Hello! Please tell us about yourself.
My name is Jordon White, and I am a 3L at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Common Law. Before coming to law school, I studied economics – also at the University of Ottawa. Since 1L, I have worked as a Summer Student at Emond Harnden LLP, a management-side labour and employment law firm in Ottawa. During law school, I participated in the Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada and the New England Hockey Arbitration Competition.
My hobbies revolve around watching and playing sports. Most of my life was spent playing hockey and aspiring to become a professional hockey player, although I also really enjoy playing volleyball and watching soccer. I am also a lover of coffee and spend lots of my time visiting local cafes.
What motivated you to pursue a career in law?
The application process was a bit of a whirlwind. First of all, I was never any good at the LSAT. It took me two tries to get a score I was comfortable applying with – and even then, my LSAT score wouldn’t win me any awards (not that it does for anyone). On my first attempt, I spent the entire summer studying and making minimal progress. To make matters worse, I broke my foot a few days before I was scheduled to write. The test day could not have been worse, but honestly, I was not ready to write the test. A few months before my second attempt, I began working with a tutor. This made all the difference for me, and I felt my second test score was good enough to get me in the door. Jumping through the rest of the hoops is the easy part. I picked UOttawa, Western, and Queens as my three choices. I could have applied more broadly, but truthfully, I had my heart set on staying in Ottawa. If I got into UOttawa, I would accept admission without hesitation. I never bought into the “hype” or “prestige” of academic institutions. Rather, I have always believed, and still to this day, that it is the person who makes the degree and not the other way around. Not to mention that I was and still am comfortable in Ottawa. I had already been living in Ottawa for a few years when I applied. I had made lifelong friendships with people I worked and went to school with who would also be staying around as well. I had family here. I had made connections not just with people but with the city. I knew staying here would be the best environment for me to succeed personally and academically. Moving to another city and another school would not have been conducive to my happiness or success.
The most stressful time in my life was the purgatory between applying to law school and getting my acceptance. I spent hours every day checking online forums to see if acceptances had been released. I would scroll through the list of accepted people in previous cohorts, trying to line up my LSAT and GPA with those who got in and those who did not. I would see what felt like countless posts of people who achieved 170-something LSAT scores with top GPAs and think that I would never make it. And even if I did, I would certainly never be able to keep up with those people academically. But it was the unknown that was the worst part. The “what if’s” were endless. What if I didn’t get into UOttawa? Would I really uproot my life to move to London or Kingston? I didn’t think I had the appetite to do that. What if I don’t get in at all? What if I do get in and hate law school? That would be the worst scenario. $60,000 down the toilet just to go back to waiting tables. What if I can’t keep up with the material? Am I really cut out for this?
December 17th, 2019, was a day I’ll never forget. I started my morning with what had become my usual routine: checking my admissions portal. To my disbelief, in my inbox was an acceptance from UOttawa. You can imagine my relief. You may even be able to imagine my shock. I had a good cry that morning, and I’m not afraid to admit it. I was supposed to spend the day studying for an exam I was scheduled to write the next day, but I didn’t care. I accepted immediately, even though I hadn’t received answers from Queens or Western, and I didn’t care. I didn’t have to uproot my life. I could keep going to school in a city that felt like home. I was beyond excited.
What was your experience like in law school?
My law school experience, and that of my cohort, was unique, to say the least. We were the first group to enter law school during the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented many challenges. I didn’t do a full year of law school in person until 3L, meaning law school was hardly a social event. Sitting through online lectures for 2 years was hard. I will say that I was lucky because I made many good friends in my small-group cohort, many of whom were in Ottawa, which allowed me to meet with some of my colleagues in person. I can’t imagine how challenging this was for people who weren’t in Ottawa during their first two years of law school. However, COVID wasn’t all bad. Not having to commute to and from school saved me roughly 2 hours a day, allowing me to have more balance in my life. While school was online, I could spend more time working out, playing video games, networking, cooking, and doing other things that were non-law school related. In third year, I had to manage my time more proactively because walking to and from school once or twice a day took time. However, I will say that I made more connections in the first month of 3L than in the two years of online school combined. That is all to say that my experience was a mixed bag, and I hope no other cohort ever has to go through what we went through.
