OsgoodePD at 20: Career Perspectives from our Network

During our 20th anniversary year, we’ve been doing a lot of reflecting at OsgoodePD. We’ve had tremendous growth in the past 20 years, starting as a small offshoot of the law school and developing into a leading provider of continuing legal education in Canada.

What we’ve realized is that our reach has been far greater than we knew. Through a combination of Continuing Legal Education programs, LLM degree programs, preparatory and custom programs, we’ve reached over 50,000 professionals worldwide. It got us thinking about the diversity of people that we come into contact with every day. Of course, there are many lawyers, judges and paralegals, but also a lot of non-legal professionals who deal with legal issues on a regular basis – nurses, educators, law enforcement professionals, tax professionals, human resources professionals, and the list goes on.

On a day to day basis, we see how remarkable this diversity in experience and perspective is, and how people are able to forge new connections and learn from each other. We decided we couldn’t keep these experiences to ourselves. So we asked 20 people who have been involved with OsgoodePD in the last 20 years for their stories. We asked about their career journeys, perspectives on professional development, memories of OsgoodePD and advice to their younger selves. The responses we got back were fascinating, not just for the variety of experience, but for how personal and meaningful they were.

These stories cover a lot of ground – from careers starting on construction sites and in the National Archives, to aspirations for a Nobel Prize in Physics, to a stint in military law with the Office of the Judge Advocate General (JAG), to the displacement of moving to a new country and establishing a new career from scratch.

Looking back on your career experiences, what would you tell your younger self?

VICTORIA WATKINS

Dean and Executive Director, OsgoodePD