Rory Shaw, Law’20, spent the summer in Victoria, B.C., where he experienced how lawyers can “make a difference in people’s lives” during his internship with the Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation.
Rory Shaw, Law’20, spent the summer in Victoria, B.C., where he experienced how lawyers can “make a difference in people’s lives” during his internship with the Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation.

Rory Shaw, Law’20, may only have one year of law school under his belt, but he’s now learned first-hand what it’s like to take on public interest environmental litigation work. This summer he interned with the Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation (CELL), a new non-profit society based in Victoria, B.C. 

One of 12 first-year students to receive support through a Torys Public Interest Summer Internship Award, Shaw spoke to Queen’s Law Reports about his exceptional experiential learning opportunity. 

What attracted you to the internship opportunity with CELL?

The Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation is unique within the Canadian legal world. Despite being a fairly small shop, CELL seems to have a hand in nearly every major environmental law case in B.C. This allows students not only to work extremely close with dedicated and experienced lawyers, but also to know that their work has real effects throughout the province, and even the country. I have always placed great value in public service, so working with CELL was the perfect opportunity for me to make meaningful contributions to important causes while gaining valuable hands-on experience in litigation. 

What did you do as an intern, and how did your work contribute to CELL’s goals?

As an intern, I was involved in every single step of the litigation process. I had the opportunity to write legal memoranda, draft affidavits, and even prepare the first draft of an application submitted to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. CELL places a strong emphasis on providing detailed feedback to its interns, so I would regularly meet with my supervising lawyers to discuss my work and collaborate to make my arguments as strong as possible. One of the best parts of this process was to see arguments I had written make their way into submissions brought before the court. It is a pretty incredible opportunity to have legal arguments I wrote included into court filings less than a year into my legal career, and to know that my work is making a difference.

What did you find most rewarding about this work?

The most rewarding part of this experience has been to meet the people who support the work done by interns. Our major project for the summer related to an injunction brought by our clients, the West Moberly First Nation, against the Site C dam in Northern B.C. West Moberly is a party to Treaty 8, which guarantees hunting, fishing, and cultural rights to a group of First Nations in the Peace River Valley. Our clients are seeking an interim injunction on the Site C dam project on the basis that if the project is completed they allege their treaty rights will be extinguished completely. We submitted an application to have the B.C. Supreme Court hearing webcast and archived so that West Moberly, and all Canadians, may have access to the proceedings. On the day of the hearing, we had the opportunity to not only meet Chief Willson of West Moberly, but also see a rally outside the courthouse in support of our clients’ injunction. This experience brought home the fact that what we do really does matter and that you can make a difference in people’s lives as a lawyer.