The top student from the first graduating TRU Law class of 2014 paid a visit to campus Monday to meet TRU Law students, but not in the way you might think.
Just two years out of law school, Taylor-Marie Young, the 2014 Law Society of BC gold medalist, was here in an interviewing capacity on behalf of her Kelowna firm Rush Ihas Hardwick, where she is an associate.
Young spoke to second-year law students applying for summer 2017 positions.
“It’s a bit surreal,” said Young. “It’s nice to come full-circle. It always gives you a sense of where you come from and it’s great to see TRU Law is thriving.”
“My firm was participating and knew I was a recent alum, so it was a no-brainer for them,” added the Kamloops native, who also earned her Bachelor of Journalism and Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) Certificate at TRU.
The interviews were taking place as part of an event specifically for Interior BC firms, open to second and third-year students. In total, five law firms and 16 students participated.
“It’s the first time we’ve done an event exclusively for Interior firms; in fact we are the only law school in BC to host such an event,” said Christi McAuley, Director of TRU Law’s Career Services.
“What’s exciting is that we already have a relationship with these firms so it builds on that and at the same time, encourages students to apply to Interior BC firms,” she added.
Interior BC On-Campus Interviews participating firms:
MJB Lawyers (Kamloops)
Morelli Chertkow LLP (Kamloops)
Fulton & Company (Kamloops)
Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP (Kelowna)
Rush Ihas Hardwick LLP (Kelowna)
The interviews are 17 minutes each with a purpose of screening interested students; followed by formal interviews at the firms for shortlisted candidates. McAuley also coordinates similar events in Vancouver and Calgary, with approximately 60 students signed up for the events in those cities.
As for Young, she says she is happy to now be practising at a BC Interior firm herself (she completed her summer articles, full year articles as well as a full year of practise at Guild Yule LLP in Vancouver) and sees herself remaining in the region in the future, staying close to the interior market.
She is also happy to be closer to her alma mater of TRU Law, where she says her highlight was participating in the BC Law Schools Competitive Moot and the close relationships she and others formed with their professors—a very fitting comment as one of her former professors, Micah Rankin, walked by and stopped to chat and give her a hug.
