Meet: Noa Rapaport- 2022 Summer Student
Current Rotation: BL3 (General Corporate)
Noa is an incoming 3L at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law. Prior to law school, Noa majored in political science at Western University. While at law school, Noa has been an active member of the community. She was a representative on the Students' Law Society, worked at the Artists' Legal Advice Services clinic, and participated in moots and hockey arbitration competitions. Outside of school, Noa is a big fan of camping, the Raptors, reading, painting, Survivor, and being a plant mom.
Why did you choose to work at Goodmans?
You’re going to hear pretty much everyone say this, but it’s the people. I know, not very helpful. The way I thought about it, though, is like this: nobody is lying when they say it’s the people because everyone is different and they have simply found the firm that most aligns with their own personality. During my interviews with Goodmans, I found that lawyers were more interested in my hobbies and the way I view the world, rather than in my grades or how many moots I’ve participated in. Prior to the recruit I spoke to Sheldon Freeman, a partner at Goodmans, who told me that at this firm, people take their work seriously but don’t take themselves too seriously. That hooked me.
What is one tip you have for students undergoing the recruitment process?
Don’t play down parts of yourself that you see as important. For example, I worked as a camp counsellor for 6 years, right through to 1L summer, and some people told me to focus more on my legal and business experience in the interviews instead of camp. The truth is, if a firm doesn’t value your experience as much as you do, they’re likely not the place you want to spend (possibly) between 5 years and the rest of your life.
What does a typical day look like for you?
No such thing! The only 2 staples of my day are coffee and docketing (logging the hours you worked the day before). Other than that, each day comes with new tasks which is part of the beauty of Goodmans’ jack-of-all-trades corporate model, where the corporate groups practice both public and private business law. Some ongoing assignments I’ve been working on include due diligence for an acquisition and reviewing TV shows for something called an E&O review.
If not a Goodmans student, then what?
I could see myself living somewhere in a forest working as an author.
Who do you go to when you encounter a challenge during your day-to-day?
It depends on the challenge… Some of my biggest supports this summer are my legal assistant Maria, Ali and Michel, my mentors Alex and Michelle, and even the other summer students who may have faced a similar challenge before me!
To learn more about Noa's experience or chat with her, feel free to reach out at nrapaport@goodmans.ca.
Author: Noa Rapaport, University of Toronto Faculty of Law 2023
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