Hi friends,

From the Courts:

SCC concludes ‘Safe Country’ agreement not a s. 7 breach

The Supreme Court of Canada has recently ruled that Canadian authorities do not infringe on the constitutional rights of asylum seekers by sending them back to the United States under the Canada-U.S. “Safe Third Country” Agreement. The SCC concluded that the potential violations of section 7 of the Charter, which safeguards life, liberty, and personal security, are offset by the "legislative safety valves." These safety valves provide discretionary exemptions on humanitarian, compassionate, or public policy grounds, thereby respecting the principles of fundamental justice.

However, the SCC partially allowed the appeal in relation to potential infringements of the claimant’s equality rights under section 15 of the Charter, citing that women facing gender-based persecution and sexual violence are often denied refugee status in the U.S. This issue was remitted back to the Federal Court for review.

Despite the agreement's constitutionality, critics argue that access to these legislative safety valves is limited in practice, questioning their true effectiveness for asylum seekers.

Here’s the full decision.

Office life:

Legal hiring cooling in Toronto and Vancouver

Thinking about lateraling? Considering finally pulling the trigger on a move out west? It might be time to rethink, at least for the moment. Firms are certainly recruiting, but the approach is more strategic now, with an emphasis on finding the 'right talent' for specific practice areas. Areas like commercial litigation, wills and estate litigation, and family law are in high demand, while residential real estate, corporate law, and personal injury are likely in a downturn. And while remote work remains a priority for job seekers, firms are increasingly expecting new hires to spend more time in the office. The skyrocketing salaries from the recent hiring frenzy have also settled, and protracted salary negotiations are becoming less common. Despite this shift, firms remain committed to investing time and resources in securing high-caliber candidates, particularly in sought-after fields, underlining that quality remains key in this evolving market.

Student life:

The power of networking in law school

To many of you, this will seem pretty obvious, but I found out pretty late in the game that networking is one of the most valuable things you can do in law school, and is in many ways necessary if you want to succeed.

I’m not talking about the networking events where you line up to shake a hand and get a firm pen, I’m talking about the time-tested “coffee chat.” A coffee chat, otherwise known as the “informational interview”, is an informal meeting with someone who works at the place you want to work at. At law firms, you’ll typically have the best luck with associates or summers, but some people I know have had some luck chatting with partners (this is a power move, but it comes with risks since partners can actually sway hiring directions, so be ready).

The ultimate goal of a coffee chat, if we’re going to be honest, is to blow the pants off of whoever you’re talking to get and get the coveted internal referral. But unless you’re a networking weapon (if you have to ask, you probably aren’t), internal referrals are few and far between. What you’ll typically get out of a coffee chat is solid material to put in a cover letter, like an interesting case the associate worked on, or simply dropping their name to show interest in the firm. Firms really want to see that you’re interested in them, and this is one of, if not the best ways to do this.

There’s a lot to a coffee chat that I won’t discuss here, but I will highlight the value these things can provide. I’ve seen people coffee chat their way into top-tier firms with less-than-top-tier grades. I’m talking a top ten firm in New York or a fancy one on Bay Street with average or less-than-average grades (this, of course, will depend on the school you attend as well).

This is not to say that coffee chats are easy, some of these people were pushing 200+ cold emails with multiple chats a week while balancing their full-time summer positions. But it’s pretty clear that these things work if done right, so get going.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Cheers,

Andy