Canadian Lawyer 4Students

PAULA TODD JOURNALIST P aula todd is a lawyer and journalism professor, former investigative reporter, editorial writer, and political columnist who has worked for CtV, tVO, the Toronto Star, and Law Times. She is also the author of the best-selling book, A Quiet Courage: Inspiring Stories from All of Us. She put down her thoughts on a life beyond law. i never set out to be one of those lawyers with "a different job." But something happened to me on the way to the bar — i discovered a whole world of work that law complemented and yet often outshone. and it was a complete accident. Unlike many of my university friends who lived at home, i was an out-of- town girl who needed a part-time job to cover costs. i wound up as an editor at york University's student newspaper, excalibur, which led to a summer job as a reporter at the toronto Star. How could you not fall in love with journalism while writing for Canada's largest daily newspaper? dog shows, the Cne, and stories about fortune-tellers led to regular as- signments covering hard news and politics. By the time i got word Osgoode Hall was offering me a seat in their first-year class, i'd almost forgotten (my mother's) lifelong dream of my becoming a lawyer. Meanwhile, editors at the Star went slack-jawed when i didn't jump at the rare offer of a full-time job. Fortunately for me, a clever boss advised: "i've never met anyone who complained about having too much education." the Star gave me part-time work to pay the bills as i finished my law degree, passed the bar admissions, and was called to the bar. if it sounds like a breeze, it wasn't. the hours were long and the reception to my "dual status" was often chilly. Some of my reporter friends considered my legal education a distraction, even a betrayal of the cause. today you may notice that lawyers and journalists don't always see eye to eye. Some law students were no more comfortable, making it clear to me that reporting "sullied" (as one insisted) my status as lawyer-in-training. Still, i loved the law and wasn't any more willing to give it up than i was the exciting, adrenalin-pumping assignments in a powerful newsroom. i kept at it, sure that one day many people would have more than one profession. it was tough. and it still is. Law requires detail that journalism eschews. Journalism needs an immediate clarity that lawyers are cau- tious of offering. But the tension between the two and the struggle to serve both masters is worth it. Ultimately, the law is a human expression of the desire for social order. Our ability to create and debate that order can be well served by the media. Besides, i can't tell you how many law school friends have called me over the years desperate to escape the monotony of their practice. and journalists? it's the norm now, not the exception, to specialize first — in science, law, psychology — before grabbing a microphone or steno pad. the law is an extraordinary calling and my love for the field has only grown. it is also, however, an incredible foundation for any- thing else you really want to do. ■ C ANADIAN Lawyer 4STUDENTS hildview_4st_Sep_11.indd 1 S PRING 2012 19 7/20/11 10:56:26 AM *

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