Legal Practice and Alternative Legal Careers: What I Wish I Knew during Law School Christy Smith-Worthylake Common Law ’07 November 1 st, 2012

About Me In Law School sat on the LSUC’s disability working group In 2006/07 worked for the CRTC as a disability issues analyst Articled and practiced with the government of Canada from 2007 to 2009 Left practice in 2009 and began providing consulting services

LESSONS FROM MY LEGAL PRACTICE Adapting practice to disability and vice versa takes time Must develop an understanding of the impact of a particular disability on legal practice Appropriate and ongoing support and mentorship is key Communication is critical

FINDING CONSULTING WORK Did not seek an alternative legal career. It just happened Used past experience and connections to network and find employment Connections were helpful in other areas Broadened experiences beyond disability and human rights

MAKING CONSULTING WORK Used experiences from practice to add value to services provided Developed multidisciplinary relationships Used legal and non-legal knowledge As in practice it was vital to understand my working style and how my disability affects my ability to work

IN SUMMARY Experiences in legal practice were vital to helping understand how to go about providing quality products/services Learned that all my experiences can help add value to products/services Can move easily between legal and non- legal sectors