Today, we congratulate one of the NCA Tutor Mentors and Tutors on his recently Canadian citizenship! In celebration fo this accomplishment, I sat down with [Thabang Pebane] to hear his amazing story about becoming a Canadian Lawyer and citizen. Keep reading to discover his story about coming from South Africa to Canada and qualifying as a lawyer in Canada by way of a UK GDL and LPC program.
TS: Before we dive in, I think congratulations are in order! I understand that you just got your Canadian citizenship?
TP: Yeah, that just happened. And that's 10 years of being just sort of on this road. And it's, it's great, because a months before that, I got my first associate position at a Personal Injury firm. It kind of felt like everything came full circle on the day I became a citizen because it increased my sense of belonging in this country.
TS: For sure! Was it very difficult not being a citizen and trying to navigate the legal job market?
TP: It's one of those challenges that you know exists under the surface.
I do not think that being a non-citizen per se serves as a barrier to access to the market, but for me becoming a citizen has definitely had a positive impact on my confidence. I believe that ethnic and racial stigma still exists in the legal field and that as a foreign trained lawyer, being relatable to others is definitely beneficial when navigating the legal job market.
TS: It’s certainly a challenge that I think a lot of our readers will sympathize with. But what made you want to come to Canada and pursue law?
TP: I first came to Canada because I was interested in in playing professional soccer and I wanted to get drafted into the NCAA get a US scholarship. When I came to Canada in 2010 (after finishing high school in South Africa), I tried out for and joined a soccer academy here in Toronto, and played in the under 21 age group, hoping to get scouted by a NCAA college in the US.
Unfortunately, things did not work out as I planned. As you know, only a small percentage of people in this world become professional athletes. At the time, I would not say you could consider /characterize as somebody that was interested in academics. So at the time, I had no aspirations of becoming a lawyer, and I do not think anybody who knew thought that that would end up being the case.
TS: So what changed for you? When did Law become the goal?
TP: At that time, it was just “let's go to university and see what happens lol.”
In high school, I was not good at Math or Science (I actually dropped Math and Science in the 11th grade). So, when I enrolled at the University of Toronto, I did not have much choice but to pursue a Bachelor of Arts. I decided to do a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Criminology, I was interested in these areas of studies, because where I come from in South Africa, there is a very high crime rate as a country, a lot of socio-political issues that I do not think a majority of people in Canada are exposed to. At this point, I still did not have any aspirations of becoming a lawyer. During my undergraduate career, I volunteered for Town Councillor Josh Matlow, and I also did a four-six-month volunteering stint at Correction Services Canada. At was these experiences that sparked an interest in law. I began to realize how dynamic the role of a lawyer can be (not what we typically see on the television), their unique understanding of how systems work, and their ability to affect change.
TS: It’s always interesting to hear all the different reasons and passions lawyers have for pursing this career path. So why did you end up going to Law School in the UK?
TP: Getting into a Canadian law school is so competitive. Also, as an average student at the time, and as somebody that did not really know what they wanted to do until after a couple years of being in University, I did not really apply myself or work hard enough from day one towards getting into the very few Law schools in Canada.
However, my experience at U of T really cultivated my ability to absorb a lot of information, and increased my confidence in my academic abilities. It was only in my third or fourth year that I made the decision to become a lawyer. So around that time, I started to do my research, and found out that I could obtain a law degree in a foreign jurisdiction, and then come back to Canada and qualify as a lawyer. This is when I decided to pursue and obtain a Graduate Diploma in Law and Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the University of Cardiff, in the UK.
TS: did your research highlight how challenging coming back and finding a job as a foreign trained lawyers would be?
TB: I did the typical sort of thing where people would browse various law programs in foreign jurisdictions, and I also went through various blogs to see what people had to say about foreign trained lawyers in Canada.
To be honest, I saw mostly negative remarks/comments about foreign Trained Lawyers/law students. It seemed as though there was a belief that foreign trained lawyers/students are for some reason not as capable/competent as their Canadian-trained counterparts. I was surprised by what I saw, especially since the NCA and the Law Society allows for foreign trained professionals to practice in Canada.
Anyways, I do not believe that people should be judged until they are given a meaningful opportunity to show what they can do. However, stigma against foreign trained lawyers is definitely a thing in Canada.
TS: But you accepted the challenge anyways. What or who encouraged you to take the leap?
