An Insider's Perspective: Clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada

Photo by Justice Morris Fish

Erin Dann, Law '07, in Justice Morris Fish's office at the Supreme Court of Canada 2008.

As a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2007-08, Erin Dann, Law ‘07, had personal access to some of the greatest legal scholars in the country, regularly attended and contributed to hearings that impact directly on important issues facing Canadians today, and even enjoyed a trip to Washington D.C. to meet her counterparts - the U.S. Supreme Court clerks. Dann articled as a law clerk for Justice Morris Fish.

Clerking at the Supreme Court involves tremendous amounts of legal writing and research, and requires effective teamwork between the students at the Court. But as the former editor-in-chief of Queen's Law Journal, a research assistant for several professors and a Medal in Law and Dean's Key recipient during her time at Queen's Law, Dann had the credentials to match the high expectations for students articling at the country's highest court.  

"I think having been involved in a lot of different activities at Queen's was helpful at the Supreme Court, where we had to balance a lot of different projects at the same time," Dann said. "It's really helpful when you're working on a case if you have some foundation or background in that area of law."

Like many students considering the clerking route, Erin found one of the greatest advantages of the job is the opportunity to assist judges in advancing the law in Canada. "It's the type of job where you get to apply [what] you learned in law school; I was never just doing busy-work," she said. "And that I think is an energizing aspect of the job - to feel like you are contributing to something that is important, that will have some type of impact - that's a nice type of job to have."

Moreover, Dann enjoyed her day-to-day working environment at the Court. In addition to having regular contact and working closely with Justice Fish on all aspects of the cases, Dann spent a lot of her time with the other clerks. On a typical day, it is common for clerking students to comb through materials filed with the Court, and research and analyze with one another the issues they present for an upcoming case. The clerks also get together to discuss cases after they are heard by the Court.

"It was a very collegial environment. There was no sense of competition; we were working to produce the best work we could, and people were very willing to help each other out. There's no [hire-back process] at the end of the line, so I didn't feel like it was a competitive place at all."

Dann may eventually pursue graduate studies and academia, but in the short-term she is leaning toward practising law." In September, Dann travelled to Vientiane, Laos where she worked as an intern as part of a project funded and organized by the Canadian International Development Agency and the Canadian Bar Association. Having worked previously as a legal assistant at intellectual property firm Smart & Biggar and then as a summer student at the Crown Law Office - Criminal, Erin should have little trouble re-adapting.

No matter her career choice, Dann and all future law clerks have a bright future ahead. As Dann acknowledges, one of the greatest advantages of clerking is the opportunity to work directly with judges, and learn how they go about analyzing legal issues. "I think that kind of access to a judge's thought processes and the way his [or her] decisions get made is probably the most interesting part of the job."