By far, my most memorable experience in law school was participating in two hockey arbitration competitions. I had never imagined something like this was possible. When you think of “mooting,” you would think of a competition more closely associated with “traditional” legal advocacy. But when I heard that UOttawa was having tryouts for the Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada, I knew I had to throw my hat in the ring. Luckily, I was one of four students from UOttawa chosen to participate in two teams at the 2022 competition. These competitions are designed to help law students practice their oral and written advocacy in a format that mirrors the National Hockey League’s salary arbitration process. Essentially, once a player has accrued a certain number of years of experience in the league, they can file for salary arbitration to renew their contract. At arbitration, both the team and the player compile briefs to present to the Arbitrator, making their case for what the player ought to be paid. These arguments generally revolve around showing statistical similarities between the players and what other players settled for with their teams. HACC followed the same structure, assigning each team three cases (either on the player or team side) and requiring each team to draft an arbitration brief and an oral presentation for each presentation.
At the competition my partner and I performed well in our first competition. We made it past the preliminary round and won our quarter-final matchup. Unfortunately, we lost in the semi-final. The Arbitrator, who happened to be a prominent hockey agent, told us it was the closest decision he had to make at the competition – whatever that meant. We were devastated because we thought we had a good chance of winning the whole thing. Luckily, we had the opportunity to participate in a second competition, the New England Hockey Arbitration Competition. This time, we went and won not only the top prize for best oral advocacy but also the top prize for best-written briefs. By participating in these competitions, I realized I was inclined to litigate. I also met several agents and executives who work in the industry. These are extremely valuable connections for someone who wants to work in hockey.
How did you find your first law-related job?
I found my first job in law entirely by coincidence – and a great deal of luck. In 1L, I had no intention or expectation of working in a firm. I knew 1L jobs were hard to come by, and I never considered myself a contender for one of those jobs. I didn’t know who was hiring, and I also wasn’t totally sold on what area of law I wanted to work in. One of the areas I had identified as something that might help me work in sports was labour law. After all, every major sports league in North America has a union for their players. They all have to engage in collective bargaining, go to arbitrations, and maintain stable labour relations. There was some overlap from the little research I had done on what labour lawyers did. With this in mind, I researched to see if there were any labour firms in Ottawa I could work for one day. The first firm that came up was Emond Harnden. A few things about the firm surprised me: first, it wasn’t a small firm – there were about 40 lawyers listed on their website. To me, that seemed like a relatively large firm, especially for Ottawa. Despite the firm's size, they were located in the Glebe, a short walk from where I lived at the time. More surprising than anything, they advertised that they were looking to hire 1L students for that summer.
I was sold on the firm right away. But I knew if I wanted to get in, it would help if I could make some connections before I applied. The first thing I did was look on LinkedIn to see if I knew anyone from the firm. As it would happen, one of my lifelong friends was connected with someone who would be articling at the firm. So I reached out, and he said he was good friends with the future articling student and helped me set up a virtual coffee. The future articling student and I hit it off, and she sold me even more on the firm. She told me the classic lines, like it was a big family, mentoring was important, etc. But what I learned was that she genuinely liked working there. I had a good feeling, so I asked if she could connect me with a lawyer from the firm so I could ask more questions, and she was more than willing to help. I set a meeting with one of the first-year associates for the next week. In the meantime, I spent all my time and energy working on a cover letter and resume. I was completely sold on the firm after meeting the first-year lawyer. During that meeting, the first-year associate (now my mentor at the firm) and I spent three hours talking about the firm, the type of work they do, and what a student's experience is like. We also both happened to be obsessed with sports and shared a ton of other life experiences.
