Life skills and career tips for Canada's lawyers in training
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50906
KEVIN KILEY, partner, McInnes Cooper PROS: + To a certain extent, we don't go through the same economic highs and lows that they do on Bay Street. We haven't really seen any significant evidence of a downturn in the legal work we're carrying out. At the same time, the economy here in recent years has been relatively strong. Small and medium-sized busi- nesses continue to flourish in areas such as information technology, aerospace, and biotechnology. It's a small bar where all the lawyers know of each other. As a result, I think that goes a long way towards enhanc- ing collegiality. It's in no one's interest to be unnecessar- ily difficult. We're a government town and a university town, so there are lots of opportunities to practise law at a fairly high level, including institutional work. In a small place, there tends to be a lot more community spirit. The pace is quite a bit slower. I can be at work in seven minutes. In a smaller centre, there is more opportunity to move from being the person who is carrying the briefcase to being the lead on the file. - CONS: Any time you're practising in a smaller location, there's probably the perception that there is not as much expo- sure to larger projects. In any city, you have a spectrum of legal rates. But the highs may not be as high in the smaller centres. There are always going to be some amenities that will be absent because it's a smaller area. It can be hard for outsiders to adapt. If you've come from outside Prince Edward Island and you don't know many people, it's going to be more noticeable to you that many of your colleagues do. A younger lawyer will deal with projects of less dollar value than someone on Bay Street. MATHEWS, DINSDALE & CLARK LLP is pleased to announce the winners of the 11th Annual Canadian Labour Arbitration Competition which took place on January 23-25, 2009 at the Ontario Labour Relations Board Congratulations University of Toronto Student participants: Laura Johnson and Inie Park Coach: Laura Trachuk Assistant Coach: Sumrana Taher and to all the students, faculty, lawyers and arbitrators who participated in the competition. 26 SPRING 2009 ntitled-3 1 4STUDENTS 2/25/09 8:42:23 AM