Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Birkenstocks, Flats, Favourite Sweater, Wallet

A few weeks ago, I realized that I left a few things at home: my birkenstocks, some flats, my favourite sweater, my secondary wallet where I keep all those extra cards I don't want to carry around all the time. I asked my mom to mail them to me last week, but she forgot before leaving on a business trip. So I FB messaged my little brother around 8pm Ontario time and asked him if he could find those things around the house and mail them to me (my dad's fairly forgetful so I felt like this would be the most reliable method). He's 15, so it's possible that this is the first time he's ever had to mail something at the post office. And I thought to myself, this is going to be so challenging:


1. He needs to find my belongings around the house
2. He needs to acquire some sort of box, and packing tape, and he needs to assemble it together
3. He needs to be able to record my address, and then put it on the box
4. He needs to know where the post office is
5. He needs transportation to the post office
6. He needs to be able to pay for the package

I figured that since the post office was probably already closed by the time I sent the message, it wouldn't be mailed until tomorrow at the earliest anyway. So I told him that it wasn't urgent, that it could wait until the weekend, and that he could call if he needed help. I checked my phone an hour later, and I got this message:
  • mailed it already
  • it was 26 dolars
  • sweater on the bottom of box
  • then berks
  • flats on top
  • wallet is with the sweater
  • good?

And it totally blew my mind.

That he was able to do all of those things in less than an hour just blew my mind.

That's when I realized that I've started becoming a lot more attuned to the small barriers that can prove insurmountable to people in poverty.

It's common practice for me to hold onto completed applications because a client doesn't have the money to pay for registered mail to send it in. It's also common for clients to cancel appointments because they can't find a ride into town, even when their legal issue is approaching a deadline. It's often very frustrating for clients to write letters or affidavits due to low levels of literacy, so they can take days or week to finish. And people who struggle with literacy aren't inclined to keep documents sent from employers, landlords or the government because they're often too hard to read, so it takes a long time for us to find copies.

All that is to say that all of these little things compound to make even small legal issues seem insurmountable. It's actually pretty unremarkable that my brother figured out how to put something in the mail. But that's only because he had someone to drive him (my dad), enough expendable income that $26 didn't make him think twice, and literacy skills. Unfortunately, legal and administrative processes aren't designed for people without those kinds of resources. I called EI once because a client had a really hard time filling out an application because she couldn't remember what she earned each day. I was told to "ask her to look through her BlackBerry calendar to see which days were scheduled longer". Right. It's an example of how in practice, people in poverty often have even less access to justice than they do in theory.

Food for thought. Oh, and thanks Andy! You're awesome - I'll mail you something soon.

Sharon

Sunday, May 27, 2012

With a Little Help from my Friends

In law, sometimes it seems like it's all about who you know. Networking events run rampant, especially while you're in school, and people really do get jobs through personal connections.

Today I was talking with a fellow blogger (and real-life friend), Sharon, about the wine-and-cheese events that we went to during our first year. We both found the events profoundly awkward - how are you supposed to make a connection with a person representing a firm without sounding like all you want is a job? It seemed like there were specific answers that the firm reps were looking for, and they didn't always match up with the truth. (Sharon's example - when someone from a primarily litigation firm asks what course you liked most in your first year, "constitutional" is not the right answer).

It got me thinking about the connections that I made during my first year. The strongest ones were with fellow students, made while sitting together in classes, participating in events, or playing on intramural teams. You get to know people because you want to, not because you think you'll get a job out of it.

These connections have proven invaluable already. I've come to think of this web of relationships as a safety net, stretched below me as I navigate the life of a law student. After my last post, about how you know a lot of theoretical things but almost no practical things coming out of your first year, a fellow student sent me the UBC Law Student's Legal Advice Manual, which has a lot of basic information about how the law actually works. Today, while FB chatting with a friend who goes to USask, we got to talking about the Wills Clinic that they run at their law school and he sent me sample wills and powers of attorney that I could use at work.

The safety net provides a lot of emotional support as well. After a long, stressful week of work, Skyping with Chris made me feel a million times better. And talking today with Sharon about our shared experiences a few weeks into our jobs at women's centres showed me that I wasn't alone in my triumphs and frustrations. During exams, there was nothing like a Crumsby's cupcake to mentally prepare for a three-hour test.

While I'm still terrible at networking, that's something that I can improve over time. For right now, our best resources are each other. Knowing that I could post a question in the UVic Law 2014 Facebook group and get answers from five different people in an hour is an amazing feeling.

