Canadian Lawyer 4Students

REGIONAL ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, MANULIFE FINANCIAL ded Orgil, regional aVP at Manulife Financial, also encourages graduates to practise law for at least a short period of time. He went to the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law with the intention of becoming a lawyer, but only worked at a small litigation firm in toronto for a year and a half. it was the early 1990s and the firm faced hard economic times due to the recession in Canada. a partner at the firm asked Orgil to step out of the firm and offered to help him start his own sole practice, but he decided to complete the Canadian Securities Course and look for something else. Soon after, he was offered a job at Midland Walwyn Capital inc. as a financial adviser. along with his experience working with clients and knowledge of tax law, he also took advantage of the legal network he had built. "i felt there were a lot of young lawyers that i knew who had good cash flow who probably had a lot of debt — like i did — that i could talk to and relate and tell them, 'Here's a plan that you can put in place on how to build up your net worth over the long term because you're probably going to make good money working as a lawyer,'" he says. Orgil handles legal issues on a daily basis, whether it's dealing with contracts, lawsuits, or O Watch our exclusive interviews with Oded Orgil and Michelle Dagnino at canadianlawyermag.com/4students. corporate documentation. "i didn't realize how useful [my law degree] was until you get out into the business world and you use it in so many different facets of your life," he says. MICHELLE DAGNINO YOUTH ADVOCATE ichelle dagnino has also found other ways to utilize her law degree. a self-described "generational change expert and innovator," the former youth worker prides herself on being an advocate for young people. recently, she took on the role of executive director of the Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre in toronto, which she credits her legal background for her ability to get the position. "i think there's a lot of skills actually you take from both law school and from practice into other jobs. in particular, the ability to organize files — and it's one of the more tedious parts of practice but it's something that's actually been very helpful in other work that i've done — because it's a way of not only systematizing documents but that way you actually have to systematize your thoughts as well," explains dagnino. at only 29, dagnino is also the principal of her own company, Michelle dagnino & associates, a consulting agency that assists non-profit organizations. She says maintaining her involvement with various volunteer organizations throughout her career was important and advises young lawyers to do the same. "if there's a particular area of work that you're thinking of getting into M after law that's not legal-related or it's outside the scope of a traditional law practice, stay involved throughout law school. even if you're practising in that field, make sure that you keep up to date, make sure that you keep your contacts and your network close to you because that's what's going to let you know what opportunities are out there," she suggests. in striving to become a youth advocate, dagnino got her LLB to improve her credentials. "as a young person myself, i felt that i had the skills to be a good advocate for other youth but was also meeting these barriers around [the idea that] young people don't have the capacity to be at decision-making tables. So i thought law school would help me gain the legitimacy that i needed to be an effective advocate," she explains. dagnino practised labour and employment law and human rights law as an associate at Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton Mcintyre & Cornish LLP for four years. although it was a progressive type of law, she says she felt restricted in her capacity to advocate for the broader population when she had to handle a specific client base, so she left the firm. "For me, law was an incredibly useful background around gaining [advocacy] skills, but the right type of jobs are outside of your traditional legal career," she notes. C ANADIAN Lawyer 4STUDENTS S PRING 2012 17 ODED ORGIL *

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