I'm almost done my first phase with Solicitor Services, as I have only 1 week to go before starting with PPS. I'm still waiting for the bar exam results, and really hoping for a simple "pass" rather than any target grade. The last day they can release marks is October 6th, I'm hoping they don't wait that long.
It's been a slow summer, what with all the vacations going on in the office. That said, I've managed to work on 3 assignments that made news headlines, and one of them involves a billion-dollar contract. It's quite the feeling to see my research and recommendations be built upon and implemented, and I don't think my classmates in the corporate world have a hope of making such a broad impact as articling clerks working in government. Sure, they might handle powerful corporate clients in takeovers and litigation, but government is bigger than that. Not only does government have a bigger impact, it also has a very broad scope - one day I might be doing a question on copyright, and another I might be dealing with how elections are run.
I did get to have an unsupervised client meeting recently. It was reminiscent of a West Wing-style "big block of cheese day" where people or issues not normally dealt with are given a chance to be heard. Despite having a couple obscure questions, I think we were able to reach a common understanding and they seem happy with my performance so far. I recently got a performance evaluation done, and despite not pleasing a couple office cranks, my principal (supervisor) found my work to be very good, and gave me very encouraging feedback. Apparently the key is to know who to please and how to manage expectations. Some people are impossible to please, at least as far as a lowly articling clerk is able, and I'm not supposed to stress too much about what's beyond my control.
In just over a week I go to PPS. I'm looking forward to being back in the courtroom before my favourite judges, but hoping I haven't forgotten too much of the technical procedure rules, or about evidence, or any number of other topics. Hopefully I get the chance to impress and succeed, and start laying good groundwork for a post-articling job.
One thing about articling is that there's no vacation time, just pay in lieu, so I just get the occasional long weekend like everyone else. This complicates taking trips and such, so when Racheal goes to BC with Jonathan in mid-October I'll be cooling my heels here. Here's hoping Jonathan travels well, and copes with the time zone change ok, and that Racheal survives the flights with him!
Well, fingers crossed for a favourable bar exam mark, and a good final week at Solicitor Services!
A.
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