1, Brief introduction.
My name is Tomiwa Ogundipe. I am originally from Nigeria. I obtained my LLB from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and my first LLM from Harvard Law School, USA. I am currently an LLM Candidate (Business Law) at Osgoode Hall Law School. I practiced law in both Nigeria and the US. In Nigeria, my focus was litigation, while in the US, it was transactional business law. My current interest is business law. I summered at Borden Lardner Gervais LLP in 2024 and will be articling there in 2025.
2. What are your thoughts on the Summer Program Toronto recruit process?
The summer program was a different experience from what I was familiar with. I have worked in at least five different organizations across two countries, and the recruitment process was very unique. First, it had multiple rounds, which is to be expected. The first round was the OCIs (On-Campus Interviews), which are technically not done on campus but are virtual interviews. While I am familiar with the concept of the OCIs as a result of my US experience (i.e., having multiple interviews with different law firms in one day), in the Toronto recruit, each interview was for 17 minutes. I had eight interviews that day, and I believe a student could have up to 20 interviews on that day if that student had that many law firms call back with the intent to interview that student. The interview timing was definitely different from what I was used to.
Something I enjoyed about the Toronto recruit was that during the process, I was able to learn more about the different firms and the people who worked there. This was important to me as a foreign-trained lawyer starting afresh in a new country. You are allowed, no, encouraged to reach out to people in these law firms, have coffee chats with them, and ask them questions. For me, the OCIs were the first time I truly understood that an interview was for both parties to see if they were the right fit. At the end of the OCIs, I was certain I would not want to work with one of the law firms that interviewed me because we would not be a good fit.
In hindsight, I found my summer program hiring process interesting, and there were a lot of learning moments from it.