Canadian Lawyer 4Students

BY DAVID GRUBER NOT NOT TYPICAL TYPICAL law student your ] Chris Clarke has body piercings in the double-digits, but he's not going to let stereotypes get in the way of his goal to practise law. out of the ordinary for law as a whole," he says. He suggests face and body piercing "still has a subtle reputation of being seedy." While he supposes there are lawyers walking around with discrete or concealed body piercings, they don't go as far as Clarke in showing off their "metal." He says at least two of his classmates removed piercings after coming to law school, but he has no intention of hiding his. "I'm not going to walk around with a bag on my head," he says. Carly Romanow, a third-year law student at the University of Saskatchewan, works with Clarke as a fellow co-ordinator at Pro Bono Students Canada. While she says Clarke is an energetic student with a good attitude and a knack for cold-calling volunteers, she admits she was surprised when they first met. "I don't think I expected him to look like that, going into law school," she says. Even if he doesn't exactly look the part, Clarke is serious about his legal career. He's considering working in the music industry or — drawing on his own experiences — possibly in family law. After going through a divorce, Clarke took part in Saskatchewan's Parenting after GRANT ROMANCIA L ike many, Chris Clarke made a few stops along the way before he got to law school. Almost 10 years ago, Clarke picked up an unusual hobby — face and body piercing. He even set up his own business making house calls for those who want a piercing but might be reluctant to stroll into their neighbourhood tattoo and piercing parlour. Though it's taken him some time to get there, Clarke says he never let go of his hopes of studying law. When the call centre he was working at closed, he took it as an opportunity to head back to school full time. He got a BA in human justice from the University of Regina, and four years later successfully completed his first year of the JD program at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Clarke might not fit most people's image of a typical law student. Besides being a single father of two, he sports several piercings himself: on his eyebrow, lip, and tongue, among other places. He doesn't want to say exactly how many he has, but it's a double-digit number. "I have tested on my body 30 piercings. Some came out, some didn't," he explains. Clarke tries every piercing on himself before performing it on others. That way he can properly explain to people what it feels like. Reassuring his clients, calming their nerves, and preparing them for a potentially painful procedure is an important part of the job. Although he serves as a walking advertisement for his business, Clarke hasn't yet had classmates or professors offer up their own bodies for him to ply his craft. "It's so C A N A D I A N Law yer 4 students fall 2013 25

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