LESA is excited to welcome two new summer students into our organization – Kristine Gu and Allison Boutillier!
It’s their first week here, and they’ve jumped right into things, working with LESA’s Karen McDougall to edit the updated Wills & Estates practice manual that we’re putting together.
Before they get too caught up in fixing comma splices and finding citations, we took a few minutes to get to know them better.
Kristine started off her undergrad in the sciences, but, after O Chem labs revealed that wasn’t the life for her, she transferred into the U of A’s School of Business. Kristine credits Douglas Peterson, her BLaw professor, for pointing her onto the path towards a law degree.
The way he presented Business Law to me really changed my perspective. I found I really enjoyed it, so I finally settled on majoring in Business Law. That took me to here. … My interest is in the corporate, commercial kind of side, and hopefully international. That would be the ideal.”
After completing her Masters of Philosophy in Belgium, Allison returned to Edmonton unsure of what she wanted to do. She was working at a restaurant, feeling bored and directionless, when a friend encouraged her to write the LSAT. As Allison puts it, “I thought, ‘It can’t be worse than serving.’” Then one thing led to another, and now she’s finished her second year of law at the University of Alberta. While she’s not sure what area of law she’d like to practice in, she’s discovered that “I think I would be a terrible solicitor; I’m much more interested in litigation.”
Both Kristine and Allison are looking forward to working at LESA this summer. For Kristine, LESA offers a unique experience, something different than the more typical summer job working in a law firm.
It gives me a chance to still dabble in a lot of things; I’m learning about things I really wouldn’t have even considered before … like wills & estates. … It’s [also] a safe environment to first build your confidence and hone your skills.”
Allison is also looking forward to the chance to learn new things in a low stress environment.
No one’s file is on the line. We get a chance to sit and think through things as we look for the comma placement.”
While we’re looking forward to having these two multi-lingual ladies in the office (together they speak Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Korean, and Japanese!), they also have exciting plans for the summer. Allison started playing soccer when she was 5 and is looking forward to catching some FIFA Women’s World Cup games; Kristine loves photography and can’t wait to travel to Hong Kong in August, before starting an exchange term there in September.
But until then, we’re glad they’ve both joined the LESA team!