On that note, can someone please tell me what to do when someone wants to shake your hand, and you're holding a plate and a glass of wine and you've got food in your mouth? Or do I have to wait until PLTC to learn that?

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Conflict of Interest

There have been a few things that I've been thinking about this past week, some patterns starting to emerge. This week has gone by so fast (I guess a shortened work week does that to you!), it's hard to believe that my two weeks up here has already stretched into three.

1. Conflicts of Interest

My day to day work is supervised by the legal advocate at the women's centre, but both of our written work must be vetted by a lawyer before it can be submitted to or on behalf of a client. Ultimately, the supervising lawyer is responsible for the accuracy of any legal information or submissions that we send into the world. Our centre's supervising lawyer is a partner at a firm in town - I've had really great experiences meeting him and his articling students, and I'll be spending a week at his firm in July. He practices primarily corporate law, but he does a lot of pro bono work and his firm also manages the legal aid office in town. I've already found that, in a small place like Fort St. John, there aren't many lawyers, and conflicts of interests arise often. The fact that my supervising lawyer also provides legal aid services in town poses a particularly interesting conundrum though. It means that if a client comes in for legal support as a victim of assault (for example, in cases of domestic violence), their assailant is likely being represented by a criminal defence lawyer at our supervising lawyer's firm. That means that our supervising lawyer can't look at or verify any of our work, which then means that we can't provide any help to our client. Today we got around a situation like this by booking the client an appointment with another pro bono lawyer in town - we'll prepare documents for her before hand and have the pro bono lawyer check them. Sometimes conflicts of interest are harder to get around though. Earlier this week I had to tackle a fairly complicated family matter on my own because my supervisor (the legal advocate) was in conflict - she had the opposing party as a client many years ago. After two hours with the client I finally figured out what would've taken my supervisor about 20 minutes to do. It will be interesting to see how that pans out. 

2. Student Activism

Recently, a great faculty member was dismissed from UVic Law, without any faculty or student consultation. I've been reading several letters supporting and condoning the decision - from both faculty and students - and it's gotten me to think a lot about the role of students as active participants in our own education.

At law school, I sometimes hear complaints that professors aren't teaching well, or testing well, or testing what the teach or teaching what they test. I'll hear comments along the lines of "I'm paying [insert tuition amount] for this education, I should be taught better!" accompanied by much frustration. Certainly there are exceptions when an instructor is truly not teaching well. And certainly the law is frustrating (period). But these concerns most often leave me feeling more uncomfortable than empowered. Often I fear that we're losing respect for our professors - there's a sense of privilege that sits uneasily with me. Having said that though, I wrote a letter to the University of Victoria's VP Academic and Provost strongly expressing my discontent when I learned that the faculty member was abruptly dismissed. This left me wondering why I'm uncomfortable with some elements of student activism but not others. After giving it some though, I think I've figured out where my discomfort lies. 

I think that as students, we should be active in our education, just as we are active as citizens in a democracy. I think that we should be vocal about our concerns, but not from a centre of privilege - ie. because we're paying X amount or deserve Y grade. I think we should be engaged because we value the kind of education we receive, since that will reflect the kinds of service we will provide to society. Perhaps there really isn't a discernible difference between the two, but I think there is a shift when we perceive our individual educations as a collective social good, instead of as personal goods. This isn't too dissimilar to some of the discourse surrounding the Quebec student protests (Chris blogged about that earlier).

3. Soccer

To end on a light note, I have made every soccer related blunder possible, but I am now thoroughly committed to learning the sport. For my first game, I didn't realize you needed shin guards (I thought the high socks were purely a fashion statement) and wasn't allowed to play. Strike one. For my second game I played (and really enjoyed it!!) but got called out by the ref for not wearing the right shorts. Strike two. For the third game I thought we had a bye (we did not). Strike three. For the fourth game (today) I had shin guards AND the right shorts BUT I didn't realize our time changed from week to week and showed up an hour late. Strike four?! I feel like pretty much the worst team member ever. BUT I figure I must have made every possible mistake by now so SOCCER HERE I COME!

Cheers,
Sharon

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Using social media to catch (alleged) criminals...