And as it turned out, this associate was one of the two lawyers who interviewed me for the position. My interview went about as smoothly as an interview could go. It felt like a fit from the start, and sure enough, a few weeks later, I was hired. I can’t guarantee that this type of coincidence would happen to everyone, but if my experience taught me anything, it’s that networking is everything. You would be shocked at how many people will take the time to meet with you, but you won’t know unless you ask. I also learned that depth is often better than breadth. My strategy was always to apply to a few places I saw myself working rather than applying to 30 places I knew little about. Applying for the sake of a job does nothing for anyone. While you might get a job, you could end up hating that job or the area of the law you’re in. Especially in 1L, there is no shame in not getting a job. Likewise, there is no shame in walking away from an opportunity because it does not serve you or your goals. You are much better off working somewhere that will make you happy. That being said, not everyone knows where they want to work. Therefore, 1L is a great time to try something you might not otherwise try. I know many of my colleagues did student-proposed internships or research positions in their first summer for that reason.
What was your summer experience like? What type of work did you do? Any tips or advice for law students starting their first firm job?
The type of work a student will do varies significantly at our firm and will change the longer you are there. One of the unique features of EH is that we are one of (if not the only) firms in Ottawa that has a dedicated research department. The research department strictly provides legal research support for lawyers and partners at the firm. When you start as a 1L student, most of your work comes from there. You may be asked to help find cases, write memos on certain issues, track decisions, etc. Since our firm does quite a bit of bargaining, one thing I did a lot in my first summer was help catalogue arbitration decisions awarding wage increases and modifications to other provisions in collective agreements. While it may seem boring on its face, this was a great exercise in learning the key components of a collective agreement. At this point, I’ve read literally hundreds of agreements and arbitration decisions, and I feel like I have a grasp of what usually is or should be included. It’s also a great way to learn the kind of language that is used. So if you’re ever asked to draft something, you won’t be in the dark. In fact, one of my favourite experiences from my first summer was getting to go to bargaining with a partner and help with note-taking, drafting, negotiating, etc.
Additionally, the longer you are around, the more opportunities you will get. Lawyers will get to know you and ask for support on larger projects. By my second summer, I was still doing a lot of research, but the types of matters I was being asked to research were becoming more complex. Through repetition, you start to learn where the answers to certain questions are likely to be found, and I was able to do more in less time. In my second summer, I started to participate more in litigation-focused work by helping lawyers draft submissions for all sorts of matters, including civil actions, labour board proceedings, and grievance arbitrations.
The best advice I could give from these experiences is to try a bit of everything and try it again – even if you don’t like it. It’s good to get a feel for what your firm does, and it’s even better if you can do many things well. Eventually, and this will probably come once you are well into practice, you may find that there are certain things you are really good at, and then you may decide to specialize. But until then, it’s probably in your best interest to keep an open mind and try as much as you can.
During 2L and 3L, you continued to work part-time for the firm. How did you successfully juggle your work commitment, law school, and personal life?
My firm operates differently from most. Generally, if you summer at a firm, you will work during the summer, and that’s it. When you’re in school, you aren’t working. Some firms even abbreviate your summer term so that you only work for three months. At my firm, you can work year-round if you want. Obviously, you are expected to put in your full-time hours during the summer. However, this changes when you’re back in school; the firm allows you to work whenever you can and are willing. There is no commitment to work 10 or 20 hours per week. In my experience, I have worked as much as 40 or 50 hours a week (when I have time, like over a reading week). Many weeks, especially at the end of the semester and during exams, I don’t work at all. If I were to average the time I work for the firm during a given week, it would probably be somewhere between 8 and 10 hours.
If you ever have a similar opportunity, I would highly recommend taking it. This structure allows for a great deal of continuity in your work. It allows you to continue working on files you were assigned during your summer term. It also ensures that you maintain certain relationships you made with the lawyers at your firm through the summer. When you aggregate the work you do during the year, it also puts you ahead of the amount of work someone in your cohort would have done. In this way, the practical experience helps continue your development. Similarly, I have always liked how working at the firm helps me blend the legal theory we learn in law school with practical experiences. It’s almost scary how often something I am learning in school parallels what I am doing on a given file. Getting both the practical and theoretical elements simultaneously only helps you learn more.
