820 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 6 NOVEMBER 2021
of this experience, she has never assumed that people have lived similar
lives or have similar expectations and values.
CLARE: THE STUDENT
Clare went to university at McGill, completing an undergraduate degree in
history and a master’s degree in Canadian social and gender history. It was
as a student at McGill that Clare met her husband, Alex. It was also during
this period that they began pursuing their longstanding interest in theatre,
forming a professional improv group called “Without Annette”. They have
continued this interest through to the present day, in a variety of volunteer
and professional roles. In fact, Clare has written many of the scripts of Victoria
Law Day’s Fairy Tale Trial.
After finishing grad school, Clare worked as a financial aid advisor at
McGill while deciding what to do next. She wanted to pursue a career-oriented
program and decided she would either go to law school or complete
a master’s degree in library studies. She wrote the LSAT on a whim and
did very well. Although she applied for both programs, she heard from
law school first, sparing the world from its most intense and formidable
librarian.
Having settled on law school, Clare decided to go to UVic. She was from
the West Coast, among other places, and UVic had a reputation for being an
intellectually engaging law school (being solidly ranked among the top
three in British Columbia). Clare’s husband left his Montreal home and followed
her out to the coast. Apart from Clare’s clerkship they have never
left.
CLARE: THE CLERK
After law school, Clare clerked for the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
She was the assigned clerk for all of the judges in the northern region of the
province. Clare lived in Sudbury and spent a substantial amount of time in
Thunder Bay and North Bay.
Clare loved her clerkship. She found that being with judges and counsel
in the courtroom helped demystify the court experience. Observing the
trial work of certain counsel helped assure Clare that meeting the bar for
competent practice was much more achievable than she had thought.
CLARE: THE CROWN
Following her clerkship, Clare articled with the B.C. government’s Legal
Services Branch. When her articling term ended, she received a short-term