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Page 4 OctOber 30, 2017 • Law times www.lawtimesnews.com French LPP candidates at A2J Week BY LISA CUMMING For Law Times K ayla Cardinal Lafrance found it easy to make the choice to register for the University of Ot- tawa's French Law Practice Pro- gram. She wanted to focus on her studies first then figure out which area she'd like to specialize in. "It was really hard to deter- mine what I liked, I kind of liked everything," she says. "I didn't cater my whole law school expe- rience to one field." The University of Ottawa's Law Practice Program, in French the PPD or Programme de pratique du droit, was de- signed to "promote access to justice for Francophones" and as an alternative to traditional articling. The program is only offered in French. "We have a lot of academic knowledge coming out of uni- versity, but nobody really asked us to do anything concrete," says Cardinal Lafrance. The candidates do different mock experiences — one week it's working as a criminal lawyer; the next it's tackling a leasing problem. "I honestly think it's the best decision I made since I started law school," Cardinal Lafrance says. In January, she will be starting a position in-house at the Bank of Canada. To prepare them for work be- yond the program, candidates also learn how to manage a prac- tice, doing physical filing, digital filing and billing clients. "We even get pretend cheques, the whole thing," she says. "May- be something we could do is get on board with the future and try to go paperless, but, honestly, in the beginning it's good to do the paperwork to see how much bet- ter it would be if we could digi- tize the whole process." This year, there are 12 candi- dates in the program. Last year, there were 25. "I really like the vibe that we have because we're smaller," says Cardinal Lafrance. To her, this means she gets a very personal- ized experience. Anne Levesque, the program director, wrote in an email that one factor impacting enrolment was the report the LSUC initially released last fall saying it would cut the program before reversing the decision. As a result, many candidates found articling posi- tions instead. "However, since the begin- ning of the program, not once has a candidate stated that the program's reputation was a fac- tor in selecting articling over the LPP. Rather, all candidates (even those who have withdrawn) say we have an outstanding reputa- tion," Levesque wrote. "It is not at all viewed as a backup plan or a second-class path to the pro- fession." Andréanne Charron decided on the LPP because she knew the area of law in which she wanted to specialize. "I didn't see the point of, for example, doing my articling in business law when I wanted to go into social justice," she says. Charron landed a placement at the legal clinic in Cornwall, Ont. and she was hired back upon completion. She found that the in-class portion of the program helped her a lot. "It was very personal," she says. "The lawyers that were teaching us, we know their names. We know our teams. For me, it helps with the community feeling, having everyone together." Community, she says, is also an important part of networking. "Someone knows someone and then you find out that this person knows 10 other people, it just seems that the French legal community is even smaller than you think because everyone knows everyone," she says. The candidates are also en- couraged to go to every network- ing event, Charron says. They're not just limited to French events. She also credits the pro- gram with making the candi- dates aware of the difficulties that francophone communities face, such as accessing justice in French and encouraging them to be involved in their commu- nities all the time. For Access to Justice Week, the candidates have been sepa- rated into teams and have been assigned a region of Ontario to conduct research on issues and barriers to accessing justice in French. The teams, work- ing closely with l'Association des juristes d'expression fran- çaise de l'Ontario and the Cen- tre d'information juridique d'Ottawa, connected with a law- yer working in their region and asked to interview that person on the issues. Cardinal Lafrance is present- ing at the event in Hamilton. "They're like our lawyer- mentor for the region to give us the low-down for what works here, what doesn't, what needs improving, maybe you should talk to this person and this per- son," she says. Cardinal Lafrance says it's been easy to make connections. "The perception of the [pro- gram] within the legal commu- nity is very well received. We make ourselves known," Car- dinal Lafrance says. "We have a lot of networking opportunities, so it's not just a way to access the profession but a way to get inte- grated into the profession." LT NEWS NEWS NEWS Anne Levesque says enrolment at the University of Ottawa's French Law Practice Program was impacted by the report the LSUC initially released last fall saying it would cut the program, before reversing the decision. S.N.King Bookkeeping Services Law office specialist, PCLaw, LSUC audits, payroll, LSUC and tax reports. (905) 409-9109 sueking1234@gmail.com LAW TIMES Marketplace © 2017 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited 00247RG-A89120-CM AVAILABLE RISK-FREE FOR 30 DAYS Order online: www.store.thomsonreuters.ca Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 | In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Order # L7798-8071-65203 $120 Softcover September 2017 approx. 600 pages 978-0-7798-8071-3 Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. 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This book provides insight into how the courts in Ontario have interpreted the UNCITRAL Model law and records these cases in a manner that can be easily accessible to practitioners. This New Act applies to all international commercial arbitration agreements and awards, whether made before or after the coming into force of the New Act. DISCLAIMER The views and opinions expressed in this book are those of the authors only and not those of their employer, the Department of Justice. www.twitter.com/lawtimes Follow on

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