Reprogramming No-Win Scenarios
Are there any other Star Trek fans out there? I didn’t think I was a Trekkie when I turned on the tv after school in the 1970s to watch the adventures of Captain Kirk and his crew—but I am sure that I saw all of the episodes more than once--and I may have inadvertently become one as plots and key phrases continue to pop into my head even now. For anyone who isn’t familiar with Star Trek, it was a TV show that had its prime time run from 1966 to 1969 and comprised 79 episodes which were well into reruns when I watched them, and when my kids watched them. I haven’t watched the original episodes for years, but details from them are seared into my memory.
Let’s be honest about Star Trek. On one hand, it was pretty cheesy, but it challenged narrow elements of our 1960s and 1970s culture due to the broad vision of Gene Roddenberry, the show’s creator. It promoted multi-culturalism and the equality of women (as long as they wore the mini skirt uniform.) I read recently that Nichelle Nichols, the actress who played Lieut. Uhura (who was both Black and female in a starship officer role), was ready to hang up her mini skirt uniform and told Gene Roddenberry that she wanted to leave the show. He persuaded her to go to an event where she would meet a huge fan of hers. She agreed, and the fan turned out to be Martin Luther King Jr. She decided to stay with the show. Star Trek inspires in mysterious ways.
Star Trek created phrases like “beam me up, Scotty,” “set your phasers on stun” and “he’s dead, Jim”’/ “Jim, he’s dead”. But it also introduced us to nuggets of wisdom that stand the test of time:
- "Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them.”–Spock
- “The prejudices people feel about each other disappear when they get to know each other.” — Captain Kirk
- “Leave bigotry in your quarters; there’s no room for it on the bridge.” — Captain Kirk
- “The road from legitimate suspicion to rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think.” — Captain Picard
- Spock: “One man cannot summon the future.” Captain Kirk: “But one man can change the present.”
And sometimes plot was inspirational like how to overcome a no-win scenario, known in Star Trek lore as a Kobayashi Maru situation.
Starfleet cadets, including the future Captain James T. Kirk, were required to complete a simulation involving the Kobayashi Maru, a starship stranded in enemy space, and the purpose of this simulation was to show whether candidates had the character necessary for starship officers. In the simulation, the cadet has to choose between trying to rescue the crew of the Kobayashi Maru which will cause the loss of their own ship and crew or leaving the Kobayashi Maru crew to die without providing any assistance. It’s an interesting conundrum, and the reality is that we all will face making choices when both outcomes are bad.
But Cadet Kirk, when faced with choosing between the loss of his own ship and crew along with the stranded ship versus saving his own ship and crew while leading to certain death for the other crew and ship, didn’t accept the no-win situation. Instead, he reprogrammed the simulation so that he could save the Kobayashi Maru without loss of life. This story, introduced in the 1982 film, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was continued in other Star Trek productions as recently as 2021 (Star Trek Discovery!)
This is why some of us who have a bit of outer or inner geek will sometimes refer to a Kobayashi Maru situation, meaning a no-win situation and calling for innovative out-of-the-box thinking.
So, today I want to address a Kobayashi Maru situation in the Alberta legal profession.
According to the Law Society of Alberta’s 2023 Annual Report, there were 11,479 active lawyers in Alberta along with 525 articling students as of December 31, 2023. I understand that in addition to approximately 500 articling students in 2024, there are also about 150 potential articling students who are completing the PREP program without articling positions.
Looking for articles in 2024 is daunting—the ratio of the number of students to active practicing lawyers is high. Not all active practicing lawyers are in a position to supervise an articling student with a goal to equip students to practice law successfully on admission to the Bar. I am one of those lawyers.
Here’s the no-win scenario:
Option 1 is that we as individual lawyers try to save all of the potential articling students, but this may mean putting students into unsafe or inappropriate positions and it, at least in theory, could put supervising lawyers at risk—or the independence of our profession if we cannot effectively manage our new growth and provide appropriate supervision and education.
Option 2 is that we keep ourselves “safe” and abandon all of the potential students in the queue.
But can we reprogram the scenario, a la James Kirk?
Yes, we can, and we have the technology to rebuild it (a trite reference to the 1970s TV show, The Bionic Man).
The Rules of the Law Society contemplate composite articles, where students in turn article with different firms and principals to satisfy the 12 month articling requirement (Rule 56(1) (a)). I know many successful lawyers and students who created and completed composite articles, becoming well-equipped to practice law effectively on admission to the Bar. But it is very hard to find firms and principals when you are an outside to the legal profession.
