Our brand new 1st edition of Decoding Canadian Legal Research, Writing, and Conventions: A Guide for Internationally Trained Lawyers, is an essential resource for internationally trained lawyers seeking to work in Canada. It bridges common gaps in legal research and writing knowledge arising from foreign legal education and legal systems. It provides readers with the necessary cultural context as well as the foundation and skills to write effectively for the Canadian market.
This resource was written specifically for internationally trained lawyers and is a companion text to The Comprehensive Guide to Legal Research, Writing & Analysis, 4th Edition.
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When lawyers who’ve received their legal training outside Canada come here to live and work, they can’t just open an office – they must jump through the considerable hoops of our foreign qualifications accreditation system.
What does that mean? It depends on how similar the legal system in the person’s country is to Canada’s, but all newcomers will need to apply to have their credentials assessed by the National Committee on Accreditation, and then complete accreditation exams. After successful receipt of a Certificate of Accreditation, they will need to pass the bar exams in the Canadian jurisdiction in which they hope to practise. They’ll also need to learn how to read, write and speak fluent English or French, if they don’t already.
It's a lot! But also, it’s not enough.
In her new book, Decoding Canadian Legal Research, Writing, and Conventions, Dr. Kellinde Wrightson set out to describe the specifically Canadian aspects of legal research and writing that may come as a surprise to new Canadians. Now the Executive Director of the University of Calgary Faculty of Law’s Foreign Trained Lawyers Program, Dr. Wrightson was trained as a lawyer in Australia before moving to Canada with her family in 2011.
Despite arriving from an English-speaking common law jurisdiction, she was surprised at how different the Canadian system was from her own. Not only are there specifically Canadian legal research and writing traditions, but the way we present ourselves, both on paper and in person, is uniquely Canadian, in ways that those of us who grew up and studied law here take completely for granted. Not understanding those unwritten conventions – the learning of which is NOT a part of the formal accreditation process – poses a significant “invisible” obstacle to newcomers.
And so, while Dr. Wrightson’s book sheds light on the technical aspects of Canadian legal research and writing, it also aims to demystify the Canadian legal culture – how candidates for legal jobs present themselves and their credentials; how Canadian lawyers communicate with clients, the courts, and each other.
If words contribute just 7% of successful communication, then internationally-trained lawyers, especially those whose first language is neither English nor French, must work harder than the rest of us to be understood. This book will help with that 7%, but it also aims to unlock some of the other 93% of communication factors, many of which are subject to significant cultural influence. By explaining the unspoken conventions behind why Canadian lawyers communicate the way they do, Dr. Wrightson decodes aspects of tone, behaviour, and belief, helping international candidates navigate a brand-new cultural landscape.
The 1st edition of Decoding Canadian Legal Research, Writing, and Conventions: A Guide for Internationally Trained Lawyers is invaluable to anyone – including born Canadians – who sometimes feels like a fish out of water when navigating our legal system. We hope you’ll let us know what you think of it!