Episodes
Monday Dec 21, 2020
64. Listening Legally
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Monday Dec 21, 2020
We are joined this episode by Zach Battiston and Karly Lyons. Zach and Karly are the co-founders of the Legal Listening Podcast. Like audiobooks, the Legal Listening podcasts provides an oral version of famous cases in their entirety. Karly and Zach explain how it came to be, how it all works, and why reading (or listening) to the full text of a case is often better than its excerpt.
Legal Listening Podcast: https://www.legallistening.com/
Music Attribution:
What's Love Got to Do With It by Tina Turner
Soundcloud: What's Love Got to Do with It
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
63. Go Rams!
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
Our guest this episode is Colin McMillan, a 1L student at Ryerson. Colin did his undergrad at UofT in physics and history, took a gap year where he worked in pest control and at a medical lab. But the reason he's on the show is mainly because he was one of the lucky students to be inducted into the inaugural class at Ryerson law school.
We discuss what's it like being at Ryerson. Colin goes over the format, which is different from most (all?) law schools in Canada. In particular, every class will have 2 instructors: a regular "professor" for theory elements, and a practising lawyer for tutorials and practical elements of lawyering. Already, he's had a lot of hands on experience experimenting with things like filling out leases, writing opinion letters, and interviewing clients. Colin also notes that the school has a requirement to do an internship which normally means that for one term in 3L, students will be placed at a law office.
All in all, Colin's experience at Ryerson has been, it seems safe to say, fantastic. The profs have been welcoming and engaging, the school has navigated Covid as well as could be expected, the practical sessions have proven valuable, and he's gained a lot of confidence regarding the practice of law. Felicity thinks everyone who goes to Ryerson loves it; Richard recommends she may wish to do law school there all over again.
Music Attribution:
What's Love Got to Do With It
by Tina Turner
Soundcloud: What's Love Got to Do with It
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
62. International Law and Unicorns
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
Our guest this episode is Sydney McIvor, a 3L student. Sydney mentions a play for her law-related entertainment -- What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck -- which she saw on Broadway. (Lucky her! -- but also lucky for those who have access to Amazon Prime as it is available for streaming: https://www.amazon.com/What-Constitution-Means-Me/dp/B08KRB3FQ4)
Sydney talks about two internships/placements she's had, both of which took her outside of Canada. First, during her 1L summer she was with the World Bank Group in Washington DC -- an internship funded through Osgoode Hall Law School (there's another position funded through Western Law); and second, a term spent at The Hague in the Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals - which related to matters left over from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Richard thought she was paid for these positions, but she assured us she wasn't.
Felicity is curious as to why Sydney hates Canada because she's always off galivanting around the world. Sydney's answer is much more sophisticated: she sees law as a somewhat limited licensed profession because expertise in it is not all that transferable, unlike other professions. For her, committing to one jurisdiction (as you pretty much need to do if you're going to have a career in professional practice) can be daunting for someone just starting out, and the barriers to moving around are high.
Sydney's advice if you want to do international law work: think about going to law school in the place you want to be; but if that's not possible, realize that a common law degree is a good backstop, particularly if the law school has an international reputation (which many in Canada do).
Music Attribution:
What's Love Got to Do With It
by Tina Turner
Soundcloud: What's Love Got to Do with It