Life skills and career tips for Canada's lawyers in training
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50715
of students and faculty members because it will allow them to develop closer rela- tionships than at larger law schools. Pappas says she's eager to see how much of an infl uence the students will have in the development of the law school. "Th at's the exciting part because once the students come in, they're go- ing to have such a phenomenal impact in terms of how we think about things we've normally delivered in a very tradi- tional way," she says. TRU is going to make a deliber- ate eff ort to stay ahead of the curve in the evolution of legal practice, as it is still new, small, and fl exible. New and young means embracing technology. For example, the school's library will be predominantly digital. In addi- tion, Pappas says the faculty members they've brought on are "visionaries," who she predicts will be creative and help educate graduates who are able to redefi ne and recreate the legal profes- sion. Axworthy is counting on some of these factors to produce exceptional graduates who are able to excel in the legal world. "We do want to make a de- liberate eff ort to respond to the concern the profession has, which is that law graduates are not always ready to work in a law fi rm," he says. Graduates need to be useful to their fi rm and add value early on, which Axworthy believes is the responsibility of law schools to help provide that foundation. Preparing stu- dents for private practice starts with a solid legal education, he says. "Initially we need to do what we can to establish ourselves as a top-notch law school." Another hurdle for law schools can be preventing top students from trav- elling abroad for their legal education. Axworthy says TRU will help stem the tide crossing the border by having more spots available for Canadian students to attend law school here and by off ering access to courses and exams that over- seas students will need to complete in order to qualify to practise in Canada. "I think with TRU coming on board and then with Lakehead [University] com- ing on board, I think we defi nitely will see more of those international students staying at home, which is what we need," says Pappas. "We need students from small communities, we need students from all over the country to be here ex- periencing diff erent lifestyles, diff erent communities, diff erent ways of practis- ing, and making contributions to the lo- cal communities that they're in." It wasn't always clear that British Columbia would be the fi rst province to host a new law school in three decades. Before the provincial government an- nounced its plans in 2009, many were pushing for Ontario to take the honour with Lakehead University and Wilfrid Laurier University competing for a po- tential school. Ontario may not be fi rst but, as the Ontario government an- nounced in July, Lakehead in Th under Bay will open the fi rst law school in northern Ontario in September 2013. So before you start fl ipping through travel brochures, you might want to con- sider your options here at home as more doors open for Canadian law students. ■ Looking for the right fi t in intellectual property? Ridout & Maybee LLP is a long-established intellectual property boutique. Our legal expertise and real-world technical knowledge are highly recommended in independent international surveys. We are a fi rm of approximately 45 intellectual property professionals – large enough to handle the most interesting and challenging intellectual property matters while remaining small enough to provide a tight-knit and collegial work environment. TORONTO MISSISSAUGA OTTAWA www.ridoutmaybee.com C ANADIAN Lawyer 4STUDENTS dout_4st_Mar_11.indd 1 F all 2011 29 2/23/11 11:03:09 AM *