From her first day at Queen’s Law, Valerie Eisen, MBA’14/Law’15 (Artsci’11), had her mind set on what she would practice after her studies.

“My undergraduate degree was in chemistry and I was interested in science and technology, so it made sense to practice intellectual property law,” she says. 

Despite this somewhat rigid focus, Eisen remained open to other opportunities – and when those opportunities came knocking, she found herself perfectly situated to work with one of Alphabet’s subsidiary companies, Sidewalk Labs, on a cutting-edge development project.

As Eisen completed the combined JD/MBA program at Queen’s, she was offered a summer position at Fasken. That summer position has since turned into full-time work in the firm’s business law group.

“Through Fasken’s rotational program, my practice grew into a corporate law focus with specialties in mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property law and high-tech,” she explains. “This meant I had the right combination of specialties for Sidewalk Labs, one of Fasken’s clients, and their Toronto-based development project. The project was already a personal interest but I never imagined I would get to work on it full-time.”

Eisen calls Sidewalk Toronto a unique development and an important effort to determine how we can build better cities in the future. Sidewalk Labs’ stated goals are to improve urban quality of life through enhanced infrastructure including physical and technological solutions, tackling issues such as housing affordability, sustainability, mobility, and social infrastructure.

Working on such an innovative project, it should come as no surprise that no two days in Eisen’s job are the same. She spends much of her time in meetings helping to answer legal questions and considering how those questions should be codified in the master project agreement with Waterfront Toronto.

“In working with so many different members of the Sidewalk Labs team, like urban planners and engineers, I am learning about many disciplines outside of law,” she says. “I am also learning more about working with government stakeholders. I am really thankful to Fasken for the opportunity to work on such an exciting project for my hometown and the globe.”

She credits her time in the combined JD/MBA program with helping to prepare her for these situations, as it provided her with an interdisciplinary skill set that has helped her examine problems from multiple perspectives.

“Knowing I was likely to enter into the corporate world, I felt a better understanding of business functions and organizational-style problem solving would be beneficial to both serving my clients and helping the organizations with which I was involved in their progression,” she says.

As she reflects on her time at Queen’s Law, Eisen fondly remembers her contracts law classes which she says were foundational to her understanding of commercial contracting.

“Professor Michael Pratt’s style was to teach and encourage logical, well-reasoned arguments that required deep, critical thinking,” she says. “He challenged the status quo of common arguments, which pushed me to do the same. The skills I learned in those classes have been a key element driving me to succeed in my practice to date.”

Her advice to new law students is to try many different areas of practice. This helps ensure you are making the right choice by finding your passion in law, and might help you find once-in-a-lifetime opportunities – as it did in Eisen’s case.

By Phil Gaudreau