Off The Tracks – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In the finale of Off the Tracks, we talk about what led us to start this project and the reasons we are concluding it now. We also discuss our word of the year, the episodes that deeply resonated with us, and what working together on the podcast taught us about friendship. 

Off the Tracks Podcast was designed to explore what it looks like to do law differently. If you’re ever looking to gain insight into off the tracks legal careers and conversations, we encourage you to stream an episode to help guide you to the answers you’re looking for in your own life. 

Whether this is the first time or seventy-second time you’ve listened to an episode, thanks for taking some time to step off the tracks with us!

If you’re looking to get in touch with us in the future, you can find Erin at Erin O’Rourke Law (erin@erinorourkelaw.ca) and Piper at Ontario Bar Exam Coach (piper@ontariobarexamcoach.com). 

– Erin & Piper – 

Did you know there are free and confidential mental health supports available to law students, paralegals, and lawyers in every province and territory? Click here to learn more and access services.

In the third season finale of Off the Tracks, we are joined by Joshua Lenon, the Lawyer in Residence at Clio, an intuitive cloud-based legal practice management solution.

This episode dives deep into the intersections of law, technology, and innovation! Joshua shares about launching his own immigration law firm – while commuting weekly between Canada and the USA and working his day job – early in his career. This experience introduced him to Clio, a cloud based legal software company, which allowed him to be in 2 places at once. Years later, Joshua is a member of the Clio team, and he breaks down what working as Clio’s Lawyer in Residence entails. We also chat about Joshua’s sand volleyball hobby and a wild fact about Saskatchewan’s trust accounting rules!

Follow Joshua on Twitter

Read Clio’s 2023 Legal Trends Report here

Learn more about the Clio Cloud Conference here

Curious about starting your own law firm? Get Clio’s free guide here

Follow us on Instagram ⁠@offthetrackspodcast⁠, check out our website ⁠offthetrackspodcast.com⁠, or connect with us by emailing ⁠podcast.offthetracks@gmail.com⁠.

Thanks for taking some time to step off the tracks with us!

– Erin & Piper – 

Did you know there are free and confidential mental health supports available to law students, paralegals, and lawyers in every province and territory? ⁠Click here⁠ to learn more and access services.

This episode was produced in partnership with LawyersInHouse.com, a law firm composed of former in-house counsel. To see how they can provide insightful, pragmatic, and solutions-focused legal services to you and your legal department, visit LawyersInHouse.com.

In this episode, we are joined by Vivian Ntiri. Vivian is an in-house lawyer, part-time cake artist, runner, and avid reader. She completed the dual JD program at the University of Windsor and the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. She began her career in private practice at a large Bay Street firm and currently works as in-house counsel at Moneris. She loves Afrobeats, Gospel music, TV, and movies.

In this conversation, we learn about how Vivian found her way to law school and why she chose the cross-border dual JD program. She shares how she transitioned out of private practice and what she loves most about working in-house. Vivian’s story is a great reminder that it’s never too early in your career to begin working in-house. 

Learn from Vivian on LinkedIn

Learn more about the JD Bridges Foundation

Learn more about Avenue: Black Undergraduate Law Internship Program

Follow us on Instagram @offthetrackspodcast, check out our website offthetrackspodcast.com, or connect with us by emailing podcast.offthetracks@gmail.com.

Thanks for taking some time to step off the tracks with us!

– Erin & Piper – 

Did you know there are free and confidential mental health supports available to law students, paralegals, and lawyers in every province and territory? Click here to learn more and access services.

This episode was produced in partnership with LawyersInHouse.com, a law firm composed of former in-house counsel. To see how they can provide insightful, pragmatic, and solutions-focused legal services to you and your legal department, visit LawyersInHouse.com.

In this episode, we are joined by Christine Holmes. Christine is the Founder and CEO of LawyersInHouse.com. With diverse legal and business experience, Christine founded LawyersInHouse.com on the principle of making legal services more accessible and the legal industry more diverse and inclusive. Her specialties include general commercial law, IT, privacy, advertising, employment, leasing and working within regulatory environments. She has provided legal services to a broad range of clients, from senior executives and in-house counsel of large national and multinational corporations to small businesses and startups. Christine is passionate about changing the legal industry for the better for both her clients and her team.

