Hi Everyone! Although we already spoken with some of you, we thought we would introduce ourselves and say an official WELCOME to Allard Law! We just finished our first year of law school (“1L”), and are working this summer as your Orientation Coordinators. In other words, we have the incredible privilege of planning your first week at law school (lucky you). Here’s a few things about us!

Maddy MacDonald:

Pretending we know how to litigate

I was born and raised in Calgary, though I now call Victoria home since my family moved there about five years ago. I did my undergad at UVic, where I doubled majored in psychology and running (just kidding, I majored inpsychology but spent most of my time running for the Vikes cross country and track teams). While I was in undergrad I had no idea that I wanted to pursue a legal education, but after working for a year in India at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, I realized that law school was the way to go! I chose Allard because of its amazing faculty, wide range of courses, and its exceptional reputation and location (I’ve always been a west coast chick at heart). I’m still very open to what kind of law I want to practice, but my favorite courses in first year were Tort Law and Criminal Law. I’m hoping to get more clarity by working in the Indigenous Community Legal Clinic in my second year. In my free time I love playing sports, doing yoga, hiking, playing board games, hanging out with my friends and family (and my pup Piper), and being outside.

National Law Students’ Wellness day – teaching yoga in the forum!

In my first year I was involved in a number of programs/clubs including the Center for Feminist Legal Studies (CFLS), Women’s Caucus, the Equity & Diversity and Wellness Committees, and was a member of Allard’s intramural volleyball team. I am super excited to continue my work on wellness initiatives at Allard as the incoming Allard Law Students’ Society Director ofWellness! I highly recommend getting involved in the Allard community – it is such a rewarding experience and a great way to connect with like-minded individuals and to make friends outside of your small group.

#LawNeedsFeminismBecause – Great vibes in the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies

You will be inundated with advice in your first few weeks of school, so I’ll limit my advice-giving to what rang true for me. First, I used to volunteer at a crisis line, and our golden rule was to never give advice. Only you can decide what is going to work for you, and as well-meaning as upper-year advice-giving students are, they are not the ones who have to walk through the consequences of the advice they gave. You got this far, which means that you know what you need to do to be successful. By all means, capitalize on all of the mentorship opportunities you will get as a 1L to talk things out, but remember what my wise coach used to tell me: sometimes free advice is worth what you paid for it – nothing! With that in mind, here comes my second piece of free advice: keep perspective. Law school is a lot like varsity athletics – it can be all consuming. Just like it used to seem that nothing else in the world mattered except for running the standard to get into x race, it is too easy in law school to turn on your blinders and forget that the world continues to exist beyond Contracts and Property law. It can be tough at times, but when you start feeling that tunnel vision kicking in, I encourage you to take a step back, remember why you came here in the first place, and to reconnect with your interests outside of law school.

Martin Lay:    

Hi Incoming class of 2020

Welcome to your new community!

I have the absolute privilege this year of being one of your Orientation Coordinators and it makes me all sorts of happy! I will welcome you a million more times over the next few weeks and tell you a bunch of profound and intellectually stimulating tidbits of factoids. Right now though, I thought maybe at least one of you out there may be curious as to who your coordinators are. So let’s get personal!

Martin Quick Facts:

  • 25 years of age
  • Psychology undergrad (UBC)
  • Attends Taylor Swift Concerts
  • Laker Fan
  • Used to fix tires for a living
  • Used to dry mushrooms for a living
  • Used to sell travel for fun and for a living
  • Campfire enthusiast
  • Has food hidden all over the school
Our Scavenger team! Spot my hover hand on your other O-week Coordinator… In my defence, this was the first week in law school and I’m an awkward kid…

Martin’s involvement in the school (aka things you should ask me about)

  • Allard Law Students’ Society
    • 1L Academic Rep
    • VP of Student Affairs & Chair of the Social Council
  • Hoop-Law Charity Student Coordinator
  • Law Games Team Member
  • Sport, Entertainment and Law Society – Vice President
  • Legal Education Outreach Person
  • Allard Student Ambassador
  • Curtis Small Group Member (Best small group btw)
How many 1Ls can you fit in a car?
Our small group Thanksgiving potluck – Spot Maddy
My end of the year Trike Race team, also my Law Games roommates. Don’t mind the short shorts – I usually wear pants to class

I will leave you with one piece of unsolicited advice that I was given in my first few weeks of school and has served me well in time here thus far.

Be humble and help each other out, be there for one another when things look bleak (it will happen), if you can do someone a favor, do it, and most of all, celebrate your time here – every victory is a victory no matter how small!

The first person I met in Law school – now graduated, personal friend, and mentor – Law Games Banquet

We are really excited to meet you all and looking forward to O-Week! If you have any questions about Orientation or about law school in general, feel free to shoot us an email at orientation@allard.ubc.ca (if we don’t get back to you right away, it’s probably because we don’t know the answer and are doing some research for you). Happy summer!