Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7 25 Through 11 gruelling legs of the race, the couple won four regular legs and then the finale, managing to podium in all legs except one. The team got their first win on leg five, in Haida Gwaii and Prince Rupert, B.C. Haida Gwaii was extraordinary — remote and untouched, LeClair says. "We had to take two planes and a ferry just to start the leg on the island," she says. "Our challenges embraced Haida art and culture, with a totem pole legend memory challenge and assembling an art puzzle based on Haida design. We then took a seaplane to Prince Rupert where we had to navigate dozer boats through a logjam in a logging challenge. We won a trip for two to New York City as our prize." The next leg of the race took the women to Hamilton, Ont., where one team member had to fly a vintage plane at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. "I had to complete a 360-degree banked turn while maintaining a speed and altitude between 1,800 and 2,200 feet," LeClair says. "I couldn't believe that they would actually let us have full control of the airplane. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience." In the final winner-takes-all leg, which was run in Quebec, the couple won $250,000, a trip around the world and two brand-new Chevrolet Cruzes, becoming the first all-female team to win The Amazing Race Canada. "This was a big test, but we just worked super well together," LeClair says. "If we can get through super stressful situations with high intensity, high stress, you feel like you could honestly take on anything." While being participants — let alone the winners — of a show such as The Amazing Race is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, they can apply what they learned from the race to their everyday lives, LeClair says. "We tried to go into it and be like, yes, we're competitive and yes, want to win, but at the same time we wanted to enjoy every leg. You never know when you're going to be out and you don't want to ever leave the race being like, 'Oh, I wish we had've done this.'" She says the experience also taught her to seize any opportunity to do something outside of her comfort zone. "It's really easy to get caught up in our careers, and I think if you're ever given the opportunity to go out and do something that's different, go for it, do it. You only live once and work will always be there for you." LeClair says it was one thing to run the race — that's an experi- ence to which not a lot of people can relate — but "to come back and have family and friends and co-workers all be able to watch what we actually did, this is why we were gone for so long and this is what we did — that was exciting." Originally from Kitchener, Ont., LeClair went to Wayne State University in Detroit on a softball scholarship for her undergrad, a BA in finance. Once in college, she decided the law would be "a really good route" for her. "I knew the challenge of it as well as making a difference, help- ing others, was a big incentive to go into law," she says. "I really don't like blood, so the medical field was not my thing," she laughs. The fact that the law is not black and white — "there's never a real answer," she says — and constantly having to think about what's best for the client were other attractions to the profession. After graduating from the Uni- versity of Detroit Mercy School of Law, LeClair took the Michigan bar right out of law school and practised in the state for a year. Though she knew she wanted to be able to practise in Michigan and Ontario no matter where she ended up living, she says she wasn't thinking about the logistics of that at the time she applied to law school. "It was more just because I was already down there and had a good group of friends — I wasn't thinking career wise," she says. LeClair moved to Toronto because that's where McKenzie, also in the U.S. on a softball scholarship, originally came from. LeClair worked as a commercial contract specialist with GE Healthcare in Mississauga for a year, work she says she really enjoyed and would consider trying for an in-house counsel position in the future. LeClair then had the choice to article for a year or waive articles since she was already a practising lawyer. With no Ontario law experience, she chose the articling path, which was "quite com- petitive," she says. She landed the position at Lawson and is now a member of the Ontario bar as well. Her legal training served her in good stead as she took on the pressure-cooker environment of The Amazing Race Canada. "The show is all about dealing with stress, and dealing under pressure, and thinking while you're under pressure. I think with the legal background you can think logically while stressed out — form thoughts while under pressure and put them to use," LeClair explains. "It was super helpful. Memory, too — I don't think I have the greatest memory, but through the law and studying I can retain things — overall, thinking logically throughout the whole race." LeClair says she and her partner are taking a "year hiatus" to travel. Taking advantage of finishing up her articling at Lawson, it seemed like the perfect time to head off on a new adventure. "Our list is so long, we have to condense it," LeClair says. "We want to go everywhere. Our goal this year is to explore as much of the world as possible just because who knows when we're going to be able to take weeks off at a time again. We are both super career driven, but we also want to explore things and live our lives." Their first trip is to Costa Rica at the end of this month, and after a few family weddings here at home, it's off to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Thailand in the new year. "I will definitely be coming back to law," LeClair says, noting that she loves being challenged and enjoys how practising law keeps her on her toes. What the race taught her — besides the fact that two women "can kick some butt while having fun and doing it with class" — was the importance of enjoying every moment. "It was such an awesome experience and I think you have to make the most out of life. We have to remember that when we go back to work — it's about balance and taking the best out of life, the best you can."

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