Category Archives: Getting Involved at Allard School of Law

Hello Class of 2018!

Congratulations to all incoming 1Ls on being accepted to Allard Hall! My name is Emma Wilson, and I’m the PR Director for the Law Students’ Legal Advice Program (LSLAP). I hope you will consider volunteering at LSLAP in September. I found that my time spent at LSLAP turned out to be the defining experience of my first year of law. Many of my fellow LSLAPers are sure to say the same.

LSLAP is a great place to volunteer for several different reasons. First of all, it gives you the chance to experience real file work from day one. You’ll be working in a wide variety of practice areas, both criminal and civil. Real files mean real clients, and you’ll learn how to work one-on-one with clients and how to manage your files, both invaluable skills for all lawyers to have. You also get to work directly with the program’s two full-time supervising lawyers and learn from their wealth of experience. If your file goes to trial – an exciting prospect in itself — you will also have the benefit of being mentored by one of LSLAP’s volunteer supervising lawyers right up to and during the date of the trial.

The other great thing about LSLAP is that you are the one with the ultimate control over your workload. You can choose to attend extra clinics or take on transfer files, or simply to work on the files that you receive during your assigned clinic. There is no set number of hours that a student is expected to commit to LSLAP. Rather, this depends on what you can personally handle and what you really want to work on.

As well, LSLAP is a great social environment to be in, especially during your first year. It’s one of the best ways to make connections and get to know your fellow law students, from 1Ls to 3Ls. I know that I appreciated this a lot, especially since the first year of law school can be a very daunting experience.

Volunteering at LSLAP can also lead to a summer job, as we hire back 10-15 students each May to work full-time for us over the summer. This means doing paid legal work full-time for four months, which is an opportunity few first year students have.

The final reason why you should volunteer for LSLAP is that the contributions you will make as an LSLAP student are an invaluable asset to the community. Affordable legal representation is very difficult to come by in BC. As an LSLAP student, you’ll be helping marginalized people by providing legal advice and representation to those who cannot otherwise access or afford it. You’ll also be providing a service to the court by reducing the number of self-representing clients appearing at courts and tribunals.

At LSLAP, you will get to do real legal work, learn from experienced lawyers, get to know your fellow students, and perform invaluable community service. And, you might even get a job out of it. For all these reasons and more, I hope you decide to give LSLAP a try in September!

Regards,

Emma Wilson, Director of Communications

LSLAP

Read more about LSLAP on their website: http://www.lslap.bc.ca/

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First and foremost, we would like to welcome you to the community of the Allard School of Law. We hope you are enjoying your summer and are looking forward to an incredible three years as a JD student. As you may already know, clubs and extracurricular activities abound at Allard. As a 1L student you will be able to find a group that perfectly suits your interests. And, if those interests include writing, editing, or being involved in a publication, you may find the UBC Law Review Society to be a perfect fit.

What is the UBC Law Review?

We are a society that publishes one of Canada’s leading peer-reviewed legal journals. We publish three editions of the UBC Law Review per year, which include independent articles, book reviews, and case comments. We also publish the Table of Statutory Limitations, a resource used by over 1,000 legal practitioners throughout the province.

The UBC Law Review Society is comprised entirely of students, who edit all of the submissions and manage the business of the Society. Faculty advisors, some of whom have served on the UBC Law Review Board themselves, offer direction and help to facilitate the publication of the UBC Law Review.

How do I get involved?

As a 1L student, you can get involved in the UBC Law Review by applying to be an assistant editor. Our assistant editors play a very important role in the Society, as they verify the sources and assess the legal arguments of submitted articles, and edit these articles for proper citation style and grammar. As an assistant editor, you would receive formal training about citation style, as well as informal training and mentorship from an associate editor. You will undoubtedly find this training helpful when it comes time to write your first law school paper.

The UBC Law Review will be accepting applications for assistants in September 2015. If you are interested in applying, keep an eye out for us at Clubs Day (which will take place in September) or send us an email at lawrev@interchange.ubc.ca.

What is the time commitment like?

The time commitment is quite small. As an assistant editor, you would be given two assignments per term. These assignments take about one day to complete, but as you will be given two weeks to work on your assignment, you are in total control of your pacing. You will also be invited to attend a few Law Review socials during the year, but of course, these events are entirely optional.

What does involvement in the UBC Law Review look like after 1L?

Nearing the end of your first year, we will put out a call for applications for Board of Directors positions. As a Board member, you would take on a bit more responsibility and would also provide input as to which articles should be published in the UBC Law Review. Board members are also eligible to receive two course credits per year that will count towards their degree requirements.

We encourage you to visit our website if you are interested in joining the UBC Law Review. On our site you will be able to view abstracts of recently published articles, which will give you a great sense of what kind of work you would be reading and editing as an assistant editor.

If you have any questions about the UBC Law Review in the months leading up to Orientation Week, feel free to email us at lawrev@interchange.ubc.ca. We look forward to meeting you in September!

Connor Bildfell – Editor-in-Chief, Editorial

Rachel Lehman – Editor-in-Chief, Administrative

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Hello incoming 1Ls!

Congratulations on your admission to UBC Law! I am a 3L from southern Alberta, and this year’s President of Legal Education Outreach (LEO). As students of the Allard School of Law, you will be provided with a number of opportunities to get involved in faculty life, and LEO will be among the student clubs vying for your participation. In advance of those first couple of weeks, here is a quick overview of what we do.

LEO exists to encourage access to justice beginning at the grassroots by visiting high schools whose student demographics tend to be underrepresented in the Canadian legal profession, and presenting on a particular legal topic (e.g. criminal law or the Charter). We also explain how the law impacts students’ lives daily, and how they can become involved in the legal profession. Over the past few years, our program has become very successful; we now send about 80 to 100 law students to conduct workshops each year!

LEO is a great way to give back to the community and we encourage you to get involved by signing up for our email list during clubs day and attending our orientation meeting in September/October. In the meantime, feel free to visit our website (www.leo-ubc.com) or email us with any questions you have (ubcleoexec@gmail.com).

Best wishes,

James Beaton

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