Law Times

Law Times • may 28, 2018 Page 7 www.lawtimesnews.com Young and in law BY DORON GOLD I n 1991, when I received a letter from Osgoode Hall Law School offering me a place in its first-year class, I literally jumped up and down on my bed and screamed at the top of my much younger lungs. The impossible had happened. I was accepted into my preferred law school and, to me, that meant my prover- bial ticket was written. I was sure that I was on a fast track to a steady, challenging, lucrative and fulfill- ing career. Then the last 27 years happened, con- firming the wisdom of John Lennon, who said that "life is what happens when you're making other plans." While my journey has ended up in an ideal place, I could not have imagined the circuitousness of it. Flash forward a couple of decades and substitute a millennial aspiring lawyer for that now aging gen-X'er and watch the challenges multiply. Young lawyers today face many of the same challenges and still many more I couldn't have conceived. For instance, from my anecdotal ob- servations of therapy clients, at least here in Ontario, many more law students are failing the bar exams, sometimes mul- tiple times, which is a recent and highly distressing phenomenon for the indi- vidual. There are many potential reasons for this state of affairs, but whatever the rea- son, this is a particularly daunting and stressful obstacle at the beginning of an aspiring legal career. The good news is that those who per- sist almost always prevail. Debt loads today are exponentially higher than when I graduated. As a result, the pressure to get an arti- cling job or "hireback" becomes not just about having a solid start to your career but about digging your way out of a fi- nancial crater. This pressure leads many to jobs they wouldn't or shouldn't otherwise accept. The hireback continues to represent the Holy Grail of early law practice. It is viewed as an ultimate good. This, despite the repeated trying articling ordeals I hear about from students in my practice. These are stories of verbal abuse, sexual harassment, racism and inhumane work- loads. Students and young law- yers are uniquely vulnerable to maltreat- ment by superiors. The power imbalance is wide and the feeling that one must endure this treat- ment to reach one's goals no matter how personally damaging is powerful. I had a client tell me that she'd never want to work at a firm and a few minutes later tell me that she's hoping for a hire- back there. Pressure trumps prudence and personal care. In other situations, articling students or new lawyers work in perfectly lovely, constructive workplaces, but they dis- cover through their time on the job that the area of law or the venue (small private practice, government, Bay St., etc.) is not consistent with who they are. This is a tough one because, some- times, the difficulty they experience may simply be the inevitable fear they experi- ence as individuals new to law practice, aware of how much they don't know, fearing looking foolish or making irre- trievable mistakes due to inexperience (that fear abates, but it takes a while). But, more often, their instincts tell them something's not right and when a paycheque and a steady job are at stake, it's challenging to turn down a solid offer. Ultimately, working where you don't fit, for whatever reason, has a short shelf life, at least for someone who makes a pri- ority of mental health. Conversely, if the work you're doing is fascinating, challenging and fulfill- ing, you're well on your way to a long, satisfying career. This point is an essential one. If I have one mental health tip above all others, it's to be yourself. Do you fully. That can be difficult, and it's OK if you don't find your sweet spot in the profession right out of the gate, but to borrow and tweak a famous Martin Luther King Jr. say- ing: "A legal career is long, but it bends toward fulfilment." An Ontario-specific comment feels necessary. In this jurisdiction, articling is not the only option for students seeking a work placement required by the Law Society of Ontario before one is eligible to be called. The Law Practice Program was cre- ated as an alternative for students who have difficulty finding suitable articles or for those who simply prefer the compre- hensive, structured and intensive learn- ing offered through the LPP. But by virtue of its newness and the sensitivity law students have to any type of stigma, including that which they hear about the LPP being a second-tier expe- rience — which couldn't be further from the truth — distress ensues. The LPP has developed a stellar repu- tation and its record for post-program job attainment by its students is outstanding. I allude to this not to tout the program but to eliminate one stressor that I see over and over again in my therapy prac- tice. I see students panicking at their in- ability to find articles, and I think, you live in an era in which that stress is no longer co-operative or necessary. One way or another, you're getting called to the bar, so relax and enjoy the ride. One other repeated observation is the young person on a rough road, feeling particularly ashamed because they as- sume they are the only one in their co- hort in a difficult spot. They're not. But since they usually hide their dis- tress and don't talk to