A Day in the Life of a Summer Student Written By: Januel Ibasco Before starting as a summer student at Parlee McLaws LLP, my main goal for the summer was to be a sponge. That is, to embrace each day I come into the office knowing I will be exposed to many different areas of the law, meet new people, understand that I am not going to know how to approach each task, but having the confidence to ask for help and produce quality work. Essentially, just to absorb as much information as I can! Though it has only been just over one month into the summer program, it has been an amazing experience thus far, as I have had the opportunity to observe questionings, a mediation, a few real estate transactions, a wills and estates transaction, and I hear I might have the opportunity to attend trial with a few lawyers next week! I was also able to be one of the representatives for the firm where we were sponsoring a hole at the CICMA golf tournament! With that being said, here is what my Wednesday looked like last week: First, after having some breakfast and getting ready for the day at home, my day officially begun while waiting at the bus stop. Then once I get to the LRT and reach downtown, I have just a short walk to the Enbridge Centre and away we go! At the office, the first two things I do is grab a cup of coffee and write tasks I must work on for the day. Doing this allows me to get organized for the day and understand what tasks have closer deadlines coming up – so I can prioritize those first. My first task of the day was working on the preparation of a subrogation agreement for a client and finding any relevant information that should be included in the agreement. I even had further discussion on the matter with the lawyer who assigned the task, because remember, my goal is to be a sponge! The second task was conducting research on a wills and estates issue the assigning lawyer needed for further information regarding a client’s situation. This task allowed me to learn more about this area of the law and learn a thing or two about the Wills and Succession Act and the Matrimonial Property Act. My third task of the day included further research on a wrongful dismissal case and analyzing the significance of solicitor-client costs. Being the sponge I am, I asked for further clarification on this assignment, and looked at recent case law regarding the matter. After lunch, my fourth task was to conduct some research regarding trademarks and make use of the Trademark Act and caselaw about surrounding circumstances when assessing trademarks. My fifth task was meeting with the lawyer I completed a research memo for regarding motor vehicle accidents to debrief the information in the memo. Additionally, we spoke about what the next steps on the file would be such as meeting with a witness and further details on the questioning occurring later this month. From this meeting, I was able to delve further into the intricacies of insurance litigation and the relevant acts to be aware of as a file is moving along. My last task for the day included organizing a set of correspondence and evidence on a labour and employment file and ensuring each area was organized in chronological order. Parlee has allowed me to learn about different areas of the law, and as you see, I was able to learn about contracts, wills & estates, employment law, insurance litigation, and intellectual property law – all in one day. And just like that, I take my short walk back to the train and I head home! Hmm, I wonder what tomorrow will bring? Whatever it is, I will continue to keep my main goal of being a sponge in the back of my mind as I continue with the summer program!