What's Going On

December 2023 - Issue #22

Advocacy Club Annual Retreat - Teaser

Prior to COVID, the Club staged an annual retreat every year in the spring (usually in May). The most recent ones took place in KPMG's wonderful facilities on Elgin Street. Well, COVID's over, but efforts to kick start the retreat have faltered.  We are happy to report that the Club is gearing up for another retreat - again at KPMG's facilities - on a Saturday morning in late May 2024. 

The tentative theme will be Kickstart Your Career, with interactive sessions on Techniques for Mentoring, Training, and Networking - all using the Advocacy Club way.

As with all Club CPD, this will be 'Learn by Doing'. As with all Retreats, the organizers will all be recent Advocacy Club members, including both articling students and recent Calls. Mentors for the committee will be AC members, Nelligan's Alana Guy and past retreat organizer, Black Law's Kelli-Anne Day.

Stay tuned here for the names of the organizers, to be released in our January newsletter, on the AC Website and on LinkedIn.

A French Language Boot Camp?

Thanks to Sarah Lapointe and Emond Harnden LLP for undertaking the task of translating our materials into French so that senior Francophone Club Members (including Sarah) can lead boot camps for this market. Sarah reports that the materials are drafted and undergoing scrutiny before release.

If you get this (unfortunately, in English only) and want to participate in a French-language boot camp, let me know, and I will compile a list of participants. With materials and 8 participants, we can launch the initiative!  

Advocacy Club's Holiday Social - Dec. 6 at Alora in the Byward Market

Tickets are selling out fast so be sure to get yours soon! All event details are below.

WHEN: Wednesday, December 6th, 6:30 pm until close
WHERE: Alora, 34 Clarence St., Ottawa
WHAT: Our annual Holiday Social is an excellent opportunity to catch up with colleagues and celebrate the season before the holiday break. Appetizers and cocktails will be served. We encourage junior and senior lawyers/paralegals as well as students to attend.
REGISTRATION: Tickets are $50 + HST. Space is limited so please email [email protected] to reserve your spot before purchasing a ticket at this link. 
ATTIRE: Holiday cocktail attire and/or ugly holiday sweaters are encouraged. The choice is yours!

Thanks to our generous sponsors, RSM Canada and Nelligan Law and to the Social Committee of Kelli-Anne Day, Victoria Boddy, Ainsley Shannon, & Mona Mikhael. 

Advocacy Club @ Law School - Winter 2024

The Fall 2023 edition of the AC@LS concluded November 28, just in time for exams.  15 students from 3 law schools learned the techniques presented to lawyers, paralegals and articling students in the boot camp, including upgraded modules for cross-examination, final argument, and some tips to prepare your witness to be examined.

Thanks to Club Members Alana Guy (Nelligan O'Brien Payne), Alicia Mihailescu (Gowling WLG), Chelsea Sexton and Matthew Benson (MBC Law) and Melanie LaBossiere (of Winnipeg's Thompson Dorfman Sweatman) for their creativity, commitment and leadership. Each presented the plenary portion of one of the sessions, and all ran the weekly breakout sessions for student exercises.

We are registering students for the Winter 2024 sessions to start January 30 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. for 9 weekly evenings until the end of March. Read the PDF promo here, complete with testimonials from past participants.

Here is feedback from one of our newest Club members.

“Who, what, when, where, why, and how; the ‘why’ and ‘how’ this is essential to improving your legal advocacy skills is just one of the things the boot camp will teach you. It’s a great way to continue or preview what you’ll learn in trial advocacy classes and an opportunity to meet other students and practicing lawyers with an interest in litigation. I love it because it got me out of legal theory for a while and put the practical back into law. You won’t regret it.” 

Nicholas Cheung, 3L, uOttawa

"The Advocacy Club is a must-do for law students who want to become litigators. Not only does it teach you the essential litigation skills you will never learn from law school, it also provides valuable networking opportunities that set you up for success!" 

Chloe Wang, 2L, Toronto Metropolitan University

“Thank you for this experience. While I was nervous to start the boot camp, I could not be more thankful for my experience. I will carry the skills I learned into my articling experience and practice. Not only have I gained more confidence in public speaking, but I have also enjoyed being challenged to think on my feet and present my ideas effectively and concisely. Further, I am thankful to have had the opportunity to meet more colleagues and work with amazing mentors. I look forward to retaking the boot camp during my articling term.”  

Regan Robinson, 3L, uOttawa

Advocacy Club Boot Camp on Substack 

My AdvocacyClub.Substack.com now presents all our techniques with far more detail than the Boot Camp or my Trial Ad class at UOttawa, with over 50 posts on techniques about:
- framing questions
- case analysis
- applying case analysis to the events in a case (Scenes)
- preparing for direct and cross-examinations
- conducting direct examinations
- issues in cross-examinations

I even dropped in two posts about public speaking. I have begun a new series on Discovery Techniques.

These episodes get into the deep weeds or how the sausage is made (choose your metaphor). 

You just can't learn these techniques anywhere else, much less on your own time. If you want access, check it out, here.

This is the 22nd issue of the newsletter. How are we doing? Let us know here.

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