PBSC or Legal Aid? 1L

[chaoticgood]

Hello all! So I'm a 1L and thankfully got accepted to join PBSC in a legal research program and the legal aid clinic. Is it feasible to participate in both? If not, how does one decide between the two? (ps. I'm not really sure what type of law I would like to practice in the future)

[sapsipper]

I did both PBSC and the clinic in 1L and had no problems doing both of them along with other miscellaneous things over the course of the year. 

There is a big caveat to that though, which is that the time required for PBSC depends on what project you are doing and the project leader, and the time required for the clinic depends on your group leader. I was on a relatively relaxed PBSC project and basically finished my work by January, and my group leader had very little work to give me. On the other hand, I had friends on PBSC projects that ate up most of their time because of organization problems from the project leader, and friends at the clinic who received a lot more file work. 

With that said, I think the work load should still be manageable since the leaders are usually understanding about not burying the 1L volunteers with work. 

[LMP]

3 hours ago, chaoticgood said:

Hello all! So I'm a 1L and thankfully got accepted to join PBSC in a legal research program and the legal aid clinic. Is it feasible to participate in both? If not, how does one decide between the two? (ps. I'm not really sure what type of law I would like to practice in the future)

If you're worried about balancing your time, I'd personally go for the clinic. I've found clinical experience to be much more involved and engaging that most PBSC roles. 

[Piffle]

I guess this is too late for the OP given the deadlines at Queen's... but for posterity: I think Clinic > PBSC.

As someone who's done both, go for the clinic if you must chose one. Even for volunteer positions (which is what the OP referring to as a 1L rather than paid/for credit clinical positions in upper years) I say the clinic is much likelier to provide greater value in terms of maximizing the quality of work you'll be doing, the mentorship you'll get, the overall experience, etc.

Edited September 22, 2022 by Piffle