Canadian Lawyer 4Students

C A N A D I A N L a w y e r 4 s t u d e n t s F a l l 2 0 1 4 31 Practising in government HILARY BLAIn, Policy adviser, Aboriginal Affairs, toronto PROS: + • While most legal cases are approached on an individual basis, working in policy allows you to look at issues on a broader scale from an interdisciplinary perspective. • Policy work is signifi cantly less adversarial and more collaborative than legal work. • Legal training provides you the ability to easily interact with lawyers and understand their concerns but balances them against policy considerations. • Policy work generally provides better work-life balance, especially if you have children. CONS: – • Policy advisers in government generally earn less money than their lawyer counterparts in government or in the private sector. • Legal training can make us more risk averse than other staff working in policy. • People sometimes expect you to act as a lawyer even though you are not hired as a lawyer — explaining you are not working as a lawyer can get tiring. PROS: + • Federal lawyers have an opportunity to do interesting work in many fi elds of law (litigation, tax law, dra ing of policies, and laws, etc.). • We get good guidance from senior counsel, from management, and from Ottawa. • Federal lawyers have a reasonable amount of freedom to exercise discretion. • ere are some opportunities to advance as a litigator, not just in management, although there is a trend away from this with the fi scal restraint. CONS: – • As one acquires experience, the work can become routine and less interesting depending on the area of law practised. • Sometimes, there can be too much direction from above and a lack of discretion to work on your fi les. • As jobs are being cut in the federal government, more and more lawyers are overworked and there is a trend moving away from a decent work-life balance. • With cutbacks, opportunities for advancement are becoming more limited. • Some uncertainty as departments undergo a lot of change, restructuring, workforce adjustment, changes in management, and with turnover generally. • ere is always the stress from the fear of job loss (terms are also not being renewed). Len MACKAY, Crown prosecutor, Public Prosecution service of Canada, Halifax, n.s. * ARE YOU IN? LEADERS WANTED www.sherrardkuzz.com | 416.603.0700 | 24Hour 416.420.0738 We're young, progressive, innovative and growing. And we've been named one of Canadian Lawyer's Top 10 Labour & Employment Boutiques for 2012/2013. 2014/2015 herrardKuzz_4st_Fall_14.indd 1 14-07-22 8:58 AM

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