JFCY Volunteer Spotlight: Rachel Kattapuram

This post was written by Rachel Kattapruam, a JFCY legal intern and volunteer on the PLE Team.  Rachel discusses her first month of law school...

Image from: https://ulife.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/blog/tag/applying-to-law-school/

Noting the humid air and heavy overcast as I stepped out of my apartment building, I had only one thought: I’m going to have a seriously bad hair day on my first day of law school. In all seriousness though, I had a lot of thoughts running though my mind as I walked towards Flavelle House to begin my orientation into the UofT Faculty of Law, the legal profession, and the next phase of my life.

It was both extremely exciting and extremely intimidating to meet the 190 students with whom I would be spending the next three years. All brilliant, articulate, and from a variety of interesting educational and professional backgrounds, I felt incredibly privileged to stand among them. These are the people who I’m sure will help shape my thoughts, opinions, and lessons learned, academic and otherwise, in my time at law school. It was not only the students, however, that awed me on that first day. Admittedly, I think I’ve watched Legally Blonde a few times too many, but I was under the impression that all law professors are stern, no nonsense types who would no sooner crack a smile then offer you the answers to the exam. I was pleasantly surprised by the warmth of Dean Moran’s speech to our class, speaking openly and earnestly about her career in law and her high hopes that we should all succeed at law school. The other professors that spoke too impressed upon on us not only an academic and career oriented perspective of the law, but also they ways in which the things they had done over the course of their legal careers had shaped their lives.

Of course, it hasn’t been all inspiring speeches and orientation festivities. The long and short of it is, law school is a lot of work. I mean, a LOT of work. I can still feel the panic that flooded my lungs when a professor announced our first research assignment. But for some reason, I love it. Maybe it’s the sense of community in taking all of my classes with all of the same people. Maybe it’s the high school throwback to being in having a locker again! Maybe it’s the inspiring professors and amazing opportunities that UofT has so far provided. Maybe, its as a second year I met during orientation day put it, “First year is a lot like being on a sinking ship….with a lot of really great people….and you never sink.” 

Hello from your summer JFCY Blogger!

Hi everybody, hope everyone is coping well with exams, just remember… summer is just around the corner!

My name is Daniel Lo, I am a law graduate and will be starting my Master of Laws degree at the University of Toronto in September 2011.

I have recently accepted the volunteer role as Public Legal Education (PLE) Team Lead for Justice For Children and Youth (JCFY) for the 2011 summer. I found out about JCFY through contacting the Pro Bono Students Canada – UofT Chapter, and was told of this great opportunity to engage in children and youth rights. Throughout my academic and personal life, I have been an active supporter and volunteer at pro bono clinics and human rights organizations. The work that JCFY does interests me immensely as this is the first exposure that I have had to age-based legal rights for those under 18 years old, and I feel that it is a vital area of the law that is neglected by many.

At JCFY, my role entails helping a staff lawyer to lead the PLE Team, which consists of a committee group of youth and adults who assist in devising strategies to inform young people about their legal rights and responsibilities; the JCFY blog with regular weekly updates; and the Facebook account to ensure as many people become aware of it as possible.

During my time at JCFY, I hope to continue the great work that the PLE Team and the previous PLE Team Lead had done, while also searching for ways to help JCFY grow. I welcome any tips/advice/recommendations/ideas that anyone has in this regard. I can be reached via email. 

That is all for now, I hope that you will keep updated with JCFY through this blog or our Facebook account, we have a lot of interesting projects for the summer planned, don’t miss out!

Daniel

JFCY welcomes our new staff lawyer Niamh

All of us at JFCY would like to welcome staff lawyer –Niamh Harraher. (Niamh is pronounced “Neave”, just in case you were wondering…). At JFCY she provides legal services directly to children and youth.  Niamh is a graduate from both the University of Western Ontario and University of Toronto, where she holds joint degrees in social work and law.

While she greatly enjoys her job, she has a life outside of work. She likes to run, although she emphasizes that she is not very good at it! One thing she enjoys when she is able to escape the office is traveling.  She has almost been everywhere in the world…I guess she needs a new hobby now!  Maybe finally she can climb that mountain which she has always wanted to do, but is afraid of.

Niamh is eager for the hot and sunny weather so she can escape to her cottage. When the weather is not so great she enjoys watching movies that star Sean Penn or Marilyn Streep. Her favourite movies are from the 80’s , which I have never heard of in my young life.  However, one recent movie which she enjoyed from my decade was the King’s Speech.

If you would like to make Niamh laugh simply tell her something completely random –newspapers tend to do that. 

All of us at JFCY are looking forward to working with Niamh.

Written by Diana Rozo

Diana is an undergrad student at York University and volunteer member of the JFCY Public Legal Education Team.

JFCY thanks law student Akosua Matthews for a job well done!

JFCY says a big thank you to University of Toronto law student Akosua Matthews for her amazing work in coordinating the Public Legal Education Committee for the past seven months. Akosua is a first year law student volunteer from the Pro Bono Students Canada program at U of T law school. Her efforts have helped to improve and expand the PLE Committee and its projects.


JFCY is grateful for Akosua's hard work and dedication. She is now preparing for her law school exams and then will be starting a summer job at Downtown Legal Services.


Akosua, we wish you all the best!

Greetings from your new JFCY Blogger!

I hope the school year is off to a great start!

My name is Akosua Matthews and I’m also starting a new school year again - this time as a first year law student at the University of Toronto.

I’ve recently started volunteering at Justice For Children and Youth (JCFY) and will be at JCFY for the rest of the academic year. How did I hear about Justice For Children and Youth and what will I be doing at JCFY?

Well, I was fortunate enough to be placed at Justice for Children and Youth through another great organization called Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC).

PBSC is a national student organization that engages law students in volunteer legal work across Canada. PBSC is a very popular organization and draws approximately 2,000 law students from across Canada to get involved and volunteer their time. It gives law students a chance to develop our legal skills and provide some assistance to various organisations.

At JFCY, I will be responsible for updating the Facebook Page and the JFCY blog to engage youth (you!) with the legal issues that affect your lives. I will also be assisting with the Public Legal Education (PLE) committee which brings together youth and adults from various backgrounds to create communications (YouTube videos, pamphlets, newsletters, facebook, blogs, etc…) to inform young people of their legal rights.

Youth can get involved with JCFY by volunteering for the PLE Committee. The PLE committee meets 1-2 times per month on a weekday evening at the JFCY office (415 Yonge Street, Suite 1203). Food and subway tokens are provided. To get involved, contact JFCY at 416-920-1633 and ask for Dre Luey.

In the meantime, I would love to receive input on general legal issues affecting youth that JCFY could provide some information on. Feel free to comment below and post general topics to help us generate ides. Of course, any issues of a personal matter, particular to your situation, you should feel free to contact JFCY directly to speak to a lawyer. We cannot provide legal advice over the internet.

I look forward to hearing your input and perhaps seeing you in person should you decide to volunteer with our PLE Committee. Stay tuned for more regular posts on our Facebook Page and JCFY Blog!

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the long weekend!