Dear Advy,
I am an international lawyer that immigrated to Canada in the early 2000s. As you can imagine, becoming accredited through the NCA, securing an articling placement, and finally being called to my provincial bar required a lot of work. Obtaining a job with a firm seemed to erect even more barriers to practicing but I finally secured a position with a well-established international law firm. I enjoy my work, but I do feel as though I am treated a bit differently. I often feel like I must work twice as hard as the other lawyers in my firm in order to prove myself. I have even fielded a few questions about my legal education abroad, and the questions didn’t always seem friendly. Overall, I find it all a bit demoralizing, and I am not sure how to address this – or even if I should. I am hoping for your advice. Should I voice my concerns? What if it makes the situation worse?
Sincerely,
Not Wanting to Rock the Boat
Dear Not Wanting to Rock the Boat,
Becoming accredited through the National Committee on Accreditation (“NCA”) program is rigorous and yes, a lot of hard work, as are articling and finding employment in your field. To achieve all of that only to face comments about how qualified you are must be demoralizing, as you say. It is hard enough to manage the pressures and stress of being a lawyer these days without that added strain of facing the implication that you are less worthy than your peers of practicing law. You don’t mention where you are from, but there is often an undertone of discrimination in that attitude toward NCA candidates, in those questions about “where your law school was” can sometimes cross the line from innocent curiosity to being a surrogate to imply that people with your skin colour somehow don’t belong here. Being curious about your co-workers is one thing, but racism is unacceptable.
You have asked me what you can do. As I have commented a few times, one of the limitations of an advice column is that it often involves providing counsel to the people who on the receiving end of bad behaviour. My contract with you is to help you with the advice you are looking for, but please don’t take the fact that I am giving you advice about what you can do as a statement that this is only your problem to solve.
While we’re on the topic of limitations, here’s another one: I am not an internationally trained lawyer. I have not walked in your shoes, and that puts a big caveat beside any advice I can give you. Luckily, I found two articulate internationally trained lawyers who generously agreed to help me out with your letter!
First, I discussed your letter with Ola, who asked that I just give her first name. Ola came to Canada from Nigeria and is a graduate of the Nigerian Law School and Lagos State University. She has completed the NCA program, and her work focuses on corporate governance and compliance. The first thing she said is that she empathizes with your feelings of “inadequacy, invisibility, and the struggle to be recognized”. While everyone’s struggle is unique, remember that you are not alone.
The second lawyer I spoke to asked that I not give her real name in this column. I will call her “Anna” for reasons I’ll explain below. Anna also comes to us from Nigeria, and she too has completed the NCA program and found work in a wide variety of practice areas. Anna also said that what you are describing is a very common experience for NCA candidates. She added that not only are you not alone, but the experience of feeling invisible or less-than is something that even graduates of Canadian law school go through, particularly when they are a member of a group that has historically faced discrimination in our field. The 2022 National Study on the Psychological Health Determinants of Legal Professionals in Canada showed us that women, people of colour, and LGBTQ+ individuals were more likely than others to not only face harassment and discrimination in the workplace but also to want to leave our profession. If there’s any kind of silver lining to what you are going through, it’s that it gives you the chance to see all the people around you who are going through this. Again, that doesn’t justify what you’re facing, but it does provide some insight.
Both Anna and Ola emphasize knowing your own self-worth. What makes your background different from your co-workers is an asset, not a defect. If your firm does not treat your experience as an asset, the problem is with the firm not you.
Anna picks up on that theme: “Make peace with the fact that you will be seen as different.” You have to constantly think about how terminology, approaches to problem-solving and other aspects of your work differ between where you got your training and where you find yourself now. Your non-NCA peers don’t have to think about that. In the short run that may seem like a problem but remember that law is constantly changing and the assumption that the way things are is how they will always be often creates dangerous blind spots for lawyers. Having that capacity to “code switch” between your current and your past practice environments helps maintain an ability to question assumptions, and in the long run that is more of a help than a deficit. Ola adds that this is not a phenomenon unique to legal workplaces. Many Canadian employers don’t understand that what seems to be a longer learning curve in the beginning is a strength in the long run.
Ola recommends having a professional but frank conversation about it: “Everyone will always see their own educational system as good and of high standard. Also, depending on the work environment, HR policies, and the firm's inclusivity goals, an honest and polite conversation with superiors and teammates could be beneficial. While daunting, this can foster a more respectful work environment. It will also help the writer understand if their feelings are valid or if they are misinterpreting the firm's culture,” For more general advice on how to persuade your co-workers to change the way they work with you, see the past Dear Advy article, Practice What You Preach.
“Anna” (reminder, not her real name) told me that she successfully applied for a job giving that first name rather than her given name, and she continues to go by that name when she works there even though her employer knows her given name. The reason? She found she was wasting a lot of time answering questions from curious clients and co-workers about what her story was, what her name meant, how she came to be in Canada etc. These were almost always well-intentioned questions from people who were actually expressing appreciation for her, she says, but nonetheless she was spending time on that rather than her professional work. As a busy person, including being a mother of two, she says she didn’t have time to tell the interesting but distracting story of why her name is so unusual in this part of the world. When you make peace with how others see you, she says, you can take the energy you might otherwise feel as resentment (Why shouldn’t you be able to go by your real name, after all?) and channel it into strategizing ways to overcome the problems those perceptions create for you. Ultimately you can only change others’ perceptions of you by doing great work and developing a track record for reliability. How you feel about yourself, she adds, is up to you, not those others.
Ola recommends doing some research on the culture you are trying to relate to in your workplace. Outside of work, she suggests “joining local groups and clubs that align with [your] interests and attending community events and festivals to meet locals and learn about the culture. This will help put a lot of things into perspective. It is important to understand and respect local cultural norms and etiquette, approach new experiences with an open mind and curiosity, and regularly reflect on experiences, adapting the approach as necessary to ensure a smoother and more enjoyable transition.” By the way, your local CBA branch offers a wealth of possible opportunities to get to know members of your profession and practice areas.
Anna advises looking carefully at how your co-workers present your work to others. When they adapt your legal research to a brief or factum, for example, pay attention to the often-subtle changes they make to convey your ideas to people outside your firm. Those subtle changes can often be the key to learning how you yourself can “translate” your ideas into a form that the people around you can understand readily. Just as learning a new language gives you the chance to converse with others without the need for translators or other intermediaries, learning how to speak the language of law in your own jurisdiction can open up new opportunities for you in your own legal community.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention that your local lawyer assistance program may well have peer support programs that can help when you feel alone and invisible. Not only can those programs provide one-on-one formal peer matches but many jurisdictions also have informal programs that allow you to get support on a drop-in basis. Check with your local lawyer assistance program to see what they have that might help you. If they don’t already have a program that suits your needs, consider forming your own peer support group. Most jurisdictions’ assistance programs will be only too happy to give you help and support setting up those kinds of supports.
Be well!
Advy