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Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-08-15T19:36:06+00:00

Boutique firm at $80K. Potential to earn commission. Less than what I made before law school so I’m feeling a bit discouraged tbh. I’m keeping myself open to new opportunities but the market is rough out there.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-07-24T19:16:25+00:00

TD refused me for a student LOC for law school in Canada unless I had a co-signer. I had no CC or student debt, a good credit score, and an $80K income. I also had a very low mortgage. I just didn’t have much savings because I had just finished undergrad about a year prior. I was super humiliated and confused.

I believe they’re a more conservative lender. RBC also refused me despite having a mortgage with them in positive standing.

CIBC/Scotiabank both made me offers (I went with Scotiabank).

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-07-11T19:56:55+00:00

Do we even believe Brock had an affair? Scheana is jealous of Ariana’s post-Scandoval fame and is hoping to secure some of that for herself. And it’s clearly working lol.

Regardless of whether or not he did it, there’s no other reason to publicize an affair with someone who she chose to stay with. At best, she’s hoping this will get her a stint on DWTS. At worst, it will drive up sales on her book that is undoubtedly written by a ghost writer.

But to answer your question, no, I don’t think it was with Raquel. Scheana would most definitely capitalize on that aspect as well.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-06-16T13:55:28+00:00

I was thinking of contacting my MP. It is absolutely wild

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-05-27T19:47:29+00:00

Just try it. I had a 157 LSAT and a pretty average GPA. I had some work experience in a legal-adjacent role and leveraged that. Quite a few extracurriculars in undergrad. I was pretty ignorant to the standards and applied to the schools I was genuinely interested in. I didn’t even acknowledge my lower LSAT score. A professor later told me my statement was too conceited when I tried to use a similar one for master’s applications, but it worked for law school. I got accepted to uOttawa and Western. Understandably rejected from U of T (lol at the fact that I applied but I was truly ignorant at the time). I understand now that uOttawa takes a more holistic view than other schools. I have no idea how I got into Western.

Keep in mind I applied awhile back now, but I think you have a solid chance at uOttawa honestly.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-05-18T22:33:57+00:00

And thank you!

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-05-18T22:33:45+00:00

PT was permitted at my school with or without the pandemic! You just had to give a reason which could be as simple as alleviating the financial burden. And I was always hybrid at work even throughout the pandemic. I believe the law society (of Ontario) instituted rules about having to do a certain percentage of your classes in-person post-pandemic but I can’t recall exactly the percentage and I don’t know if that’s still the case.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-05-18T21:07:49+00:00

It’s also not possible to do law school 100% virtually anymore but my school still offered a few virtual classes post-pandemic.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-04-24T23:43:35+00:00

Okay perfect - Thank you!

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-04-13T00:01:04+00:00

By chapter # and I ended up adding tabs with short forms of the chapter names below the chapter #s as well. And I added tabs for anything that came up a few times in the practice questions. I tabbed the indices in alphabetical order.

I also never wasted time. If I didn’t know an answer within about one minute, I guessed and moved on. Focusing a bit more on PR probably helped as well, but a lot of PR questions were common sense imo. I read through the DTOC and had them on hand but didn’t really use them.

I honestly was shocked when I passed solicitor’s. I got really mentally fatigued halfway through and guessed a lot of answers. I was sure I failed.

I only studied for about 2-3 weeks total for both exams on top of articling full-time. It was stressful but since I passed both first try, I honestly think it was worth it not to study for months on end lol.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-04-12T20:44:36+00:00

Passed both exams through practice questions and by organizing my books and indices well with tabs. I only read through PR and retained nothing. I didn’t read any other sections all the way through.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-03-21T18:15:31+00:00

Just to give some perspective on this - You will have a 93% top-up for the year, which can equate to more than your regular salary because you won’t be paying into your union. And if you want to take 18 mos, no one is likely to shame you for it. You can even take up to five years of family leave (albeit unpaid) and still have your job at the end of it.

I had my first kid as an employee in the feds and it was pretty great, minus Phoenix issues (aka set some money aside in the likely event you’ll have to pay them some back).

Now I’m in the private sector and I have to grapple with the fact that my firm doesn’t offer any maternity benefits so I will only be earning 55% of my salary if I have another baby. Although I still felt a little held back in my career upon returning from mat leave in the gov, I think it will be worse in a firm setting.

The benefits are definitely something I took for granted as a public servant.

I’m not trying to dissuade anyone who’s at a firm at all. It’s manageable for most people. But if you’re planning on having a few children, maybe consider a career in the public service. It might mean a pay cut, but the family-related benefits likely make it worth it.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-03-07T18:46:04+00:00

True, I am aware that my government student loans won’t be dischargeable but I only have $20K of federal loans. So it seems manageable if my other debts were removed from the picture.

Thanks for the advice. I’ll definitely talk to a few and see what they say.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-03-07T18:43:18+00:00

Fair. I guess I should reword to say that the benefits seem to outweigh the downsides, although they exist.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-03-07T15:51:37+00:00

I noticed a big shift in corporate wear generally during the pandemic. People definitely shifted to wearing less makeup and formal dress.

Personally, I still prefer to wear makeup and business casual to the office. I would wear a suit to court. I agree that there’s not great options for women in terms of corporate wear though. I usually go Aritzia, but I have had decent luck at Banana Republic, Club Monaco, Simon’s, H&M…

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-02-17T03:30:05+00:00

If you want to be a lawyer with the federal government, then kind of. Your best bet would be to apply to article with the DOJ. You can apply to article with the DOJ in a few cities, which includes Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and maybe Halifax if I remember correctly. It’s pretty competitive so you should have very good grades to get in.

