[blindlaw] RE Canadian Law Study

[Elizabeth Rene]

Hi, Graham,

Your chances of clerking with any law firm will depend on how well you do 
gradewise.

They will be looking for people near the top of their class, with proven 
research and writing skills.

You may be right about it being harder to get a job as a first year student, 
but firms do hire summer clerks, from the pool of students with the 
credentials listed above.  If these clerks do well, they get invited back 
for the next summer, and possibly hired on full time after graduation.

If you are just entering law school this fall, though, the most important 
thing to be doing now will be to get used to law school, which is very 
different from college, and to concentrate on doing well there.  Law study 
is very challenging, for sighted students as well as for blind ones, 
because it involves a whole new way of thinking and learning, and 
interacting with peers and professors.  The workload is heavy, the pressure 
is intense, and There's an acculturation that takes place that deserves the 
effort needed to get used to it.  A major life task of the first year law 
student is to find out whether he or she can thrive in that environment, or 
at least cope with it.  Worrying too much about finding a premium clerkship 
during the first summer could add pressure you don't really need.

Once you have at least your first semester grades, then you'll be in a 
better position from which to approach summer employers.

Even if you're not so happy with your first semester grades (my own weren't 
that hot that first semester), you can still find summer work in the public 
sector, or as a volunteer.  Then too, if your university offers law school 
courses during the summer, one of these might lighten your workload for the 
second year or help you catch up on the first.

Your law school might offer the chance for first year students to take a 
summer legal clinic for credit, which would combine classwork with hands-on 
experience.  This could be a great chance to boost your confidence as a 
student by using what you've learned to help real people solve their legal 
problems, and by affirming for yourself that being a lawyer is what you 
really want to do.

Your grades will very likely improve quite a bit once you've found your feet 
in law school.    Then you can try again for a clerkship during the summer 
between your second and third year.

Good luck.

Elizabeth