My name is Margot Dynna and I'm a lawyer here in the city of Regina at Willows and Howe. And I've been a lawyer for twelve years. I graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School out in Toronto and came back because I'm from Regina.

I decided to become a lawyer when I was in high school. I think I was very intrigued with the legal system, with the laws and how they were made, and with dispute resolution and how people resolve their disputes, whether it was in court or outside of court.

Well, lawyers do a lot of different things. So, different lawyers do different things. I'm a courtroom lawyer, so I'm in court a lot. I generally have two very different days.

One day I would be in the office and I would be meeting with clients and I would be on the phone a lot talking to clients or talking to people working in the court about cases and how they're proceeding and procedures, and other lawyers about their clients which happen to be on my file, or my client's ex-spouse, or my client's business partner (sort to speak). So I spend a lot of time meeting with people or on the phone. That would be one general type of day.

And my other kind of day is one I spend in court, not on the phone, but I actually would be down at the courthouse in front of a judge, with my client or without my client, in the court system. So, those are kind of the two different kinds of days that I have. And I usually alternate about half the time between both of them.

I generally get into the office after 8:00, sometimes between 8:00 and 8:30. And I stay probably 'til 5:00 or 5:30 and I do sometimes take work home, so I'll do it in the evening; and sometimes on the weekend. But it's very flexible in that I don't have an employer that's saying what time I have to be here, or if I get a coffee break. So, it's very flexible in that respect. And for days off I don't have to ask anybody. But having said that, I'm also very much at the beck and call of my clients. You have to be here for them. So it's hard to get away for a long duration of time without touching base with some of them.

The most challenging aspect would be keeping abreast of all the change. Keeping up on the different areas of the law; that would be the most challenging. Something that can't be changed, I would have more time, more time to spend with people, more time to get the job done. No one has enough time in their day.

A good result is the most satisfying. A good result for your client, something that they can be happy with that meets their needs. The return on the job as a lawyer is mostly as I say a good result for your client; something that they are happy with and that meets their needs. And when that happens you get a sense of satisfaction from having done a job well done.

To get into law school you have to have at least two years of an undergraduate program. So you need two years of university. You can take anything though. You can take Science, you could take Arts, or Admin. And what I actually took was my Business Admin degree. A lot of people do have a degree before they get into law school, but it's not a requirement. Law school is a three year program and there's probably ten or eleven law schools in Canada. Most universities in at least one university in the province will have a law school, and in Saskatchewan it's Saskatoon. So, law school is three years. And after law school you will have a law degree, but if you want to be a lawyer you have to article for another law firm or a corporate council type position. And a corporate council would be working for say SaskPower, SaskTel. And you article for one year or twelve months. And then you have to complete a bar admission course which is about a six to eight week schooling program and at the end of that you have to write a series of exams. And when you do that, we call it being accepted to the bar.

I would say to be successful you have to be well spoken and you to be able to get your point across and that would be a courtroom lawyer. But there are a lot of lawyers that never see the inside of a courtroom. They do real estate or corporate commercial work and they have to be very good at drafting and writing legal documents. So, different people might have different skills and end up in different areas.

Teamwork is very important in the office. I rely a lot on my receptionist (who answers the phone) and a lot on my secretary. And you have to be a team player in order to do so. As well, I rely a lot on a junior lawyer to help with research and preparing papers and materials I have to file. So, you definitely have to be a team player.

I have to keep my clients happy; every single one of them. I don't get to pick and choose, so I have to have a positive attitude with every single client that I have and work with them. And make sure that each and every one of them, their needs are met. So, a positive attitude is very important and all the time, not just for part of the day or part of the week.

In the legal area change occurs all the time. And you probably realize that when you stop and think about the laws changing and our legislature sits most of the year sometimes. And they're always changing the laws. So, as a lawyer you have to be aware of what's changing in the area of law and you have to keep abreast of it. And as well, in our work place there's a lot of change. Not just with our practice and the laws we practice, but with technology and computers. That would be one of the biggest area of change in the actual work place is the computer and the research that it assists with instead of all the law books that you see behind me. We now do a lot on computer.

I'd like to think I had some of them coming into the job, but definitely by far, when you get out of law school, you know the law or you know where to find it. And it's something that you do develop as you work with people more and more, is how to deal with people, how to assist them. And one of the biggest challenges of the legal profession is educating your clients and making it understandable to them about the legal system and the legal process and what's happening to them and why they're making the decisions they're making and how they're gonna see their case or their file proceeding.

Your ongoing training is required only for insurance purposes. There's a certain amount of training that you have to have and it's not a lot. And that's governed by our law society. But having said that, the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society, which has set up a Board, actually do continuing legal education programs that are voluntary. But they are great for keeping lawyers abreast of different changes that are happening and different areas of the law.

Be persistent would be the advice I would give to someone that's gonna enter the practice of law. If they're trying to get into a law school just keep trying. Write their LSAT which is their law school admission tests and apply at all the law schools they can. And when they're in law school and looking for articling jobs just be persistent, keep trying, do a lot of hard work. Once they get out there it's just hard work and persistence. You do a job well done and it'll pay off.