As I trudged through my Facebook News Feed this morning, I came across the grainy photo of a young boy donned in Maple Leafs and Flames gear staring up at the camera. He looked like Justin Bieber, so I give it little thought until I noticed the caption - "IF YOU SEE THIS GUTLESS LITTLE SHIT BIKING DOWNTOWN, HE JUST STOLE FROM US." Intrigued by the possibility that Justin Bieber had stolen from a trendy clothing store in Peterborough, Ontario, I had to look further.

I will admit that I was disappointed to find out Mr. One Less Lonely Girl wasn't the real culprit, but I was fascinated and a little disturbed by what I did find. A small, independent clothing store in Peterborough had instantly grabbed a photo from its surveillance camera, thrown it onto Instagram and posted it to Facebook. The photo claimed that the kid had just stolen some hats from the store and encouraged anybody who saw the kid to immediately call the store itself.

As social media inherently does, the photo spread like wildfire. I was privy to plenty of comments from shoppers updating everyone else as to the kid's whereabouts. Other store owners were quick to substantiate the claims of theft by pointing out that plenty of young kids had stolen merchandised, including the very kid in the photo. And within an hour of posting the picture, the young man had been apprehended.

In some ways, this was very cool. Shoplifters can be the bane of retailers, particularly those selling high-priced fashion in a relatively small city. When it comes to kids, it can be especially difficult to nab them. There was a time where photos of shoplifters would only be thrown up behind the store's cash register to remind employees, but with social media, the photo gets around very quickly. There is no need to wait the for the relatively slow response of the police, who have plenty of other things to deal with. For independent store owners, social media can provide a great tool to take matters into their own hands and protect themselves from shoplifters.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

A Rant Against Street Harassers and Cat Callers


I feel strongly about street harassment. It’s something that has really changed the way I got about my life. It’s carved out spaces in the world that feel safe to me and spaces that do not. It’s in large part the reason I started volunteering as a sexual assault response worker, and the reason I’m working at a women’s centre now.

It’s not fair that I feel threatened when walking alone at night. Those streets are as much mine as they are anyone else’s. I hate being cat called from porches, cars, from across the street. I hate being asked if I want a ride. I hate being called any number of names that aren’t mine (hey “baby”, “sexy”, “girl”). I hate that I’m often hedging my bets and asking myself questions like “should I cross the street?” and “can I outrun this guy?” I hate having to pre-plan how I’m going to get home at night, from a place that’s just a 10 minute walk from where I live.

I hated it when I was harassed while walking down Earl St., Johnston St. and Princess St. in Kingston. I hated it when I was harassed while walking down Fort St. in Victoria. And now I hate it when I’m harassed while walking down 100 St. in Fort St. John.

Last night while walking home in the dark, a man in a vehicle followed me half a block and asked if I wanted a ride. I said “no thanks”. He kept following and asked me if I was sure. I said “yes”. During this short exchange I frantically took stock of the number of people inside the car, whether he showed signs of getting out, whether I thought I’d be able to outrun him, who else was around, what businesses were still open nearby, which houses still had lights on, what side streets I had available. He drove away. I walked home, and felt more threatened with every car I passed on the way.

When I got home, I took a moment to think about how unsafe I had felt. I decided to call the non-emergency police line to let them know. I described what had happened and they said that without a licence plate number, there was nothing they could really do. I told them that I didn’t expect anything different, but that I wanted to let them know about my experience anyway. For a moment I felt stupid for not looking at the license plate number. And then I realized that that was ridiculous – it’s not my fault that I was thinking about seven other things because some asshole threatened me on the street.

In any case, I’ve decided to commit to reporting every case of street harassment I experience from now on. Regardless of whether I have a license plate number or a good description, I feel that it’s worth reporting every time.

Because if people were fined for street harassment half as much as what I’ve been fined for parking in Victoria, the world would be a better place.

Sharon

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

A take on the Quebec student protests...

Many post-secondary students in Quebec have been taking to the streets for the last while, officially striking from the classroom in protest of proposed tuition hikes. They have attracted widespread criticism from folks across Canada, chastising them as spoiled brats and denouncing what has occasionally erupted into violent action. Even other students across the country oppose the protests, typically citing the already low tuition rates Quebec students pay compared to the rest of us.


Quebec students protesting (Image: Montreal Gazette)
Personally, the entire issue has me sitting on the fence. In many ways, I support the students. I think the demand to keep tuition rates low and even moving towards free education is, for the most part, justified. I have a lot of trouble buying the argument put forward that these students should shut their yap because tuition is already expensive everywhere else. That kind of argument seems to encourage a race-to-the-bottom mentality: we pay more than we should for our schooling, so you should, too. By the same logic, we could look to the United States - where tuition rates exponentially eclipse Canadian rates - and say, hey, we've got it pretty good. But that doesn't make it right. I firmly believe that education is one of the best investments a government can make, especially because of the positive benefits that come to society as a whole. 

