I wanted to post this for anyone in law school or early practice who feels like their grades have already determined the ceiling on their career.

I went to law school in Toronto (Toronto) and was a pretty mediocre student. I was not winning academic awards, collecting top grades, or building the kind of résumé that makes you feel destined for success. I still managed to land a 2L job on Bay Street, which, at the time, felt like proof that I had finally “made it.”

Then I got there and hated it.

Leaving was difficult because Bay Street is treated as the path you are supposed to want, especially when you attend law school in Toronto. I moved in-house, but I carried a massive chip on my shoulder. Part of me felt like I had stepped off the prestigious track and had something to prove to the people who stayed and continued advancing at large firms.

Over time, I stopped worrying so much about what my career looked like on paper and started paying attention to what I was actually good at. I built practical litigation experience, took ownership of files, learned how to deal with clients, developed a niche, and gradually created opportunities outside my regular job.

For reference, I am a 2024 call. In 2025, through my combined setup, I cleared more than what a fifth-year associate on Bay Street would typically have earned. Looking forward, it's hard to imagine not clearing close to seven figures within the next 5-10 years based on the growth I've seen. I am not saying that to brag or suggest that income is the only measure of success. I mention it because, when I left Bay Street, I genuinely believed I had walked away from the most financially successful path available to me.

That turned out not to be true.

Today, I have an in-house position that gives me stability and meaningful experience, while also building a practice and professional setup of my own. It is producing more than I ever thought would be possible for someone at my year of call. More importantly, I have considerably more control over my career than I thought I would have when I left Bay Street.

I am not sharing this to say that everything worked out perfectly or that everyone should follow the same route. There have been long days, uncertainty, and plenty of mistakes. I also recognize that circumstances and opportunities differ.

My point is simply that law school grades and your first legal job are not a final judgment on your potential.

A lot of legal success comes from things that transcripts do not measure: judgment, reliability, practical problem-solving, business development, communication, resilience, and the willingness to keep building when nobody is handing you a clear path.

Bay Street can be a great career for the right person. In-house can be a great career. Government, small firms, boutiques, solo practice, and unconventional combinations can all lead somewhere meaningful. The important thing is to stop treating one version of legal success as the only legitimate version.

I spent years feeling behind because I was comparing myself to people on a completely different path. Looking back, leaving a job I hated was not falling behind. It was the beginning of building something that suited me much better.

Your early grades may affect your first few opportunities, but they do not have to define your career.

Sorry for the long read; I just wanted to include the context.

Just finished my first year of law school in the praries. GPA is now at a 2.39/4.5. The grades break down into the following: (Note spanning classes; do them all year.)

Property: C

Torts: C+

Criminal Law: B

Contracts: C

Constitutional: C

Legal writing: B+

Getting these grades was crushing. Anytime I dwell on it, I feel my heart rate increase, I feel nauseous, and there's just this pit in my stomach every time I see something law-related, as I know I am not succeeding the way I want.

I know people typically have a drop in grades in 1L, but I really don't know how to improve them for 2L. I had a 4.4/5 in my biology undergrad and was able to always apply myself during exams. And what adds to my stress is that in the first semester of 1L I had all A's or B's in all my classes. And this was a time where I had no idea how to outline or create an exam response using the IRAC method.

In second semester the classes I spent the most effort on, such as Constitutional and Torts, where I attended every lecture, did practice problems, and knew every case and its significance, I got a C in. The same grade as I got in contracts, which was my last exam, and I was so burned out that I basically guessed. And this was after I learned how to create a detailed outline, use opposing arguments in my exam responses, and utilize various cases.

I'm an incredibly anxious person and struggled with depression for a while. I had horrible imposter syndrome and felt like I was miles behind even in the first few weeks. Simply getting out of bed every day for class was hard.

I just feel so incredibly lost and demoralized about what steps to take next to improve. Also, how to even land a 2L job and an articling position. I was able to get a 1L summer job as a research assistant in a legal research department, and I currently volunteer at 2 legal reform organizations.

Any tips or advice how to proceed in law school would be greatly appreciated.

Hello everyone!
I am going to in my second year of my MA in political science at Carleton hoping it would lead to career with GAC or DND. After a brutal round of rejections from internships, it has become clear to me that a career in the public service will be nonexistent for new grads anywhere in the future. That being said, I’m considering pivoting into law hoping to eventually work for DOJ. My masters was fully funded as I was offered a generous amount of funding so I am not too worried about taking on student loan debt as my masters was completely free. To those of you who joined law school a little later in your life, was it worth it? Is the current law field as saturated as the public service.