In this conversation, we learn about Christine’s entrepreneurship journey and why she created LawyersInHouse.com. Christine emphasizes how each in-house work environment is different, and shares insights about her experiences working in-house at both Cineplex and Pepsi. We also dive into why Christine has built a remote-first company and how she fosters community within her remote team. 

Work with Christine through Lawyers in House

Learn from Christine on LinkedIn

Follow LawyersInHouse.com on LinkedIn

Follow us on Instagram @offthetrackspodcast, check out our website offthetrackspodcast.com, or connect with us by emailing podcast.offthetracks@gmail.com.

Thanks for taking some time to step off the tracks with us!

– Erin & Piper – 

Did you know there are free and confidential mental health supports available to law students, paralegals, and lawyers in every province and territory? Click here to learn more and access services.

Today we are joined by Aladdin Tingling Diakun. Aladdin is a Certified Executive Coach for new planet professionals, a corporate lawyer for small and mid-size enterprises, and a circular economy board chair with nearly 2 decades of experience in climate and sustainability. 

In this episode, Aladdin takes us through the story arc of how he came to attend law school as a mature student, how he emerged from articling a shell of his former self, and now, how he centres wellness at the forefront of his career. We also get curious about Aladdin’s climate advocacy and sustainability work and we learn how everyone can get involved at their own pace. Aladdin also expands our minds by explaining how climate change impacts every area of the law – even areas you would never initially expect! As a coach, Aladdin is highly skilled at asking insightful questions, including the one he leaves us with in this episode: what does it mean to find wellness in the context of such rapid change and discontinuity?

Learn more about Impact Zero

Learn more about Lawyers for Climate Justice

Learn from Aladdin on LinkedIn

Follow us on Instagram @offthetrackspodcast, check out our website offthetrackspodcast.com, or connect with us by emailing podcast.offthetracks@gmail.com.

Thanks for taking some time to step off the tracks with us!

– Erin & Piper – 

Did you know there are free and confidential mental health supports available to law students, paralegals, and lawyers in every province and territory? Click here to learn more and access services.

Today we are joined by Paula Price. Paula began her career as a lawyer and now runs her own executive coaching business for lawyers. She coaches lawyers at all levels to help them create greater career satisfaction, whether that means developing practice skills to thrive in the job they're in or making a career transition. Paula is also a podcaster and produces a weekly podcast called The Joyful Practice for Women Lawyers where she shares resources, strategies and interviews to help lawyers thrive in practice.

Paula’s legal career has taken many forms. She has worked extensively in private practice as a litigator, spent time as a contract research lawyer, built her own on-going lawyer coaching business, and designed and delivered public legal education programs for a non-profit organization. We dive into what motivated Paula to leave private practice – and what drew her to coaching – and how to find career and life experiences that feel aligned with your core values and goals. Paula also takes us through why it is important for lawyers to think about legacy building early in their careers and how a coach can help you craft a career trajectory that reduces burnout.

Work with Paula through Uplevel Lawyer Coaching

Listen and subscribe to Paula’s podcast, The Joyful Practice for Women Lawyers

Learn from Paula on LinkedIn

Follow us on Instagram @offthetrackspodcast, check out our website offthetrackspodcast.com, or connect with us by emailing podcast.offthetracks@gmail.com.

Thanks for taking some time to step off the tracks with us!

– Erin & Piper – 

Did you know there are free and confidential mental health supports available to law students, paralegals, and lawyers in every province and territory? Click here to learn more and access services.

In this episode, we are joined by Kenya-Jade Pinto. Kenya-Jade is an Indo-Kenyan-Canadian documentary photographer, filmmaker, and lawyer. She grew up chasing crabs on the Kenyan coast, before moving to Alberta’s foothills as a teen. Her hyphenated worldview informs her work where she focuses on non-fiction and narrative projects that navigate themes of displacement, belonging, and access to justice. 

When Kenya-Jade began law school, she didn’t see the archetype of the career she wanted reflected anywhere. So, she went out and carved her own creative path. We discuss how to build a sustainable unique career path, taking calculated risks, and we learn what a film producer actually does. Kenya-Jade also gives us an exclusive behind the scenes look at her new photo exhibit, “Storytelling, Migration Journeys, and Technology,” which premiers today (March 28) at the Berkman Klein Institute for Internet & Society at Harvard University. 

