The truth can be uncomfortable, and the truth is, as an internationally trained lawyer or law student you will be looked down upon. I can say that because I’ve experienced it first-hand. Sure, there’s some great initiatives like the Global Lawyers Forum, and Internationally Trained Lawyers Association but there isn’t enough awareness about the transition of internationally trained lawyers and law students for the Canadian trained to understand and appreciate what we have to offer.
I thought having a degree from Europe was another bow in my arrow. I got to travel, I met some of my relatives in Europe, I challenged myself by being in a totally different educational system and still managed to succeed, but people say “so why didn’t you just stay in Canada? Did you do the two-year thing” as though I tried to get out of doing a three-year law degree (despite the fact that I have two Canadian degrees prior to pursuing law school). What they don’t know is, being internationally trained and then coming back, even as a Canadian is much more challenging, both personally and professionally, and it can take more than that one year students such as myself “skipped” to enter the licensing process and be called to the bar.
There is hope though, not everyone looks down upon NCA candidates, I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of lawyers who told me point blank that they would never even consider an NCA candidate over a Canadian trained student. I thank them for their candidness. There are others who appreciate the cultural literacy and diverse educational background that NCA students bring with them. I’m at the very beginning of my career, but I’ve met lawyers both Canadian trained and internationally trained, and from my understanding you reach a point in your career when, where you studied doesn’t matter, it’s your work ethic that matters the most.
The beginning is tough, getting through all the accreditation exams or the LL.M, trying to land articles or pursuing the LPP (which may taint you further FYI, but that’s for another article), trying to get through articling, the bar exams, but that’s what we signed up for and instead of fixating on how others will see you as an internationally trained lawyer or law student, just get through it, one day at a time till you and I reach that point in our careers where our work will speak louder than our degrees and we have a seat at the table to shed light on how diverse educational experiences is imperative to having a diverse bench not just for the legal industry but for the people that we as lawyers serve.
