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Legal Practice and Alternative Legal Careers:What I Wish I Knew during Law School
Christy Smith-Worthylake
Common Law ’07
November 1st, 2012
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About Me
• In Law School sat on the LSUC’s disability working group
• In 2006/07 worked for the CRTC as a disability issues analyst
• Articled and practiced with the government of Canada from 2007 to 2009
• Left practice in 2009 and began providing consulting services
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LESSONS FROM MY LEGAL PRACTICE
• Adapting practice to disability and vice versa takes time
• Must develop an understanding of the impact of a particular disability on legal practice
• Appropriate and ongoing support and mentorship is key
• Communication is critical
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FINDING CONSULTING WORK
• Did not seek an alternative legal career. It just happened
• Used past experience and connections to network and find employment
• Connections were helpful in other areas
• Broadened experiences beyond disability and human rights
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MAKING CONSULTING WORK
• Used experiences from practice to add value to services provided
• Developed multidisciplinary relationships
• Used legal and non-legal knowledge
• As in practice it was vital to understand my working style and how my disability affects my ability to work
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IN SUMMARY
• Experiences in legal practice were vital to helping understand how to go about providing quality products/services
• Learned that all my experiences can help add value to products/services
• Can move easily between legal and non-legal sectors