EDITORIAL
2 Obiter Dicta
You survived OCIs! Now what?
Five Follow-Up Tips After the First Date
F
or those of you who recently participated
in the legal dog and pony show that we like to
call “OCIs,” I extend a tip of the hat to you all
for such a dedicated effort toward your future
careers – however masochistic it might be. One can
only hope now that the summer months spent personalizing those cover letters with a level of detail that
would make a stalker proud, and reordering the hobbies on your resume to really highlight your talent for
beer pong finally pay off in the weeks to come. The
date is over, you can change back into your favourite
sweats with the hole in the crotch and sit back with
a bag of Doritos while you wait for your betrothed to
call. But no, wait. It’s not over yet. Despite bringing
your perfect A-game and wooing the interviewers off
their feet, you need to put the chips down, get off that
couch, and get your ass back to work! There is no rest
for the weary in the game of love, and there is certainly none to be had here in law school. So with that
said, allow me the pleasure of potentially wasting the
next five minutes of your day with some salient advice
that has never led me astray where it concerns matters
of the heart. I’m sure it applies equally to law firms.
1 Text or call the very next day.
Let’s not take this one too literal since anything
beyond a quick email could likely confirm you as a
potential candidate for a restraining order in the eyes
of your interviewer. Unless you were able to bond over
martinis and glasses of wine after the interview, it
might seem suspect to be calling them at their weekend cabin to express your gratitude for having “taken
the time to meet with you.” The general rule: always
send a quick email thanking the interviewers as soon
as possible after the interview. Be sure to personalize
the message so that multiple notes to different lawyers within the same firm do not sound the same. You
were taking notes during the interview, right?
2 Once you’ve secured the second date,
do a little research.
Did someone say research? Yes, seize your moment
my lovely gunners, load up Google, and fly my pretties, fly, fly! Find out who you will be meeting with
and learn about them as much as possible. What area
of law do they practice? What is their favourite hobby?
What blood type is their second-born son? Now is not
the time to hold back your super-sleuthing skills. You
want them to know that when shit really hits the fan,
a. Osgoode Hall Law School, 0014g
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“Narrative prose is a legal wife, while drama
is a posturing, boisterous, cheeky and wearisome mistress.” anton chekhov
ê When complimenting the firm, refrain from mentioning space pants, fallen angels, or measurements of any kind.
you are their Kalinda Sharma. Not only will you spot
that rogue comma that saves them millions of dollars, but you’ll be able to tell them exactly which area
of the world the trees were harvested from to make
the paper it was printed on. Relevant? Probably not.
Impressive? Absolutely. Knowledge is power and the
more you have, the better equipped you are to shape
your second date into an experience that will leave
them wanting you more.
3 Take things slow and enjoy getting to
know each other.
It’s easy to get caught up in the overwhelming drama
that the OCI process creates. After all, from everything you’ve led yourself to believe, it only involves
the most important decision you could ever possibly make about the entire future of your career. (Now
forgive me, but as an aside I must call shenanigans
on this line of thinking. If for no other reason than
to question the ludicrous assumption that a student
should be in the position to make such lofty decisions
after only eight months of sampling the appetizers
from the legal buffet that is 1L. It’s like expecting to
find pistachios in your trail mix; everyone knows
that the best flavours of anything are never found
editorial board
editor-in-chief | Karolina Wisniewski
managing editor | Sam Michaels
layout editor | Heather Pringle
4 Be positive and fun when you’re
together.
It can be reasonably assumed that someone who trash
talks their ex on a date will likely speak the same way
of you after you part ways. So don’t speak ill of the
other suitors who turned down your advances, and
don’t complain about how “it’s not you, it’s them.”
Remember, the interviewer actually wants to like you
since it makes things easier for them. Remain on your
best behaviour and don’t ever give them reasons to
staff writers
editorial staff
business managers | Alvin Qian,
Adam Cepler
communications manager | Angie Sheep
copy editor | Subban Jama
news editor | Mike Capitano
opinions editor | Carla Marti
arts & culture editor | Marie Park
sports editor | Evan Ivkovic
website editor | Asad Akhtar
in the variety packs!) But I digress. Getting back to
the salient issue at hand, there is no urgency to jump
straight to marriage proposals at this point. However,
that being said, as with potential mates, there is no
shortage of firms with self-esteem issues. You just
might find yourself with the memories of that overlyawkward teenager you dated back in high school who
secretly needed to hear you say the L-word. So if the
moment hits and it feels right, go ahead and give them
the confidence boost that they so desperately desire.
Just make sure you phrase it as “you are my number
one choice,” and not anything else.
Lisa Johnson, Julián Gomez Biagi
Kate Henley, Gleb Matushansky, Erin Garbett,
Hannah de Jong, Kenneth Cheak Kwan Lam
l ayout staff
contributors
Henry Limheng, Alexandra Pester, Laura
Wilson, Sophie Chiasson, Rob Hamilton,
Mary Owusu, Esther Song, Elise Visco,
Esther Mendelsohn
Submissions for the October 27 issue are
due at 5pm on October 18, and should be
submitted to: [email protected]
» see editorial, page 15
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