Moreover, sometimes people lose sight of the realities facing young people these days. Rob Carrick did a job good highlighting the incredible rise in cost of living since the 1980s, including rises in tuition and real estate prices - the average cost of a house in Toronto these days is over $500,000, but was less than $100,000 in 1984. Tuition was less than $1,000 per year - now it's over $5,000. Far too many students are and will be stuck with huge amounts of student debt to pay. Add to that an ailing job market and yes, life is not as easy for the young adult as it was decades ago - notwithstanding the sure costs we will have bear for climate change, environmental damage, a glut in health care costs, social security and everything else our elders have left us, but I digress.  

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

One thing a day that scares you

I'm a firm believer in doing one thing a day that scares you. Unfortunately, today I've got two:

1) I got my first whole case today. I'll be helping a client apply for a landlord/ tenancy dispute resolution hearing and then conducting the hearing. I was so flustered I had to fill her consent form 3 times because I kept spelling her name wrong. Then I spelled my name wrong.

2) I'm playing on a women's soccer team tonight. I have no idea how to play soccer. I literally looked up "soccer for beginners" on Youtube. And I have one foot still recovering from a funny sprain that I think I got while modern dancing. I'm bad at field sports in general, but since I accidentally brought my soccer cleats instead of my heels to Fort St. John, I figured I might as well (especially since I had to buy heels here to prevent all my dress pants from dragging on the floor).

WISH ME LUCK. More for 2) than 1), I can figure out the first with a few hours of research. Two's going to be a lot more embarrassing ...


This is more or less what I'm going to look like

Monday, May 14, 2012

Why BC decided it might have to lower its climate change goals

British Columbia's much-maligned Premier, Christy Clark, is spending some time in Japan this week to talk about energy exports. According to the Globe and Mail, prior to her departure, she acknowledged that BC's strict climate change emissions targets might have to be bent a little in the coming years.

Why would BC - the land of drum-circling hippies, organic co-ops and majestic natural lands - have to alter its goals? Are they too lofty? Maybe, but probably not. By 2020, the province is supposed to decrease its emissions by 33% at 2007 levels. This doesn't seem outrageous, and BC has an arsenal of emissions-curbing policies in place, including Canada's only carbon tax and a carbon trust program.

The reason is natural gas. Alberta has long been known as a natural gas giant, but BC is not that far behind, particularly in the northern part of the province. Reserves are ramping up as producers have started exploiting shale gas, the natural gas locked inside shale rock formations. Shale gas is the type associated with fracking, a highly controversial process that breaks up the rock and can have serious detrimental effects on water and other natural resources. At the same time, shale gas reserves are being exploited all over the United States at exceptional rates.

The sudden glut of natural gas on the North American market has driven down prices to the lowest they have been in a decade. This is great for Canadian consumers of the stuff, but terrible for the producers. In an effort to get better prices for the gas, producers and governments are seeking buyers in Asia - that's why Clark is making the rounds in Japan. The Indian and Chinese economies are booming and need as much energy as they can get their hands on, particularly something that isn't as harmful as coal. Japan is desperate for natural gas after having moved away from nuclear energy following the devastating tsunami of 2011. These countries will pay a lot more for gas than we will in Canada.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mostly Useless

Law jobs: your chance to realize that even though you were just in school for 8 months, you don't know how to actually DO anything.

This summer I'm working for a women's centre doing legal advocacy in Penticton. I just finished my first week, and it was overwhelming. All of my co-workers are friendly and helpful, and I've already tapped into the legal community here, but from day one I realized how steep the learning curve is.

Even though we learned a ton in first year, and I understand some basic legal principles, I don't know how to put any of that knowledge into action. I had a client come in whose uncle wanted to vary his grandfather's will. After explaining the Wills Variation Act, I was at a complete loss as to the next steps. What do you actually do when someone comes into your office with a Notice of Claim? Luckily we have an awesome consulting lawyer come into the office on Fridays and answer our legal questions, so we got it sorted out, but I was completely useless.