Right now, we have a coalescence of events and opportunities. The Alberta government has announced a program to provide twenty-five $20,000 subsidies for to subsidize articling salaries for internationally trained lawyers. We know that there are more than twenty-five potential candidates—but this will help ensure opportunities for a first cohort of twenty-five, and perhaps additional funding will follow. The subsidy will be paid at the completion of articles to the firm or employer, provided that the firm or employer is in fact paying a salary to the student.
I attended an event on Monday hosted by Calgary Regional Immigrant Employment Council which outlined how CRIEC (a not-for-profit organized chaired by Bencher Kene Ilochonwu KC) will support internationally trained lawyers to advance in our profession. Their approach involves several components:
- Job Readiness Training
- Mentorship
- Cohort Mentorship
- Subsidized Legal Research and Writing Skills or Legal Analysis Training
And the $20,000 articling student salary subsidy will help pave the way for articling positions for these job-ready, mentored, and trained students.
Assist has had many conversations with smaller employers, including not-for-profits like Assist, about the feasibility of providing articling opportunities. Many of us do not have 12 months of viable, educational work—even if we could afford to pay a salary. And these students, only exposed to a narrow practice area, may not be as well equipped for successful practice as students who are exposed to broader practices.
So here is how we reprogram the scenario: we come together to create composite articling pods, perhaps with four firms, law departments or organizations each committing to three months of quality articling experience for a student. If the average articling salary for a non-equity deserving student* is $64,000 (according to the 2024 Articling Student Survey), and we allow $5000 for CPLED and Law Society fees, and then deduct the $20,000 subsidy, each of the four organizations would pay $12,250 for a student’s three month term!
I think I can find $12,250 in my 2025 budget to have three months of assistance with a variety of corporate and governance tasks—and if I can, with Assist’s tiny budget, can you as well?
The 2024 Articling Student Survey contained another finding that well-organized composite articles would address:
Two-thirds of Alberta students surveyed report being exposed to only 1—3 practice areas during articling, and one-quarter of principals, recruiters, and mentors, acknowledge that preparing articling students for various practice areas poses a significant challenge.
The reality is that becoming a member of the Law Society means that you can hang up a shingle and practice law generally—you are not restricted to practising only in areas where you received training and supervision. The current Alberta competency framework reflects this: it is based on lawyers having the skills necessary to learn new areas of law along with the practice skills to deliver quality legal services. So, structured composite articles could address the narrowness of many students’ articling experiences.
One of the other important findings of the 2024 Articling Students Survey—that almost one-third of articling students experienced harassment or discrimination during articles or the recruitment process—could also be addressed. Articling in a structured composite arrangement would provide an articling student with an accessible network of lawyers with whom they could discuss how they are being treated. Safety would be in the number of principals available to provide support.
I mentioned the Calgary Regional Immigrant Employment Council as having a program to support internationally trained lawyers (see https://www.criec.ca/internationally-trained-lawyers/employment-ready), but the provincial government subsidy is not linked with CRIEC. Firms and employers across the province can apply for and receive the subsidy. I don’t know the mechanics of the application process, but please email me if you want to receive this information when it becomes available.
If we organize and normalize composite articles instead of having potential articling students working to put arrangements in place without assistance or support, we can help absorb more of the students who are in the pipeline already. We can help connect potential students with employers who have some work, but not enough for an entire one-year articling period.
I learned this week that Imperial Oil and DLA Piper offer a pathway for internationally trained lawyers—students work in both a large oil company and an international law firm during the course of their articles. Composite articles are not limited to small organizations—and sharing articling students may help build relationships between law firms and desirable client. Yet another win-win instead of a no-win Kobayashi Maru scenario.
Assist cannot operate a job-finding program. Our corporate objectives must align with the CRA’s definition of charitable purpose, which in our case is rooted in education about mental health, distress and addiction in the legal profession as well as strategies and resources. We know that qualified candidates who cannot find articling positions face stress and distress. Assist can provide information and resources to help connect interested firms and students with each other, but we can’t lead an initiative that aims to organize composite articles. However, we are happy to help lay the groundwork and to provide one of the most important well-being strategies: hope.
Loraine
* I was appalled to see the salary disparity between students from equity-deserving groups as opposed to students outside this cohort, $51,000 versus $64,000. I know that many factors contribute to this situation, but if you are appalled too, let’s strategize more!