During my undergrad at U of T, I had a neighbour who was doing his PhD in Anthropology at the time. I told him that I was thinking about studying law abroad. He knew a gentleman from Uganda who was a foreign-trained Crown Attorney for the Attorney General. He had an interesting story. He qualified as a lawyer in Uganda, then practised in Zimbabwe, did an LLM in Belgium, and then ended up practising law in Ontario as a Crown Attorney. This was encouraging because he served real life example of somebody who was a black African like myself, and foreign-trained trained. In addition, he had done well for himself as a lawyer in Ontario. He also encouraged me to ignore the negative remarks and stigma associated with foreign-trained law lawyers/students. So I changed my mindset and confirmed my decision to go to law school abroad.
TS: This is why getting sharing perspectives is so important! I understand you did a 1-year Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) in the UK and paired it with another 1-year Legal Practice Course (LPS), rather than do an LL.B. What was that like?
TP: Yea. At the time, Cardiff University was the only university that I knew of that was offering the GDL.
The GDL is an intensive course in the UK offered to post-graduate students who want to practice law. It is an alternative option to the LLB. In addition to the GDL, I did the Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. Both courses are known to be very intensive, and practice-oriented. Looking back, I think both courses combined served as a good foundation for practicing law.
TS: So, you came back to Canada after that and did the NCA Exams. What kind of challenges did you face?
TP: So I applied for the NCA in 2016 and they slapped me with eight exams. Just like everybody that had to go through this process, I felt alone and did not know who to ask for help, don't know what to do. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to find Liran at LexPD, and utilized his tutoring resources which helped me gain confidence and to get through my first set of NCA exams. Most NCA candidates have to study independently to prepare for their exams, this can very daunting. In addition, a lot of foreign-trained students have to juggle working full-time jobs and taking care of their families, whilst trying to pass these exams. Fortunately for me, as a young person at the time, and with my father already working in Canada to help support me, I did not have to endure as much pressure as others have had to.
Helping others navigate the aforementioned challenges, is the main reason why decided to take on my part-time role as a tutor for LexPD.
TS: I agree that studying the NCAs alone can be quite a lonely process. What about on the job market. Did you face any challenges there?
TP: As I was doing the NCAs I did what everybody would do, study and apply and apply and apply and apply for Legal Clerical jobs and Articling Positions. What happened? I got rejection after rejection after rejection, and that really messed with my confidence. I also did the GDL and the LPC, which I felt a lot of law firms were not familiar with at the time.
So I decided to volunteer for an organization called Pro Bono Ontario (an organization that provides short-term legal advice to self-represented, low-income individuals). I decided to volunteer because of the aspiration I had to advocate for low-income individuals, and also to gain legal experience. On the days I would go into volunteer, I would watch and shadow the volunteer lawyers closely as they provided advice to self-represented individuals. Lawyers from different firms at the City of Toronto volunteer at Pro Bono Ontario every day. I learnt a lot from that experience, and also had the opportunity to network with different lawyers at a time, at least twice a week. This is where I met my Articling Principal, Mr. Darryl Singer, a very well-respected Civil litigator in Ontario. He was a Sole Practitioner at the time (with two other associate lawyers) practising Personal Injury and Commercial Law.
TS: That’s very interesting. I think it highlights how scrappy and persistent NCA students have to be sometimes to secure articling.
TP: Yes, that's how I got my articles. I think a lot of NCA Students have to be innovative, build and really make use of their networks to create opportunities for themselves. It is important from the outset, to understand the value of networking, and taking advantage of as many opportunities as possible to gain experience. I think we all aspire to become great lawyers one day, but we also need to be realistic about where we stand in the market, when we commence this process. It’s important to keep fighting to get your name out there, and let your work speak for itself.
TS: So what did you do after finishing Articling?
TP: So five to six months into my articling, Darrell Singer’s firm merged or got bought by a larger Personal Injury Firm. I completed my articles there, but wasn't surprised when I didn't get hired back (I do not think I was the right fit for the firm and vice versa).
However, during my articles, I obtained experience in criminal defence, commercial law, and personal injury.
When I got called to the bar, I set up my own sole practice doing primarily criminal defence work. It was a great experience, and am forever grateful to those that mentored me every step of the way. Last year, I decided to wind down my sole practice, and am now an associate at a well-known mid-sized personal injury firm. I also work part-time as a law tutor at LexPD.
TS: As a final question, do you regret anything that you would warn future NCA students against doing?
TP: I regret, not putting myself out there even more. I think many foreign trained students like myself hold themselves back at times, and are afraid to be their true authentic selves. As an NCA candidate you need to be as authentic as possible, because your uniqueness is what makes you stand out.
TS: Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Thabang! I think that's what's really inspiring about your story is, like a lot of NCA students, you had to solve a lot of problems in your career path, and you just figured it out. But at the end of the day, we've all we shared the experience of having to solve problems that most Canadian break law students don’t have to necessarily face. But we learn valuable lessons from these experience that ultimately make us better lawyers.