now this placement that will take me all the way up to the week I move in, I have reached the point of exhaustion. 

Initially I wanted to preserve in hopes that it would only benefit me by having relevant experience on my resume for interviews. However, the placement is for a small paralegal firm that deals with small claims matters. My desired field in law is Corporate and I'm struggling to decide whether this placement would actually benefit me in the long run or whether I would risk burning myself out days before my first semester in law school and ultimately hinder my chances of doing well in 1L. I have one month of summer left and have not done anything aside from work and study, including seeing my family before moving away. I'm feeling incredibly overwhelmed and anxious with the thought of working a 9-5 unpaid internship in a field that I wont be practicing in while racking up debt in law school.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Edited July 20, 2022 by A_Law15

[AllRise]

32 minutes ago, A_Law15 said:

I will be attending law school in Ottawa this September and am on the verge of completing my accelerated paralegal program at Centennial College. The last credit needed is completing 120 hours at a paralegal firm working 9-5 unpaid. Between painting honour roll all year in an accelerated program, working two jobs to save up for law school and now this placement that will take me all the way up to the week I move in, I have reached the point of exhaustion. 

Initially I wanted to preserve in hopes that it would only benefit me by having relevant experience on my resume for interviews. However, the placement is for a small paralegal firm that deals with small claims matters. My desired field in law is Corporate and I'm struggling to decide whether this placement would actually benefit me in the long run or whether I would risk burning myself out days before my first semester in law school and ultimately hindering my chances of doing well in 1L. I have one month of summer left and have not done anything aside from work or study, including seeing my family before moving. I'm feeling incredibly overwhelmed and anxious with the though of working a 9-5 unpaid internship in a field that I wont be practicing in while racking up debt in law school.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

I preface the following by stating that I am a mature student, not too mature, but mature enough. I share this because I have made the decision to sacrifice my sanity and mental health to work ungodly hours in the past, and it was rarely worth it unless it was calculated and I was receiving proper compensation. 

Do not work an unpaid internship for relevant experience if you've already been accepted into law school. There will be other, even better opportunities in law school to demonstrate your interest in the corporate law field. Give yourself time off to recharge and reach a place where you are mentally and physically prepared for law school, which is a higher priority than finishing the paralegal program. If completing that paralegal program is important to you, complete the requirements at some date in the future where you are not so burned out. 

 

Edited July 20, 2022 by AllRise
Too or to

[cjs]

Congrats on your acceptance!  
Have you checked with your program to see if there’s any other way to satisfy those credits?  I was in a paralegal program with a similar practicum requirement and the school had an agreement with the closest law school (possibly others too) that the practicum requirement would be deemed satisfied upon completion of 1L.
As an aside, I feel is really unfair to require students to do an otherwise paid job for no financial compensation. 

Edited July 20, 2022 by cjs
Typo

[SNAILS]

My opinion is to finish the unpaid placement in order to demonstrate your commitment t finishing what you started. If I understand correctly, you will not receive your paralegal diploma if you do not do this. Furthermore, by not finishing, you are damaging a potential employment/recruitment reference (the small claims firm).

 

 

[Ryn]

10 hours ago, SNAILS said:

My opinion is to finish the unpaid placement in order to demonstrate your commitment t finishing what you started. If I understand correctly, you will not receive your paralegal diploma if you do not do this. Furthermore, by not finishing, you are damaging a potential employment/recruitment reference (the small claims firm).

 

 

Eh, I disagree with this. The unpaid placement was part of the paralegal program. If OP desires not to complete the program, I would say the obligation to do the placement ends. It's not a job and the firm should not be relying on a student completing an unpaid placement any more than is reasonable in the circumstances. I.e., student priorities change, they drop out of programs, they change programs, they change schools. None of that is unreasonable (after all, the student is the one paying for it!)

OP, if you have no desire to complete the program, I would say you can feel free to stop and take time off. The first few months of law school (and, arguably, the entirety of 1L) is a bit of a marathon and you'll have to adjust to it and become comfortable with the new pace of learning and ways of thinking. You are best poised to do that when you have good mental health leading in.

Even if you desire to attend OCIs and work on Bay Street, I suspect having a completed paralegal diploma would not be a substantial leg up on getting hired. Your law school grades will matter far more. Would it help a little? Maybe. But in my view, it's better to tackle law school as relaxed and fresh as you can be (so you can get good grades) than to have a paralegal diploma and potentially do less than your best in the first term of 1L.

But, ultimately you should do what you think is best for you. My point in saying the above is to illustrate that you do have a choice and you should not feel you have some sort of moral or professional commitment to complete this unpaid placement. You should only complete it if you feel it is best for you personally.