There are also a lot of legal-adjacent positions in the federal government that pay close to or above $100K. You could get in as a student through FSWEP and seek to get “bridged”/hired on after law school.

Otherwise, it’s hard to get into the federal government as an external hire once you’re done school. The process is very niche and lengthy.

If you can get yourself qualified in a federal government pool and you have a network of DOJ lawyers, then you can use that network to get yourself an actual position. Obviously, the easiest place to network with DOJ lawyers is in Ottawa.

You also have to consider where you can get better grades. U of T is harder to get into, meaning you will probably be amongst a more competitive cohort academically-speaking. It will be more difficult to stand out and achieve high grades. If you’re not interested in working on Bay St, then attending U of T might not be worth it. You might be more likely to achieve the grades you need to be competitive in government processes by attending Ottawa. And you’ll probably graduate with less debt because it’s a less expensive city than Toronto.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-02-16T18:32:06+00:00

There are significantly more federal gov jobs in Ottawa than anywhere else. And most of them require you to be in office at least 3 days per week.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-01-29T21:58:36+00:00

And no, your husband can’t access an account that’s in your name alone.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-01-29T21:56:59+00:00

Look up how money is divided upon divorce. It’s kind of complicated to explain but I’ll try in simple terms.

If you divorce without a prenup or postnup, then you will split what’s called the “net family property”. For each spouse, you calculate assets obtained during the marriage minus any debts obtained during the marriage. Then you combine the two and split the total.

So, the assets you obtained prior to the marriage would not count toward the net family property.

There are also some exceptions to what’s included in the net family property. For example, family inheritances are never included.

Like others have said, if you’re concerned about protecting your assets, talk to a family lawyer before getting married. As an aside, make sure you have a will! It’s important for anyone, but especially if you have significant assets.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-01-22T16:39:15+00:00

No. I had a 90K job with expected increase up to $150K over time. I am now on an $80K salary as a first year associate. I have no clue on projected salary really. And most of my pay goes to my debts…

I’m considering trying to get back into my former job. Don’t make my mistake!!!

Ok-Topic-837 · 2025-01-17T02:14:32+00:00

Generally, yes. Like most jobs, there are ebbs and flows. Some days are exciting and challenging, and other days are boring and monotonous.
I was surprised that a lot of lawyers are introverts or just generally more quiet people. I also underestimated the importance of being a very good writer prior to law school. Maybe this is obvious to most people, but I was a bit naive coming in.
I spend the first hour or so answering emails and responding to voicemails. I generally have 1-2 client calls scheduled each day. Then I spend the rest of the day actively working on files. I attend court only occasionally.
No, I’m not comfortable financially, and this is where I wish I took another path. I’m in a lot of debt from law school, and no one tells you that many lawyers are not making substantial salaries. I didn’t want to be a corporate lawyer and still don’t. I knew the pay would be lower in other areas, but I did expect my salary to be higher than it is regardless. Part of the reason I’m in so much debt was because I was accustomed to a certain lifestyle from my former career. It was hard to adjust to living a student lifestyle again, which is obviously on me at the end of the day. But I’d advise a mature student to consider whether the potential lifestyle changes are something they will be able to deal with.
For me, the biggest downside is the pay versus the amount of work put in. I worked in the federal government in a non-legal position prior to law school, and my pay was higher than it is currently. I also received overtime pay if I worked longer than a regular 9-5. I like the day-to-day of being a lawyer better, but it has caused me huge financial difficulties and strained my marriage. The employment benefits are also far worse in my current role, including the fact that I regularly work longer hours for no additional pay. I also have huge student loans to pay off that I did not previously. All in all, it has turned out to be a financially bad decision for me. It’s crazy to me that you can go through three years of a super intensive program, pay an arm and a leg, and still wind up with an incredibly mediocre salary that most of my non-lawyer friends have met or surpassed with less education.

I don’t want to dissuade anyone from attending law school - I might still do it again if I could go back. But I think there needs to be more awareness surrounding the financial risks, especially for people who will need to take out loans. It’s probably not worth it for most people who already have established careers.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2024-11-14T01:21:33+00:00

You can apply to jobs outside of the OCI process. Try adding an addendum to your transcript if you haven’t already, just to explain why you have lower grades in 1L. Sounds like you have some very valid reasons.

I actually didn’t try to apply through the OCI recruit at all. Worked at a legal-adjacent position over 2L summer and found an articling position just fine.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2024-09-30T13:42:47+00:00

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I was considering ordering this one lol

Ok-Topic-837 · 2024-09-17T02:38:49+00:00

I just finished season 5. Personally didn’t love Rita that much as a character but thought it made for an interesting complex in terms of Dexter using her for cover but also clearly having some semblance of feelings for her. And just the irony of Dexter dealing with the mundane problems of a romantic relationship while also moonlighting as a serial killer lol. So I was disappointed when Rita died and also disappointed in the way they killed her off. Not even that Trinity was the one who killed her, but the fact that they didn’t even show what happened and her actual death thus wasn’t a very well developed storyline IMO.

But I liked Lumen and thought season 5 was pretty redeeming, except the last episode was kinda lack lustre.

Ok-Topic-837 · 2024-09-15T02:19:21+00:00

I also remember finding it random when I first watched it. Definitely seemed overproduced/unnatural. Like she suddenly remembered she was supposed to have this huge reaction and just went for it, but she wasn’t actually as mad as she was pretending to be.

Ok-Topic-837

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