My semester interning at the Globe & Mail as part of Osgoode’s IP Intensive program was enriching and memorable. It allowed me to gain valuable practical experience that built upon the academic perspectives of law school. It was an experience I could have easily missed out on had I not applied to this program and I am deeply thankful to IP Osgoode for facilitating this opportunity. It was an honour to join the Globe, an eminent and well-respected source of news and opinion for Canadians, particularly in this time of great change and transformation for the publishing industry as it reorients itself to keep apace with the digital information revolution. My time was also aligned with the exciting final months of the US election, and from what I saw, I don’t think the editorial team slept very much at all. The Globe was doubly exciting for me as a graphic designer as I was able to witness how the advertising, digital media and design teams met the challenges of adapting to the digital-first era.
During my short stay, I had the chance to work on a wide and interesting range of legal areas. The majority of my work was focused on copyright and privacy law but I was also able to work on matters related to advertising, defamation, and contract law. It turns out that, to a private corporation, the minutiae of contract law matter a lot. There were many moments where I wished I had not sold off my 1L contracts textbook for coffee money. My tasks consisted of legal research and writing, creating briefs and memos on a variety of legal topics, and often just answering questions which had any semblance of a legal element. I was always kept busy, and it made the time fly by. The legal team at the Globe is small but very talented, and I am grateful for their guidance and the occasional patience I surely invoked. The Globe’s legal concerns are diverse, ranging from agreements with vendors, advertisers, advertising platforms, print-houses and various operational service providers, to management of legal risk attached to the every bit of text and every image on a published Globe product, to ensuring that subscriber information is always protected, especially when transferred to a third-party. Frankly, I saw merely a glimpse of the projects the legal team is working on at any given time, but it was enough to conclude that in-house practice truly is a buffet (a swirling vortex?) of legal work suited to the keenest minds. I would gladly have extended my time at the Globe were it possible.
Overall, my time at the Globe will be an unforgettable part of my law school journey, and I am glad to have taken on the opportunity. I honed the skills from past work experiences and applied them in a new context, and the results will surely be valuable as I move into articling. I would go so far as to say that, beyond merely the OPIR requirement, Osgoode 3Ls would greatly benefit from spending a semester of their third year at a law firm, clinic or a private organization. More so than the highly structured summer programs, this would act as a more practical transition into articling. In the meantime, the IP Intensive fulfills this gap and allows students the opportunity to get a rare glimpse into the legal work of IP-related organizations, and I cannot recommend it enough.
Asaad Hussain is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School and was enrolled in Osgoode’s Intellectual Property Law and Technology Intensive Program. As part of the program requirements, students were asked to write a reflective blog on their internship experience.
