Osler lawyers and summer students in the Queen’s Law courtyard before the “Demystifying Business Law” workshop on October 30: (l-r) Isabelle Crew, Law’18, Brandon Kerstens, Law’14, Allison Di Cesare, Law’14, Patrick Welsh, Law’10, Arielle Kaplan, Law’15, Elie Farkas, Law’17, and Stella Gore, Law’18. (Photo by Andrew Van Overbeke)
Osler lawyers and summer students in the Queen’s Law courtyard before the “Demystifying Business Law” workshop on October 30: (l-r) Isabelle Crew, Law’18, Brandon Kerstens, Law’14, Allison Di Cesare, Law’14, Patrick Welsh, Law’10, Arielle Kaplan, Law’15, Elie Farkas, Law’17, and Stella Gore, Law’18. (Photo by Andrew Van Overbeke)

Over 100 first-year students recently got a glimpse of what it’s really like to be a business lawyer. “Demystifying Business Law” kicked off the second year of BizBasics, the first of a three-part workshop series funded, hosted and co-organized by international business law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. 

“We launched BizBasics last year and it was very popular among our students; 71 received a certificate of completion from the firm for participating in all the sessions,” says Julie Banting, Director of the Career Development Office (CDO). “We are excited about the positive response this year and anticipate that the remainder of the sessions will be of great interest to students.” 

The CDO has partnered with Osler once again to help plan the topics, organize the logistics and promote the sessions. Similar to last year, this year’s series is designed to give students an overview of business law and the skills necessary to succeed in any type of law. These skills include relationship building, time management, business development and emotional intelligence. 

The panel for the first session was made up of five lawyers and one summer student from Osler: Patrick Welsh, Law’10, Brandon Kerstens, Law’14, Allison Di Cesare, Law’14, Arielle Kaplan, Law’15, Elie Farkas, Law’17, and Isabelle Crew, Law’18. They represented different practice areas, including litigation, privacy, labour and employment, and corporate law. 

“One of the goals of BizBasics is to demonstrate that you don’t need a commerce degree to pursue the variety of legal options available in a full-service firm business law firm,” says Banting.

This bodes well for Thomas Daechsel, Law’20, a history and political science major who always had an interest in business. “The session provided a bridge between my interests and actual knowledge of the subject, he says. “It is reassuring for students like me to know that you don't necessarily need to have a background in business to explore these types of careers.

“It was a nice to hear what the day-to-day work and culture at a law firm looks like and to see exactly what the transition from law school to the work environment entails,” he adds. “More importantly, it gives a good introduction to exactly what business law is.”

That introduction successfully “demystified” a lot of misconceptions for Daechsel, who appreciates the variety of topics within the broad area of business law. “The panelists talked about how being exposed to those different aspects allowed them to find a niche that they enjoyed and stuck with.

“It was good to see that a lot of students were engaged and comforted by the fact that if they do go down this path, they will likely find something that works for them,” adds Daechsel, who found the Q & A and networking period that followed particularly helpful. “The panelists were all very forthcoming, and I appreciate that they took the time to talk to us. I’m excited to see where the next panels go.”

By Aschille Clarke-Mendes