Caitlin Stockwell
I had the opportunity to join DGW Law Corporation as an articling student in January 2019. Since completing my articles with the firm, I have had the chance to reflect on some of my experiences over the past 7 months.
Something that stands out for me is the trust the DGW Law team put in my capacity to develop and grow my legal skillset. From the get go, I was providing legal research and assistance for the development of Aboriginal title claims. This included having the opportunity to hear directly from clients how their Indigenous laws structured their relationship with their territory, from specific governance formats to resource and boundary sharing protocols. It also involved engaging with challenging and troubling questions in the colonial legal jurisprudence: How does the overarching goal of reconciliation exist alongside the application of limitation periods to Aboriginal rights claims? And how does the concept of the Crown owing a fiduciary duty to Indigenous peoples exist alongside a test for extinguishment of Aboriginal title?
The new and challenging nature of the work provided a steep learning curve, and required patience from both our First Nation clients (whom I primarily had the opportunity to work with in BC) and the DGW team. Luckily, I was provided with weekly mentorship meetings with Christopher Devlin as my articling principal, I was able to attend seminars on niche areas of Aboriginal law, and I had the opportunity to hear directly from First Nation councillors speaking to the impacts of colonial law in their communities.
In addition to learning new skills, I also learned more about the specific types of work that interest me. For example, I discovered how much I enjoyed working on community-driven membership codes. The process of distilling feedback and directions provided directly by a community on how their own citizenship should be defined was challenging and rewarding.
I am very excited that I will be re-joining the firm as an Associate in 2020. There’s a lot more for me to learn and unlearn working for First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities who are leveraging their constitutional rights, advancing their self-determination and economic development, and furthering the goal of reconciliation. I couldn’t be going back to a better team to do this alongside.