Work with Kenya-Jade by clicking here

Follow along with Kenya-Jade’s work on Instagram and Twitter

Follow us on Instagram @offthetrackspodcast, check out our website offthetrackspodcast.com, or connect with us by emailing podcast.offthetracks@gmail.com.

Thanks for taking some time to step off the tracks with us!

– Erin & Piper – 
Did you know there are free and confidential mental health supports available to law students, paralegals, and lawyers in every province and territory? Click here to learn more and access services.

In this episode, we are joined by Shaun Bernstein. Shaun Bernstein is the owner and Chief Storyteller of The Write Stuff Agency, a content writing business based just outside Toronto. A journalist turned lawyer turned storyteller, he helps professionals and businesses better tell their stories through all forms of online content and copywriting. 

Before starting his own business, Shaun held many roles throughout his legal career including: practicing as a lawyer, full-time document review and marketing at a Bay Street law firm. He shares what he has learned throughout his experience transitioning from practicing to non-practicing status, and back again. We dive deep into the current state of mental health in the legal profession and Shaun also talks us through the “3 week rule” to help lawyers figure out the difference between needing to take time off from practice or needing to step away from the profession altogether. 

Work with Shaun through The Write Stuff Agency

Learn from Shaun on LinkedIn

Follow us on Instagram @offthetrackspodcast, check out our website offthetrackspodcast.com, or connect with us by emailing podcast.offthetracks@gmail.com.

Thanks for taking some time to step off the tracks with us!

– Erin & Piper – 
Did you know there are free and confidential mental health supports available to law students, paralegals, and lawyers in every province and territory? Click here to learn more and access services.

In this episode, we are joined by Erin Zipes. Erin has been a lawyer for eighteen years and has spent half of those years working in tech. She previously spent over seven years at Shopify, serving in a variety of roles including Vice President Assistant General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Erin is currently the Chief Legal Officer at 1Password, a password management security software company. Outside of work, Erin also is a Founding Partner of Backbone Angels, a collective of angel investors who invest in women and non-binary founders with a focus on investments in Black, Indigenous, and Women of Colour-led companies.

Erin shares with us the many turning points throughout her career and how she ended up working in tech. By the time Erin left Shopify, she was managing 75 people and we discuss the reality of lawyers as managers. Erin describes her “failure to launch” after articling and how that setback impacted her career outlook. Erin also gives us a behind the scenes look at angel investing and shares how and why Backbone Angels focuses on entrepreneurs who might otherwise not get the funding they need.

Connect with Erin on LinkedIn

Follow Erin on Twitter

Learn more about Backbone Angels

Follow us on Instagram @offthetrackspodcast, check out our website offthetrackspodcast.com, or connect with us by emailing podcast.offthetracks@gmail.com.

Thanks for taking some time to step off the tracks with us!

– Erin & Piper –

Did you know there are free and confidential mental health supports available to law students, paralegals, and lawyers in every province and territory? Click here to learn more and access services.

In this episode, we are joined by Chevin Commock, who also goes by Sebastian. Chevin is the Manager of Legal Initiatives at The 519, a Toronto based organization committed to the health, happiness, and full participation of 2SLGBTQ+ communities. In this role, Chevin is responsible for managing the administration of The 519’s existing legal clinics and services, legal education work, and other access to justice initiatives. Chevin is a Jamaican native who relocated to Canada in 2015 as a refugee claimant. Chevin is a Leo, and lover of nature and the outdoors.

Chevin has seen and experienced the law in-action from many vantage points including as a newcomer to Canada, a paralegal, and through his work at The 519. Chevin shares how he first interacted with The 519 by accessing newcomer services and how his involvement with the organization has evolved. Chevin talks us through the scope of The 519’s important initiatives including the Trans ID Clinic, Refugee Mock Hearing, and Case Support Programs. We also discuss the importance of chosen family and Chevin’s exciting future in the legal profession.

Live in Toronto? Volunteer at The 519!

Follow The 519 on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter

Connect with Chevin on LinkedIn

Follow us on Instagram @offthetrackspodcast, check out our website offthetrackspodcast.com, or connect with us by emailing podcast.offthetracks@gmail.com.

Thanks for taking some time to step off the tracks with us!

– Erin & Piper –

Did you know there are free and confidential mental health supports available to law students, paralegals, and lawyers in every province and territory? Click here to learn more and access services.