Picture of Northwest Territories Clerkship selected students, Conal Calvert and Melanie Goodfellow.
Two Windsor Law students will spend a semester in northern Canada to serve as clerks for the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories.
Third year law student Conal Calvert and second year law student Melanie Goodfellow, were recently selected for the Northwest Territories Clerkship program. This unique program offered by Windsor Law provides students with the opportunity to integrate theory with practice in a judicial setting.
The program not only offers them an adventure of a lifetime in Canada’s north, it also allows them to earn credit toward their Juris Doctor (JD), develop cultural competency and contribute to the courts work. Through the financial generosity of the Law Foundation of Ontario, Calvert and Goodfellow will each spend a 4-month term in Yellowknife, NWT and will have the opportunity to travel to remote regions with the Court as part of their clerkship experience.
"I’m excited to live in a region of the country that, while visited by so few Canadians, looms so large in our national imagination,” says Calvert. “I look forward to experiencing the Northwest Territories not as a frontier but as a home to those who live and work there."
Windsor Law students have participated in the Northwest Territories Clerkship Program for over 30 years, with the first student clerk travelling to Yellowknife in 1985. Since then, it has become a pillar for meaningful experiential learning that links the classroom and courtroom.
"I'm so grateful for the opportunity to clerk for the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories,” says Goodfellow, who recently completed her first year at Windsor Law. “This clerkship is the perfect opportunity to live in Canada's North and work in Canada's Courts, fulfilling two of my life goals while still in Law School."
Windsor Law’s focus on experiential learning is designed to create pathways between the study of law and its practice for community benefit, moving students away from the textbook and into the practice of law. The NWT Clerkship program is one of many experiential learning opportunities available to students.
The faculty recently awarded 10 Social Justice Fellowships for the Summer of 2017. Social Justice Fellowships offer students placement with agencies around the world and provide financial, career development and networking support to those interested in social justice advocacy.
Windsor Law also boasts a successful competitive mooting program and offers hands on legal experience at our community legal clinics.
To learn more about Windsor Law’s experiential learning opportunities contact lawstudentservices@uwindsor.ca or visit Windsor Law’s website.