The law is complicated. That's why lawyers get paid so much money. But sometimes it seems unnecessarily so. Although there are tons of resources online for people who need legal information (the Legal Services Society and Clicklaw have already been helpful), they don't cover everything. And a lot of our clients are older and don't know how to use a computer or the internet. Legal Aid barely covers the necessities (i.e. things you could go to jail for). For a lot of people, community groups like the Penticton Women's Centre are the only places they can turn to for help. We do our best, but we only have trained lawyers in a few times a week. The rest of the work is done by legal advocates, like my supervisor, David, who has worked in legal advocacy positions for years.

David provides great information for people, but it seems like there is a gap in services. Why doesn't the government provide clearer information to people about what to do when they're faced with a legal problem? The provincial courts website has statutes and court rules, but these are written in dense language that even a law student can have a difficult time deciphering. What about someone who hasn't finished high school?

As lawyers, our job will be to make the law clear to people. It's unfortunate that it takes three years of intensive training to be able to do this, when the law affects peoples' lives every day.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Blown Away

Fort St. John is ridiculously windy in the spring. By the time I walk from my car to the office, my hair is a tangled mess stuck pointing one direction and I have dirt in my eyebrows. It's also not very warm, so the two together give me the impression that my usual summertime favourites (ex. going to the beach) are going to need a bit of tweaking. I'm hoping to find some hiking around town and I'm on the lookout for outdoorsy people to befriend! Something that is pretty cool/ jarring though is that the amount of light in a day - the other night I left the pub and it was still so bright out!

I've just finished my first week, and I am finding a great fit with my job, and a funny fit with the town.

Here are some highlights!

1. There is a really alive and active poverty law community online. I've joined emailing lists which are full of other poverty law advocates (usually with various community groups in different towns, just like us) with a wealth of knowledge. It's heartening to see so many people doing this kind of work. The disheartening part, though, is that very few of them are lawyers. Most are like my direct supervisor who has a background in something related (social work, criminology) but who learned everything on the job. Both of us are supervised by a lawyer in town who signs off on everything we write and any full representation we do, but unfortunately there just isn't much funding for full time lawyers in poverty law. Only really exceptional/ egregious cases or charter challenges end up being forwarded to the lawyers at organizations like TRAC or CLAS (who, incidentally, were at the UVic wine and cheese!).

2. There's a fine line between advocacy and dependency. We see all kinds of people walk through the door (men and women). Some are first time clients, some are long time users and have a long history with the centre. The other day I had a long time client ask me if I could type something up for them, because they weren't good at putting words on paper. When I suggested that they could try writing a draft that I could then edit, I met a lot of resistance. When I really refused to write it, I got yelled at and (according to my supervisor) super close to getting punched in the face. Legal advocates are not lawyers though - advocates help with legal issues but are really meant to help people through their own process. They're meant to build agency, but that's not always what happens. Sometimes clients who come in are so familiar with victimization that they become comfortable with other people fixing their situation. The last thing we want to do, though, is to enable further dependency. I've been asked to think about setting up a way to collect information on what our clients have gained through the legal advocacy experience - whether at the end of it they're better informed and knew why they went through the process they did. This is something that the Law Foundation would really like - any thoughts? We're thinking some sort of exit survey or meeting.

3. Often we have to work with other professionals - social workers, mental health workers, doctors. The other day we spent 2 hours putting sticky notes on a report because the doctor didn't fill it out properly. And I get why - the forms are long, repetitive, tedious, and take a lot of time out of their really busy day. Many of the doctors in town are great about it, but there are some who repeated lead to denied claims. I've been asked to come up with a workshop which can (hopefully) attract health care workers and teach them how to fill out the forms (for things like disability assessment for pensions or welfare) - this would hopefully reduce the time it takes them, and it would decrease the number of appeals we have to do. Thoughts?

4. Before moving here, this town was described to me as "redneck country" where "people shoot deer out their window". It's conservative. Really conservative. The men who work in the oilfields have a tight knit organization and they have a big presence this town. And I'm pretty awkward - my car is really conspicuous among the giant trucks everywhere. I've managed to find yoga, but even at the orientation for the Mother's Day 5k run/walk that I'm volunteering at tomorrow, it's mostly men in the oil and gas industry who are volunteering/organizing. Granted, they're pretty well suited for it (they have all these construction signs that they're using to mark the route) but I stick out for sure!

