Life skills and career tips for Canada's lawyers in training
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says, "studying blue jeans in Mexico." There he saw that it was trade agree- ments, negotiated by lawyers that meant the difference between success and fail- ure for factories, and so it was back to Canada to study law. It might have been an interest in interna- tional trade that brought Rosenberg to law school, but once he got there, he quickly realized "that the trade law thing was less and less realistic," he says. Aſter first year, Rosenberg received a Borden Ladner Ger- vais LLP fellowship to study international trade, but found that for lawyers in Canada "there is less on the policy side and more on the mechanical side." The move away from politics and to- wards the Supreme Court of Canada was largely solidified through two very dif- ferent legal experiences, one public, the other much less visible. The public experience was Rosenberg's involvement with Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr's appeal at the Supreme Court. During his second year, Rosenberg was hired by professor Sujit Choudhry as a researcher and was invited to sit at the counsel table during the appeal hearing. "It was a wonderful hands-on experi- ence," he says. "We were staying at the Chateau Laurier and sitting at a restau- rant the night before. Joe [Arvay, counsel representing the B.C. Civil Liberties Asso- ciation] said, 'What are they going to ask me? You be the judge, we're going to think of the questions.'" Rosenberg felt a full part of the team, but still somewhat awed. "It was almost unthinkable," he says, "that they would ask me my opinion." Equally fundamental to Rosenberg has been his involvement with Down- town Legal Services, the University of Toronto's student-run legal clinic. Dur- ing his three years as a student, Rosen- berg has worked in the criminal division helping those who cannot afford legal assistance to survive the legal system. "I feel like I'm playing an important role," he says. True to form, he also sees this work as a way of learning more about law. "I can spend the extra time to go the extra mile . . . researching the legal underpinnings is a lot of fun," he says. It is these two highlights of law school that led Rosenberg away from trade to consider following a career in litiga- tion. He is particularly interested in class action lawsuits. He sees this field as a perfect fit for his combined interest in practice and scholarship. "Because of the amounts at stake in class action," he says, "there's a real opportunity to get into cutting-edge law." He has already made inroads in this direction. His award-win- ning essay, written as part of his third- year studies at U of T, looks at emerging issues in class actions, issues that have yet to be resolved in any cases. A clerkship at the Supreme Court of Canada seems a logical next step for a student who likes to combine scholar- ship with hands-on practical experience. "Given my ambition to be an advocate," he says, "I'm curious to see what pulls a judge one way or another. What is deter- minative?" He's hoping to get some insight into how to become a good representative in court. That and "I like the idea of doing some public service work," he says. He might find himself with functions that are not typical of a Supreme Court clerk though. During his interview with the chief justice, they discussed his study of legal issues, but then also one of his hobbies: watchmaking. Rosenberg does not think the chief justice will take him up on his offer to keep her watch run- ning but he is prepared just in case she does. Either way, he's excited about the opportunity and plans to apply the same passion to learning he's taken through school into this new challenge. In fact, he says he believes a key part in securing his position was to "go in with enthusi- asm and a willingness to participate." What does the future hold for him? Like everyone in the current climate, he is concerned about the number of jobs available out there now. But he knows where he wants to be. "I want to get into court and test these ideas [about class action law]," he says, "I want to put them to a judge, I want to see if my research holds up, and prac- tise very practical advocacy that has a real impact on people's lives." From international trade to defending accused in the Ontario court system to writing facta for the Supreme Court to clerking, Michael Rosenberg has taken a circuitous path through law school. And as a clerk for the chief justice in the highest court of the land, this is only the beginning of his legal career. n netbook computer Win a small but mighty 4STUDENTS For more details Go to ouseAd-Contest_4st_Sep_09.indd 1 wants to know what you did last summer!! Fill out our survey about your summer law firm experience for a chance to win an Acer Aspire One 10.1" netbook. www.canadianlawyermag.com/4Students The prize consists of one Acer Aspire One 10.1" netbook computer with an Intel® Atom™ Processor N270; 1GB DDR2 533 SDRAM; and 160GB hard drive. Value: approximately $400. Contest open to any student a a Canadian Law School except those residing in Quebec. Winner must answer a skill testing question. No purchase necessary. C ANADIAN Lawyer 4STUDENTS SEPT E MB E R 2009 27 7/21/09 3:04:04 PM