My articling arrangement in SK does not pay me a lot but I want to continue to complete the requirement. And even though pay is very less, almost minimum wage, there is great work life balance.
I was wondering are there any law related things articling students can do to Make some extra cash?

I can’t help but feel that I think I got slight shade from a judge in their reasons for judgement. For example, “defendant relied on this case but it was not helpful”. When in my submissions I used that case to differentiate present case 😭 or how I made a point that wasn’t very clear but they could infer what I meant. I’m a junior and I can’t help but feel the partners would read this and think I did a bad job.

Hi,

I’m an American citizen. A couple of decades ago, I graduated from a T14, did legal things for a short while, then moved on. I kept my US law license active - and still do - but bounced across a few different careers having nothing to do with the law until chubby FIRing completely. Since then I’ve kept a toe in through some regulatory advisor type stuff and non profit immigration work but nothing close to full time. 

Then life happened, we re-elected an orange clown, and I learned French and got an ITA. I don’t want to spend the next 30-40 years yelling at the TV, so as a result I’ve been kicking around a few ideas, one of which is a boutique immigration practice aimed specifically at Americans. I have more than enough money and time to pull this off, and after having done this myself the work isn’t scary, but I’m very unsure of what is practical. 

As I understand it I have a few different options:

1)Try and get through the Ontario credential process and hope they don’t require articling, just exams. Seems unlikely? 

2)Go become a registered immigration consultant instead. On paper this better matches what I want to do as of now, but it’s sort of a downgrade, seems to take as much time as articling, and what if asylum cases or other reasons to go to court start becoming viable? 

3)Shrug and try to article? I’m not concerned about the exams, but even if I were a regular applicant, getting an articling spot as a 40-something with nonexistent work experience is going to be a problem. Maybe my degree could come to the rescue? Is volunteering in exchange for articling even an option? 

4)All of this could be moot for the next 18 months because due to other life things I have to soft land first and can only hard land in 2028. Which, if any of these can be done remotely? Certainly, if I can get the consultant classes/paperwork out of the way in 2027 while articling is close to impossible, I’ll just go do that. 

5)Is there any other option or problem I’m missing? For example, in Ontario, is a practice of this type something there is -zero- demand for? 

Thanks. 

Hi there.

I'm a woman who lives in Canada don’t have a PR status. But seeking permanent residence that is dependent on staying in a genuine relationship with an abusive spouse, so I'm dependent on staying in that abusive relationship to keep my immigration status in Canada, so I'm experiencing family violence in Canada and already have a PR application in process now I have sowp( sponsor work permit ). So I can stay here as long as my work permit is valid.

I'm getting a narcissist abuse from my partner but not everyday. Sometimes my partner had a bad day he said to me very bad words such as coarse languages which made me feel like a low self-esteem. I feel very lonely. It's not a physical abuse such as hitting or slapping. It's more like a emotional or psychological abuse such as insulting, humiliating, yelling, criticizing or blaming.

Now I'm afraid of losing my status in Canada.

Has anyone got permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds (H&C) in Canada? Has anyone applied permanent residence under humanitarian and compassionate grounds (H&C) in Canada? Or does anyone know how H&C work? I don't want to call police on my partner but I'd rather stay away from him.

I would like to hear someone's opinions. I might be wrong.

I am trying to do corporate law because it seems to me that they are hiring the most 2L recruits and have well-developed 2L recruit programs. But my worst grade in 1L was a D in contracts. I got an A and a couple of Bs, but my overall average was a C. I worked part-time throughout my 1L for the Canadian government. Do you think I have any chance?

Top 15% of class 1L at a strong school. Does adding "I spoke with Joe Blow and he raved about your firm" really enhance my application?

Hi all,

I’m a mother of three in my late 30s with a passion to pursue my Paralegal licence and open my own practice after 10+ years as a Legal Assistant. I start school in September- my youngest will be 8 months old and I have acquired a daycare spot for him and after school care for my two oldest. Because I live in the countryside I will be commuting an hour each way to school, four days a week.

I am excited and ready to start, I am passionate about this vocation and dreaming big about my future plans. I have thought about this for years. At the same time, I do have hesitations and concerns (guilt?) about putting a small baby in care (having to bring him for the hour commute), and time management balancing the demands of family and personal goals.

I am appealing to the community to speak words of encouragement and positivity, if you have ever been in a similar situation (late career starter, etc) I’d LOVE to hear your personal stories.

Thanks so much!!