However, all of that being said, school needs to be your top priority. If your goal is hireback, you won’t get hired back if you don’t finish law school. If you aren’t hired back and have to find another position, your grades will almost certainly come up in a future interview. Therefore, you must ensure that your grades stay up, which can’t come at the cost of work. For that reason, it is crucial that you say no to work if you don’t think you can manage it. That goes for both work at a firm and outside of a firm.
Can you elaborate on how to politely say no to work?
This can be tricky. I don’t know if this is true for everyone, but I can be uncomfortable when turning away work – especially if it is from a lawyer I admire and really like working with. But the truth of the matter is that you will likely have to turn work away at some point. The first thing you can do is see if a deadline is flexible – You may already have several deadlines to meet, but if the deadline for the new work is later, you may still be able to take the work. You might also ask if you can help with part of the project rather than taking on the whole thing. I’ve done this at my firm when my colleagues and I all have relatively full plates.
However, where deadlines are rigid and dividing work is not an option, I’ve always found that being honest and straightforward is the best policy. If you can’t make a deadline: say so before you take the work on. At least that way, the assigning lawyer has a chance to get the work to someone who has the capacity. You may want to err on the side of caution if you are someone who values free time. Taking on too much work almost always ends in late nights, little sleep, and unnecessary stress. If I’m in school, this is even more true. I have no problem saying that I can’t take work because I need to study. Of course, everyone at the firm is on board with that – it’s not contentious to say my future with the firm and as a lawyer is contingent on me graduating.
I will qualify this by saying the lawyers I’ve worked with at my firm are incredibly understanding from my experience. No one had made me work when I indicated that I don’t have the capacity. I can’t speak to other firms, and you certainly hear horror stories about tyrant lawyers forcing work upon their underlings. I’m not sure how I would react in that situation.
If you could give one piece of advice to prospective or current law students to help them succeed, what would it be?
I think the most important thing you can do while you’re in law school is to be kind to others. You have no clue what other people are going through, and law school is a unique challenge for anyone. Over the last three years, I've found that it is best to err on the side of kindness and acceptance. In my first year, I judged others based on how they presented themselves in class. As I progressed and got to know these people on a more personal level, I learned quickly that I pre-judged many awesome people. I probably could have made far more friends and been significantly happier had I been more willing to be open and kind to my colleagues. You may feel lost, confused, overwhelmed, or like you don’t belong in your first year. You will be shocked at how many other people are feeling the same. Be kind – because you never know what someone else may be going through.
A second piece of advice is not to sweat the little things. In your first year of law school, it will feel like everything has a bearing on your future, including every interaction, every choice to join an extracurricular, every grade you receive, etc.. You will be shocked at how little these things can matter even two years later. One wrong answer to a cold call will be forgotten. Missing out on one extracurricular doesn’t mean your law school experience will be ruined. Getting one bad grade in your first semester of the first year will not define your legal career. In fact, it is unlikely that one bad grade is going to define your time in law school, let alone the rest of your career. Keep doing your best. I like to remember the following saying to keep me grounded in both good and bad times: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; the only thing that matters is the will to continue.”
What are your future career plans going forward, and how can our reader connect with you in the future?
After graduation, I will be writing the Ontario Bar Exams in June 2023. After the Bar, I plan on travelling to Europe, visiting friends and family, and attending music festivals. I will start my articles at Emond Harnden LLP in Ottawa in August 2023, and I’m looking to be called to the Ontario Bar in June 2024. After that, I hope to work on the management side of labour, employment, and human rights law in Ontario – although I will always be looking for an opportunity to work in sports again.
If you are interested in contacting me, feel free to connect on LinkedIn!