Heather Gardiner

Monday, 27 August 2012 10:07

Video: How to start your own firm - Elmé Schmid

Toronto lawyer Elmé Schmid, who started her own criminal and regulatory law firm earlier this year, shares her tips on how to get off on the right foot.

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Monday, 27 August 2012 08:08

10 tips for starting your own firm

Illustration: Matt Daley

Having a law degree and being called to the bar no longer guarantees a job in a law firm. According to the results of this year’s Canadian Lawyer Compensation Survey, only 45 per cent of law firm respondents plan to hire more lawyers next year. With this in mind, you might want to consider hanging up your own shingle. Since the prospect of starting a firm can be intimidating, assistant editor Heather Gardiner asked sole practitioners for their tips on how to start off on the right foot.

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Monday, 27 August 2012 08:06

Tips from the top

Considering a career in the realm of legal academia? Canadian Lawyer 4Students spoke to law school deans across the country about what it’s like and the path you can take to get there.

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Monday, 27 August 2012 08:09

Breaking down the barriers

Photo: Shutterstock

It should come as no surprise that law school is stressful. The same can be said for most other graduate programs, but given the unique pressures law students face, it’s even more important to recognize the needs of those with disabilities, whether they are physical or mental.

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Monday, 27 August 2012 08:03

The pros & cons of ...

Practising in Edmonton, mining law, in Saskatchewan, mergers & acquisitions

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Monday, 20 August 2012 08:00

A taste of the real world

Western law students worked with U.S. colleagues on a report about agricultural bankruptcy law. Photo: Shutterstock

In line with its self-proclaimed “international outlook,” four Western University Faculty of Law students got the rare opportunity to work with their American counterparts this summer on a project for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Monday, 30 July 2012 11:07

New online LLM in Chinese law offered

You can now get an LLM in Chinese law from your couch but it’ll cost US$20,000. (Photo: Shutterstock)

In an effort to attract more international students, the Beijing Foreign Studies University will soon be offering Chinese law programs online.

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Monday, 23 July 2012 08:33

Pulling for the podium

Morgan Jarvis put his legal career on hold for two years in order to train full time for the Olympics. Photo: Kevin Light Photography

Morgan Jarvis is not your typical law student.

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Monday, 16 July 2012 10:09

LSBC gives law student with sketchy academic history a second chance

A law student with a history riddled with academic fraud has been given a second chance to enter the profession by the Law Society of British Columbia.

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Monday, 02 July 2012 08:00

Dal law to offer new scholarship for disabled students

In an effort to make law school more inclusive, a new scholarship for disabled students has been established at Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law.

The scholarship was made possible by reachAbility, a local not-for-profit organization that aims to create more inclusive communities. The scholarship will be awarded to a different incoming first-year student each year, starting this fall. Students must demonstrate academic excellence, financial need, and self-identify as having a disability, which can be physical, mental, cognitive, or sensory.

ReachAbility offered to donate $10,000 annually for the next four years. The law school will add another $5,000 in the first year and plans to fundraise for the remaining years.

With tuition costing slightly less than $15,000 per year, Diane Chisholm, a development officer at the law school, says the scholarship will really make a difference in the chosen students’ lives.

“You want to have individuals have accessibility regardless of the barriers. We don’t want cost to be a barrier and for some students with disabilities cost is a challenge, and so if it’s targeted at those students then the playing field is a little bit more level,” she says.

“If someone has disabilities, one can imagine that they would have other challenges and law school is very competitive,” she adds.

Tova Sherman, founder of reachAbility and a disability awareness trainer, says not only will the scholarship benefit students and the law school, it will also benefit the legal community by raising awareness about disabilities and, in effect, removing the stigma that exists in society — specifically in the legal profession.

“The legal community gains because those lawyers are going to have experience working with someone with a disability and realizing all those preconceived notions . . . [are] not the whole story,” says Sherman.

“We need to educate the legal community and this is one of the ways,” she adds.

Sherman has conducted disability awareness training at law schools, law firms, and the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society through Independent Disability Education Associates.

“I’ve seen that there is a lack of awareness, just like anywhere else,” she says.

Sherman refers to a survey that reachAbility conducted of its legal referral service as an example of the stigma that still exists. Out of approximately 350 volunteer lawyers, only three identified as having a disability, and those were the ones with a physical disability.

“For persons with disabilities, I don’t think that anyone ever really thought about the importance of equalizing the playing field because they always perceive accommodation as ‘special,’” she says.

Sherman says it’s not about being “special,” it’s about people with disabilities having the same accessibility as others, and society starting to view it that way.

“We have attitudinal and architectural barriers. If we remove all the architectural barriers that does not mean we’re OK. But if we remove the attitudinal barriers, everything falls into place,” she says.

Chisholm says the scholarship also presents more opportunities for those with disabilities.

“By offering a scholarship, you’re offering the potential for individuals with disabilities who may not have considered [law school]. So it’s not only just the actual money, but it’s actually giving those with disabilities the idea that this is something [they] can aim for,” she says.

Tova Sherman says the scholarship will also benefit the legal community by raising awareness and removing the stigma of disabilities.

In an effort to make law school more inclusive, a new scholarship for disabled students has been established at Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law.

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