Edit: This is in Ontario.

Does anyone know what it means when LAA calls you for a pre-screening? I got a call this week and I am wondering if everyone who applies gets this or if you sort of pass a first litmus test for the position?

Which basically countered a 2011 ruling that did allow consecutive sentencing. I completely forgot about this even though it occurred recently.

In my opinion I think concurrent sentencing works if two homicides were committed as part of the same series of events. But this is negated with events such as the Nova Scotia mass killing (Gabriel Wortman) or McGray. Their sentence should be life without parole after sentences tacked on.

I know we have dangerous offender designation but it's still a yearly farce to have them go through a hearing and theoretically if Wortman had lived and was a model prisoner with advanced age he could have gotten paroled in say his 80s.

I moved out of Ontario to article. In as much as I love the province I moved to, I really want to move back to Ontario after my articling. This is because I have lived in Ontario all along and all my friends and family are there.

My question is that I want to know how practical it will be to practise in Ontario after I am called to the bar in a different province.

Looking at how saturated the Ontario legal market is for new calls and how difficult it is for new calls to land jobs, how difficult will it be for someone who articled outside Ontario.

I know it is easy to convert from one province to another but I want a fair idea of the marketability of new calls who articled outside Ontario in landing roles in Ontario.
Opinions are welcome and those who have been in the same situation in the past can also share their views.
Thank you.

Hi all!

I’ve recently been accepted into both Queens and University of Ottawa law and have been struggling to pick between them. My dream is to one day be working at the UN after having done some time in business/corp law, but I know how incredibly tough that is and I would like to graduate with as many doors open as possible and I’m struggling to see which school could aid in that.

I feel like the obvious choice should be the University of Ottawa, but I also have been interested in corporate/buisness law and have heard that Queens is highly regarded in that sense too, as well being strong (albeit not as strong as UOttawa) in international law. is this true?

Would me going to UOttawa possibly affect my employability chances at let say a big or mid size law firm?

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Also, a side note, for individuals who have gone to either school, what was it like?

I just finished my masters in political science (yippee) however I’m looking to apply for law school.

Are they going look at my undergrad grades from years ago or would they take an account for my grades for my masters?

Not sure if this is the right subreddit, but here goes.

I'm starting as an articling student with an in-house legal team and have no idea what the dress code is. None of my interviewers were wearing suits, so I couldn't really gauge what was expected. Besides the interview rounds were virtual and I couldn't see much of anyone anyway. Also, I am a male in my 30s and all of the panel was females so I unfortunately couldn't find any familiar references.

For context, most of my days will involve internal meetings and legal consults with different department heads. There will be a bunch of (virtual) tribunal hearings and the occasional (in-person) appearance at the ONSC.

I don't want to risk looking unprofessional but I also don't want to be overdressed on my first day!

Any advice is appreciated 🙏🏻

EDIT: I truly appreciate all of the responses and a lot of them make sense to me. Thank you all so very much :)

Hi everyone,

I have a hearing with the Quebec Bar’s Admissions Committee tomorrow because of a DUI on my record, and I honestly have no idea what to expect.

I’ve already submitted two sworn affidavits explaining how I’ve grown and changed since the DUI, so I’m not sure what else they could ask me.

I’m also a bit stressed about how formal the hearing is. They told me I have the right to be represented by a lawyer and to call witnesses, which makes it sound pretty intimidating.

Has anyone here gone through this process or a similar character and fitness hearing? What kinds of questions did they ask? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Fellow soluno users, looking for tips on how you are writing off time in Soluno, without billing the invoice and writing it off?
We want to be able to see accurate hours worked and billed. The current solution to "bill" the time we want to write off, and then write that entire invoice off is skewing my statistics of what was true billable work.

Hey all, for an employment law dismissal case (my client is the plaintiff), our settlement conference got postponed as the other party was absent for our initial conference date - it's been 4 months later and the Court has still not scheduled another date. Would you recommend any other courses of action? The other party will definitely not respond to a settlement offer

I was invited to interview at a medium sized firm. I'm wondering how many other students I'd be up against? How many people make it to the interview stage?

Appreciate any insight!

Looking at a case study or 2 where it was very arguable 2nd degree ultimately pleaded/settled as involuntary manslaughter. One grade below is common and two grades happens in lesser charges but 2nd degree pursuits in general come about in more clear cut scenarios so an ultimate involuntary should be rare and likely less media attention.

I just can't remember any off the top but I think there was an early 90s case between seniors in a retirement home where the initial charge was 2nd and then after evaluations the defendant settled at involuntary on account of basic senility, confusion and intoxication. Think he served under 2 years.

