NCA Graduate Interview Series: Jacqueline Angelakis
Hello NCA candidates! Today, we continue with our NCA graduate interview series. Today’s graduate is Jacqueline Angelakis who completed her NCA requirements through the Osgoode Common Law LL.M program and was recently called to the Ontario Bar!
With the full qualification process under her feet, Jacqueline has kindly agreed to share her perspective and wealth of knowledge and experience with all of you…
Where did you go to Law School and what kind of program did you complete (e.g. 3yr LL.B, 2yr LL.B, etc.)?
I completed the two-year LLB program at the University of Birmingham Law School in the United Kingdom. Prior to this, I had obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western University in 2016 and qualified for the two-year law school programs available in the UK.
How many NCA Exams were you assigned?
Just the Five core exams, provided I successfully completed the LL.M program.
How did you complete the NCA process and how long did it take you?
After graduating law school in June 2018, I commenced the one-year LLM in Canadian Common Law program at Osgoode Hall Law School in September 2018.
The program gives students the option to overload courses. Instead of completing the program in three terms, I was able to complete the program in two terms and graduate in June 2019. As my NCA Assessment only required me to complete five exams, provided that I successfully complete the LLM program, it took me approximately 9-10 months to finish the LLM program and complete the NCA process.
What are you doing now?
I am currently in my last month of Articling. My firm mainly practices personal injury law, civil litigation, long term disability, real estate law, wills & estate planning, and business/corporate law. I will be called to the bar in Ontario in June 2020 and will continue working as an associate at the firm I am currently articling at.
What is something critical you learned through the NCA process?
There are two critical things that I learned through the NCA process:
1) Network! Network! Network! Introduce yourself to firms that you are interested in and ask to get a tour, reach out to lawyers and invite them for coffee to learn more about their firms and day to day activities. By doing this, lawyers & firms will be familiar with who you are before you apply. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to expand your network!
2) Make sure that you do you research and apply to available positions, such as articling positions, by the set deadlines. A lot of Canadian firms hire in a formal recruitment process. If you return to Canada and hope to find a job right away, you may be shocked to learn that by the summer months, firms have either already recruited the year prior or are very quickly wrapping up any last-minute recruitment.
In hindsight, would you do anything differently?
Absolutely not!
That wraps our interview for this week! Join us next time for more perspectives from recent NCA grads!
- Tiffany