Overall, I could really use a weekend's rest! While on the one hand it makes me wonder what I should do with myself in a place where I don't know many people (ahhhh), on the other I've been napping, watching New Girl (featuring Zooey Deschanel - it's awesome) and loving it. Tomorrow morning it's up bright and early so I can go hold a stop sign at an intersection for the 5k race! I've been informed I have no legal authority to make anyone stop, but that I can try to be persuasive. Hahaha ...

Cheers,
Sharon

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Riding for valour, changing your name to T-Rex and other silly things on the internet...


A daily dose of the Harper Government's desire to seemingly overhaul the democratic process can lead one astray from the mainstream news and in search of greener pastures. Here are some lighter things I came across in the news this week.

For those of us wondering whether Game of Thrones could become anything more than a Sunday evening in front of the TV, the CBC managed to find a young knight crossing Canada by horseback. Vincent Gabriel Kirouac embarked several months ago on his journey from Quebec atop his trusty steed, Lionheart, in an effort to show that true valour still exists. Now, the CBC only credited him with "dressing" like a knight, but I suspect a true knighthood is on the horizon, albeit a difficult title to attain. Just ask Sir Nils Olav, Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian King's Guard.

Metta World Peace readies for T-Rex (Image: TheFaster Times)
Falling into the category of "damn it, why didn't I think of that?" comes the totally awesome news out of York, Nebraska, where a young man has legally changed his name to Tyrannosaurus Rex. Tyrannosaurus Rex Joseph Gold felt the name was a lot "cooler" than Tyler and figured it might help him stand out as a budding entrepreneur. The judge, satisfied that this name change had nothing to do with evading creditors or law enforcement, agreed with Tyler's - oops, sorry, T-Rex's - assessment of the name change. I imagine the judge replaced his gavel with a high-five. I just hope he doesn't bother people in the same way that I'm irked every time basketball announcers manage to say Metta World Peace (the man formerly known as Ron Artest) without cracking a smile.  

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

A Summer Outside the Law

My compatriots have found themselves in new places and in unfamiliar circumstances. My summer situation is far less exciting. Rather than traveling great distances and directly applying the legal knowledge I paid $10,000 for, I find myself back where I was before I started law school: working as an academic researcher looking at the controversies of hydro development - just this time, in BC.

Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty happy with what I've got going on. I work as flexible hours as I'd like, where I'd like, and work with some very cool people. The work is interesting and something I am very comfortable with. And I get paid well enough. Moreover, it allows me the long-term flexibility to leave for southern Ontario in the middle of the summer to work at a summer program for super-smart high school kids - they are far smarter than I will ever be.

But for all the advantages of this summer set up, there is a lingering feeling that I am missing out and falling behind. I found a remarkable and implied pressure during the first year of law school that we should pursue summer positions in the legal field. It needn't be limited to law firms and we were encouraged to seek out positions with the government and with non-profits. But it should still fall within the legal purview. Indeed, many of us were lucky enough to get into UVic's renowned law co-op program, which is designed to place students in four-month legal work terms. While many in our class were able to find positions in the co-op program, lots of us were unable to do so. The reasons are many and varied, but a less-than-stellar job market is largely to blame.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Anticipatory Anxiety

New cities terrify me. When I first moved to Victoria, I dragged all my bags up three flights of stairs, looked down at the few belongings I had in the middle of an empty apartment on a rainy day in a city where I knew no one, and then cried. I called my friend Brian and told him I wanted to go home - and I meant it! I'm a creature of habit and I feel lost easily without familiar faces.

And now I find myself in Fort St. John, BC - the farthest north I've ever been! I drove in last night and started working today, and surprisingly enough I'm already starting to feel the edge of new-place-anxiety wear off. Maybe I'm getting better at adapting to change - it helps that two weeks into living in Victoria I made some amazing friends (these Law Kids!). Reading Meg's post below also gave me a feeling of great calm and comfort - I'm not up here alone.

Fort St. John is the largest city in BC north of Prince George, and like Fort McMurray (which is about the same latitude) it's an oil and gas town. It makes for a very interesting dynamic - it's a very young city with new wealth and a very large income disparity. Fresh out of high school, someone might earn anywhere from $25,000 working a minimum wage service job to $120,000 in the oil field. Along with this comes a predominantly conservative view of family roles - as I found out today - which really colours the kind of work I'll be doing.