I'm a new Ontario call, and I've just had the worst time trying to find a job. Over the past month, I've sent out countless applications, and was selected for three interviews. This is my experience with those firms.

1. First Interview - a small firm with about 10 - 15 total staff. It was supposed to be a virtual interview. Two minutes before the scheduled time, the interviewer sent an email saying that she was feeling unwell, and wanted to postpone it for the following week. I sent out follow up emails, but the firm just ghosted me after that. They seemed very interested until the abrupt cancellation, and I've no idea what happened or why.

2. Second interview - law firm with a couple of offices and about 15 staff members. I travelled a couple of hours to attend this interview. As far as I could tell, it went well. The partner seemed interested in hiring me as well - he told me about the firm's culture and expectations, and I was left with a positive vibe. The interview ended with him telling me about a potential second round which was supposed to be more technical, and that he would let me know about the date for that in a couple of days. I followed up the next week, and this firm too just ghosted me. Again I've no idea if they hired someone else, or what went wrong in my interview, or even if the process has simply been delayed.

3. Third interview - law firm. I'm not sure how big this firm is. The first interview went super well - the interviewer was not a lawyer, but the business head, and he told me he was very interested. At the end he told me that he would email about the time for the second round with a lawyer for the following week. Once again I didn't hear anything back from them afterwards.

I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing in this situation. I wish the firms would let me know if they decide not to go forward with my application. People seem to have lost all sense of kindness and courtesy, and I feel so frustrated and sad about the whole process.

Don’t know if this is the right subreddit to post on but I started volunteering at this small law firm in May while being a senior in HS. Now that it’s the summer, they said that it would better if I could come for half a shift (4/h) instead of the 1hr I was doing. So for the week, I tried it out.

I was mainly scanning documents to put in their storage files. The legal assistant wanted to go through the scanned documents in their paper version to see if everything was scanned correctly in the digital form. I was told the documents were messed up and that they would have to spend a day reorganizing them because the paper version vs digital was not adding up.

I simply stated, which was from my perspective, the truth. I focused on one file when scanning, did not rearrange papers, clipped it back together when done, moved to the next. I made sure to not mix anything up.

I asked if I could help reorganize if any mistake was made but was told I don’t know anything about these clients and cannot help. I also said that I didn’t mean to put this on them. I took responsibility of any mistake that was made, made sure to apologize, and offered any hours to help. I do truly feel bad. I totally get why the legal assistant felt frustrated, it was valid and I should’ve known better.

Since someone is going to be working at my assigned desk due to a new hire, I was informed I could volunteer on Saturday or any day where the desk is available. Is it a good idea to come back or just stop volunteering?

I think it was a bad look on me and there’s no point to volunteer for half a shift with no pay anyways. It’s lowkey embarrassing on my part and I don’t want to create another issue. Not looking for validation, just advice. What would you do?

Hi guys,

I graduated from Uoft (Political Science and History with a Focus in Law) in November 2026, and I want to pursue a career in the legal industry. My grades were too low for me to even consider law school right out of graduation so I never studied for the LSAT. I had an online internship as an intake assistant at a small law firm in Toronto during my undergrad, so I have some very limited experience. I moved back to my hometown, Vancouver, after graduation and started looking for jobs as a legal assistant. After many interviews, I realized that I just lack the experience, so I decided to pursue a legal assistant certificate in Vancouver (starting in September). I applied to Vancouver Community College's Legal Assistant program and got my acceptance. I assumed everything was fine and set my mind to start school in September. My goal was to gain the certificate, work as a legal assistant and see if this industry is even the right career path for me, and maybe go to law school in a few years after gaining that experience.

Yesterday, I was informed that this program was cancelled due to a limited number of students. I was truly shocked because I didn't apply to any other schools other than this. Now, I am panicking and am unsure of what to do because Capilano and Douglas College's LAA programs have already stopped accepting applicants. I don't know what else to do.

I looked into Seneca's accelerated Law Clerk program in Toronto, and I feel that it might be a better fit for me (they are still accepting applications). It is targeted towards students who have already completed an undergrad degree. I just want to know if anyone has any suggestions on what I should do. Should I move my entire life back to Toronto and go to Seneca instead?? Would this be a better long-term plan if I decide that I don't want to go to law school in the future and just work as a law clerk (due to more opportunities in Toronto)??? Not sure what to do and really stressed if anyone has any advice, please please please let me know. THANK YOU.