THE ONTARIO LAWYERS’ ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

Follow your interests and don’t worry about ‘being a lawyer’

By Natalie Fraser June 22 2007

Lawyers seeking alternatives to traditional law practice should follow their interests, according to participants in a recent panel discussion hosted by the Women’s Law Association of Ontario.

The panellists, speaking at Osgoode Hall, were lawyers who have discovered niches outside traditional practice. Their stories illustrated different ways to make the transition from practising law into law-related careers.

“Make sure you’re running to something as opposed to from something,” said panel member Janette Canvin.

Canvin, of Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, oversees the firm-wide administration of all programs relating to associates, including recruitment. Called to the Ontario Bar in 1988, she became a practising partner at a large national law firm. But she found herself looking for a purpose beyond business. She decided to research the possibilities.

“I went to the Internet and surfed to find what else is out there,” Canvin said. “I surfed job sites. I looked at academic sites.” She also examined want ads in newspapers, finding opportunities she never knew existed.

“I went to recruitment agencies to see what I was qualified for. I went to job interviews to get a sense of what I wanted. I talked to friends and colleagues.” She also cold-called several people who had positions that interested her, and invited them to lunch to get ideas.

Eventually Canvin found an ad for the job at Osler. It interested her, and she got it. She now enjoys using her skill at helping people to recruit and guide associates.

Yvonne Bernstein, called to the Ontario Bar in 1981, was unhappy in private practice but didn’t know how to get out of it. She ended up taking a contract position at the Law Society of Upper Canada, and while there, got to know a lawyer who handled claims at LawPro (then the Errors and Omissions Department of the Law Society). “She was dealing with fascinating issues, dealing with top-tier legal counsel, and didn’t have to solicit clients, docket, bill or collect,” Bernstein said. It convinced Bernstein to apply for a job at LawPro. “I didn’t know anything about it, but it didn’t bother me in the slightest. That got my foot in the door.”

It opened up a whole new world for her, and 18 years later, she’s still enjoying it.

Ingrid van Weert practised law on Bay Street for 20 years. She began as a corporate lawyer, then became a commercial litigator and next chose to run her own family law firm for 10 years. After becoming temporarily bedridden due to a herniated disc, she began thinking of leaving law. She wanted to do something that made a difference.

“I was too busy to get out of a practice I no longer liked, even though I was not professionally happy. Fate intervened when I could no longer walk,” van Weert recalled.

Van Weert found a position as executive director of The Holmes Foundation, started by contractor and TV star Mike Holmes of “Holmes on Homes”. Helping achieve the foundation’s goals of supporting youth in the skilled trades and assisting people in getting their lives back after botched renovations provides van Weert with a satisfaction beyond private practice.

“Take the risk,” van Weert advised. “You’ll find a path.”

Carrie Heller, called to the Bar in 1996, is president of The Heller Group Legal and Executive Search, a legal recruitment company. She found the practice of law too paper-oriented.

“Legal recruitment is more interpersonal,” Heller said. It allows her to focus on dealing with people. The selling aspect of her job also appeals to her. “I find being an entrepreneur very challenging, very fulfilling.”

Heller had some advice for lawyers wishing to make the transition into alternative careers. As a legal recruiter, she sees unhappy lawyers every day. The longer they wait to make a move, the more difficult it becomes as their incomes increase.

“The golden handcuffs get tighter and tighter,” Heller said. It’s better to make the move sooner rather than later, she advises.

Terri Wilkinson, a nurse for 15 years, was called to the Bar in 1990. After working in legal aid clinics for most of her legal career, she is now a part-time case manager with the Ontario Lawyers Assistance Plan (OLAP), which assists lawyers facing difficulties such as depression, burnout, and drug or alcohol misuse.

“I started out as a volunteer with OLAP,” Wilkinson said. She found it suited her, contacted the Clinical Director to ask whether a paid position existed, and was hired. As a practising lawyer, she had disliked the documents and deadlines, but loved the clients, and OLAP provides an outlet for her people skills.

During the question period at the end of the moderated discussion, the panel was asked how they deal with the “stigma” of not practising traditional law.

Van Weert replied that she receives the opposite response. Men and women alike told her they wished they could follow her lead to move into a different career, but were too tied down to make the change.

“People know the (lawyer) lifestyle sucks,” van Weert said.

Canvin commented that while some people won’t understand the need to change careers, it’s more important to be true to yourself.

“My mentor told me, ‘You’re throwing away your legal talent to become a second-rate nobody,’” Canvin said. “This is why you need to know what you’re doing. Know what you’re doing, and leave. There’s a whole community out there of brilliant, talented people who couldn’t care less that you’re a lawyer.”

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