anyone about it, they remain under the tragically errone- ous misconception that they're failures, unable to cope and clearly inferior to the perceived superstars with whom they went to law school. Simply put, it's a fallacy. Everyone's journey is unique. Despite the urge to compare yourself to your colleague in terms of perceived success, don't. It's a fool's errand. Your journey is yours uniquely. Nur- ture it. Get good mentorship, either in your firm or outside. Make sure you take vacations, move your body, eat well and keep alcohol and other substance use under control. Have boundaries with clients so that you don't own their cases as your own. Help them, but don't be them. Learn to say no, even to employers, as difficult as that might be. Givers need to set limits, because takers never do. Be civil, even when opposing counsel isn't. It'll serve you well. I wish I'd known many of these things when I was coming up. It's an exciting journey filled with anticipation and promise that is well served by self-compassion and construc- tive feedback and knowledge sharing by those who've been there. After everything, I still miss being young and in law. LT uDoron Gold is a registered social worker who is also a former practising lawyer. He works with lawyers and law students in his role as a staff clinician and presenter with the Member Assistance Program as well as with members of the general public in his private psychotherapy practice. He's available at dorongold.com. Consider legal insurance plans for family law BY PATTI CROSS W e have been discussing access to jus- tice and family law reforms for a very long time. That's a good thing. Times change and so should we. Apparently, along with family law reforms, we have also been talking about legal insurance plans (also known as LIPs and/or legal expense insurance) for a long time. In 1997, for example, the "Report of the On- tario Legal Aid Review, A Blueprint for Publicly Fund- ed Legal Services" suggested that Legal Aid Ontario had the "potential . . . to work with prepaid-legal-plan providers to improve access to a limited range of legal services either through public legal education about available schemes or by actually participating in service delivery under a prepaid plan." Basically, legal insurance plans are exactly what they sound like — insurance that covers legal expens- es. There is a variety of plans available ranging from full coverage to legal advice over the phone. Some are stand-alone plans while others are add-ons to your ex- isting home or auto insurance. Legal insurance plans are supported by the Law So- ciety of Ontario. The LSO website states that the law society "believes that legal expense insurance is a useful insurance prod- uct with the potential to make legal services more ac- cessible and affordable for people who don't qualify for legal aid." The LSO came to this conclusion after University of Toronto Faculty of Law professor Michael Trebilcock released his "Legal Aid Review 2008." He, too, concluded that LIPs were a worthwhile en- deavour. "Legal information and advice for the working poor and middle class of Ontario represent a means of pro- viding limited amounts of service to a very substantial number of people," he said. "In many cases, limited service simply will not suf- fice. One unexplored method of providing access to justice is legal insurance." By 2010, after a few years of study, the LSO decided that LIPs are "viable products." The problem was that, outside of Quebec, few knew anything about them. In addition, insurance for fam- ily law matters was non-existent, likely because the vol- ume of claims would be high. Today, the market has started to open up. The good news is that family law matters are now included in the plans. So, why haven't we seriously talked about this as a viable option for middle class litigants in our family courts? I believe there are multiple reasons for this. 1. It's the marriage contract conundrum. Who wants to get family law insurance when you have a relatively happy marriage? 2. As unlikely as it may seem to family lawyers, there is still a stigma around separation/divorce. People may be reluctant to buy legal insurance for family matters. 3. It's a relatively new phenomenon. Both the federal and provincial government needed to approve le- gal expense insurance. From what I can ascertain, LIPs didn't really become available in Ontario until 2010. 4. The public (and, frankly, family lawyers) lack knowledge about the plans. This is likely because plans simply weren't offering legal insurance for family matters until recently. We need to start thinking more seriously about legal insurance and how it fits into our access to justice dis- cussions. As lawyers, we should ask clients if they have insurance. If they don't, we should suggest that they look into it. And, family lawyers, you may want to look into becoming a "participating" or "co-operating" law- yer. I believe that legal insurance plans are a worthwhile option for family litigants that we need to explore fur- ther. Let's start including LIPs in our access to justice discussions. LT upatti cross is a family law lawyer. This article ref lects the personal views of the author. u SPEAKER'S CORNER COMMENT The Lawyer Therapist Doron Gold

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