LEXPERT MAGAZINE
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JULY/AUGUST 2017 53
e question of when, or whether, to con-
sider a practice niche is highly debated
among junior lawyers. Are associates, ar-
ticles or even summer students more mar-
ketable if they have at least some focus in
a particular area of law? Or would they be
more sought aer as generalists?
Craig Kinsman suggests, even if you
have the desire for a specialty, "be patient in
your dream. Starting as a generalist makes
for a better long-term specialist." at's
one of the prime reasons why Bennett
Jones LLP mandates a rotation system for
articling students, says Kinsman, Director
of Professional Development and Student
Programs (Alberta).
By seeing how different lawyers in di-
verse practice areas interact with their cli-
ents, students gain a broad exposure to the
law, as well as client relationship skills. Of-
ten, Kinsman says, students come into the
law firm with a relatively clear sense of what
their interests are. But it's not uncommon
at all for students, "aer three rotations,
to say, 'I had no idea of the real day-to-day
practice of doing X versus Y law. I really en-
joy this work.'"
See Through a Different Lens
For Cynthia Brunet, the question of how
to focus her practice resolved itself early
on. Ideally, she feels articling students and
associates should explore multiple practice
areas. However, directly upon completion
of her articles Brunet was offered a position
within the same firm, the bulk of the work
SPECIALIST
OR GENERALIST?
"Be patient in your
dream. Starting
as a generalist
makes for a better
long-term specialist."
- Craig Kinsman, Bennett Jones LLP
Is it better early on to be
capable in multiple fields
or masterful in only one?
By Bev Cline
valuable things we do here. Our articling
students generally get involved in droves."
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP has also
taken a proactive approach through its
"pipeline initiative," says Kari Abrams, the
firm's Director of Associate and Student
Programs. e program, which is also done
in partnership with University of Toronto
and Osgoode Hall law schools, features
panel discussions and question-and-answer
sessions with lawyers and alumni from
Blakes. She says the goal is to provide the
undergraduate population, especially from
minority communities, with information
that actually encourages them to go to law
school, with the aim of increasing the pipe-
line of minority students actually pursuing
business-law careers.
So far Blakes has done just one panel
with each of the two law schools, but there
were more than 100 students attending
each of them. e students seemed most
interested in hearing the panelists' stories
about why they chose law, says Abrams,
"because many had never really thought
of law — particularly business law — as a
career path."
Meeting someone like Poonam Puri, a
professor at Osgoode who is a former asso-
ciate dean and co-director of the Hennick
Centre for Business and Law, is important.
"She told her personal story. She said [there
was a time] she didn't know if she could do
it — she hadn't seen someone else in her
family have a successful career in law —
that it was a leap of faith for her to do it.
Just hearing how she didn't think it was ob-
tainable and seeing the success she attained
in her career and how happy she is she did
it, how much she enjoyed it, is a motivating
factor to other people in the audience."
Abrams says when she speaks to stu-
dents, especially from minority commun-
ities, they oen express a fear that they
don't know anyone in the profession, that
they're not sure if they can do it, so they
don't know if they should bother trying.
Asked whether they express concern that
they may end up being marginalized in-
side a corporate law firm, she says the topic
doesn't come up.
With diversity and inclusion so high on
the agenda for so many firms, there may be
a good reason for that.
in regulatory financial services. "is was
a very, very specific field of law, primarily
banking and insurance," she recalls. "It was
an offer I couldn't refuse, and I thought, 'I
might fall in love with the field.'"
Brunet, an associate with Langlois Law-
yers, LLP in Montréal, says if an opportuni-
ty in a specific area comes up, give yourself
enough time to try it out — also, see where
it may lead. As such, today, Brunet not only
focuses on compliance and regulatory fi-
nancial services, but has added litigation.
"I like to help businesses with their compli-
ance needs, but also, if ever they have liti-
gation needs from a regulatory standpoint,
then I can be of assistance," she says.
Joseph Adler, a partner at Hoffer Adler
LLP, a franchise law boutique in Toronto,
believes lawyers "are stronger advocates for
clients if they can see issues through more
than their own lens." Adler's personal prac-
tice is primarily franchising, but "when I'm
draing a contract, I consult our litigators,
as they bring a different perspective." As a
result, Hoffer Adler's younger lawyers gain
expertise in the firm's franchising, litiga-
tion and IP departments.
Further, from a career development
point of view, Adler suggests casting the net
a little wider, rather than looking for a spe-
cific niche early in your career. "Otherwise,
you could be pigeonholing yourself into a
very restricted area and may not get a job in
that area of interest. Or you might realize
the area doesn't align with your expecta-
tions, and where do you go from there?"
STUDENT
RECRUITMENT SPECIAL
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
