Re: Picking courses for 3L

[annaturney]

Any thoughts/opinions on the situation would help.

Basically, I struck out in the articling recruit, so I still need to be somewhat strategic with the courses I'm picking to show interest, etc. I don't have an area of focus/interest, but I have a general sense that I don't want to do criminal, niche corporate things like securities, and probably not family. I initially booked off a slot to take labour law. I have a bit of a union background and thought it would be helpful if I got an articling position in an L&E firm. I didn't get anything in the TO articling recruit, and notably nothing in L&E. 

Now I'm still enrolled in labour, but I don't know if it would be useful going forward, or something that would help me get an articling position. I do have the option to drop it and pick up a general course in family law, but I've gotten some exposure to family practice through clinical work and I don't think I want to practice it. With that being said, I'll apply to any position that comes up, even if it's focused in family law or other Legal Aid type work. 

So the question I'm hoping others will have an opinion on is whether I should take a course like family, that would be more useful and show interest on an application, or still stick with something that's more interesting to me but probably not as useful if I can't article at an L&E firm. I tried talking to my career office, and the counsellor basically said take courses in areas of interest, but that feels... very idealistic when I'm going into 3L without an articling position secured. Is that fair advice? Or should I be picking up courses like family that might be more useful? 

[Snax]

I don’t really get the question. How is a course is family law more useful than a course in labour law in terms of helping you find an articling position and, presumably, give you some knowledge of an area of law that is actually practiced? It’s not like we’re comparing family law to something like outer space law or some nonsensical course that a school is offering because a prof wants to teach it.  
 

The short answer is to not take family law if you don’t want to and to take labour law if you want to. There will be a bunch of articling positions posted throughout the year at employee-side employment law firms, which is sort of in line with what you’re looking for. 
 

Also don’t apply to every job. Apply to jobs you want. 

[Hegdis]

If you perceive labour law as being something employers will consider irrelevant whereas family law may open up possible articles, your question makes sense. 

If you are already pretty convinced family law is not for you, though, taking a class you won’t like to get a job you won’t like is pretty damn cynical at this stage. What are your other options? Is it labour or family only?

Course selection aside, best thing you can do now is network and talk to profs. Can you get an article published in your law journal? Can you volunteer with a legal clinic? Can you work on a research project with a prof? These things show interest and engagement at a time when lots of students mentally check out.