I'm working at the women's resource centre, which provides a shelter for women and their children, an outreach centre with donated food, clothing and household items, and a poverty law and housing program. My role will be primarily dealing with poverty law - mostly cases involving landlord/ tenancy issues, employment, social welfare, disability benefits, and child custody. Since I'm funded as a law student outside of the poverty law program, though, I have a bit more flexibility to take on civil case work, so it'll be interesting to see what comes through the door. And I mean literally come through the door! Women come in all throughout the day to ask about what they can do about a situation. Sometimes they come in seeking legal action, sometimes they're in to use the outreach centre and just mention a challenge they're having in casual conversation on their way out. And from there, it seems that my role is to listen actively, to tease out the legislation involved, and to use my legal knowledge to get clients where they need to be. WILD!

Overall I really enjoyed my first day. I felt a level of candidness that I didn't expect from someone doing legal work and it felt great - I guess feminists are feminists wherever they go! Here are two take home messages from the day:
1) Law school teaches you things after all! When asked "what do you know about family law" all I could think about was my property law prof advising us to bring lawyers and accountants on dates. As the day went by though, I nodded at words like "partition", "survivorship" and "security of the person", comforted by the fact that I half knew what was going on and could probably look it up later
2) In poverty law, part of a lawyer's work is a lot like counselling. I think there's a lot of active listening, empathy, non-judgment, and resilience in the face of really devastating cases needed in this kind of work

Overall, a great first day. Let's see what tomorrow brings!

Sharon

On the drive up from Vancouver - the land becomes a lot flatter and more prairie like by Fort St. John






Sunday, May 6, 2012

First Impressions from the 'Real World'


Perhaps a necessary preamble: After completing 1st year law, I have just begun my first ‘law job’, working as a legal research assistant in the north.

Going to school and studying ‘the law’, I am just another student. I can wear what I like, talk how I wish, slouch if I choose, and be late if I want. My experience in the ‘real law world’ ... I’d say started 5 days ago when I took the duct tape off my pants and reluctantly handed them over to the seamstress. It was a big day. That same day I bought two pairs of shoes that reminded me of my mom. I just did it, but tried not to think about it too much.  ‘Flats’ now means more than the sad state of past bike tires. Weird.
A few days later, I actually went to work. The fact that I was in ‘that world’ hit me when I first sat back at my desk, considered the assignment I had been given, and realized I had absolutely no clue what I was supposed to be doing. Next, I was invited into the office of a senior lawyer, who sat me down and proceeded to ask me, straight up: ‘tell me what you know about Aboriginal law’’. I tried not to panic as he sat back expectantly in his chair and my face flushed uncontrollably. I actually wondered if it was actually happening.  My constitutional law classmates might be able to imagine the heat of my cheeks. 
What I seem to find most reflective of this world I have entered (keep in mind, I’ve only been working for 2 days) is my first lunch. My principal showed up at my office door, announced that we were going for lunch, and, without asking for any input from me or explaining anything to do with ‘lunch’, led me out the building, around the corner, and to a coffee shop. When we moved out of line to put down our jackets, she moaned that we hadn’t been attentive to the 3 people who slid in line before us. I’ve never felt such pressure to know exactly what I wanted. Nor have I ever felt such pressure to hustle the people preparing it to go faster, quick, hand over that soup! Lunch proceeded, quickly, with informal questions fired off at an impressively formal pace. The ‘friendship’ question list was getting ticked quickly … and then the phone rang, and we had to return. It was over. Quick! Impatiently ask for take away containers! And then we were walking back to the building, 15 minutes after we left it, with take away soup tucked under my arm in a container I’ve otherwise sworn against … in my business pants …. in my blazer … in my flats. How lawyerly. But what’s funny is that I completely respect my principal. She is busy, important, has kids, a demanding practice. She was doing what she was supposed to do, and trying to make it relaxed and enjoyable. Fail. But she was genuinely trying. So do I groan critically and analyze the pace at which this suited lunch progressed? Or do I take it light heartedly as just a humorous demonstration of what my black flats have walked me into? Really, it was one lunch, I shouldn’t extrapolate from it a generalization of lawyers or lunches or lifestyles, but my, I couldn’t help a few giggles at how ridiculous it seemed. How right on the mark of social stereotyping we were.
I brought work home with me this weekend. Ha! My first weekend, after 2 days of work! Having no idea what you’re doing is a good incentive to sacrifice a bit of free weekend to spare Monday morning cluelessness. Also, I’m still in student mode … having two full days of no homework or readings is already making me feel lazy and unproductive. Might as well review some case law eh … oh my: is it happening already? Thank the lordy I’m in birks … and my bike is just out the window.