Law student looking for summer co-op in Toronto | FerrariChat

Law student looking for summer co-op in Toronto

Discussion in 'Canada' started by ryalex, Apr 14, 2004.

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  1. ryalex

    ryalex Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 6, 2003
    24,957
    Las Vegas, NV
    Full Name:
    Ryan Alexander
    Hey guys; some of you know I'm in Niagara for the next few months waiting for a new visa to return to the US, where my apt, school, job, and pregnant wife are. In the meantime our savings are gone and I've been looking for a summer associate position in the Toronto area to no avail (although I was just strung along for a week by a firm who after saying, "we'd like to have you in for an interview" said "we were talking about it and we don't think it will work out" -- before even meeting me or seeing my $20 in transcripts they asked me to send them).

    I know it's rather late in the season - I've had a summer position lined up in the States since last Fall, but given my current situation and the slow processing in the American immigration offices I'm afraid I might not make it back to spend a full summer with that firm. I'd be willing to make a full 12-week commitment to a summer spot here. I'm available immediately. The US firm still wants me for part of the summer if I can find somewhere to work here first.

    My undergrad was in international management with minors in Econ and Spanish, so even MBA-type positions would be of interest.

    If anyone has any contacts in the area or knows someone who could take on a law student for the summer please let me know. I can send a resume ASAP or even meet in the Toronto area at any time. Any leads could help.

    Thanks.

    -Ryan
    (905) 892-5112
     
  2. ryalex

    ryalex Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 6, 2003
    24,957
    Las Vegas, NV
    Full Name:
    Ryan Alexander
    Still looking, if anyone has any leads. I've been a cold calling machine.
     
  3. Texas Forever

    Texas Forever Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 28, 2003
    75,386
    Texas!
    Ryan, you must have really pissed somebody off. I didn't think that it was all that hard for Canucks to move back and forth between the USA and the motherland. You didn't tell anybody about that time you saw President Bush and the donkey while he was supposed to be at the National Guard base did you?

    Just curious, DrTax
     
  4. ClassicFerrari

    ClassicFerrari F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jan 7, 2004
    16,798
    Toronto
    Full Name:
    Vasco
    Ryalex, as I have mentionned to you in another thread, my brother is a lawyer and has his own firm downtown Toronto. His office does not have any need for anyone at the momment but if I hear anything I will let you know.

    I know it's not much but maybe something may pop up. I will pass the word on to my bro.

    Regards,

    Vasco.R
     
  5. ryalex

    ryalex Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 6, 2003
    24,957
    Las Vegas, NV
    Full Name:
    Ryan Alexander
    Vasco - Thanks for passing the word along, I was thinking of bringing it up but I thought I'd meet you in person before hitting you up for the favor. I hope the Diablo isn't sold/delivered yet, as I'd like to stop by in the next few days.

    Dr. Tax - Canadians can cross freely. Until you marry an American.

    Then, you have to either have a permit to pass or a waiver or permanent residency (PR). I finished everything for PR a year ago, and should have been given a green card stamp in my passport right then. I didn't, because for some reason the FBI was 6 mos late in processing my arrest record check and fingerprints, which Ted Kennedy's (senior senator over INS committee and my senator in Boston) office says takes FIVE (5) days from filing. Meaning like November 19, 2002 that should have been done.

    So I had to buy a travel permit ($110... just a tax, really, but it needs to be approved and has a 5-6 wk processing time). Which they made me return in July after visiting my family for the first time in 4.5 years (I couldn't leave because of INS issues and/or $$ the whole time... my wife met my family after 2 years of marriage!) - and then my green card would be mailed to me.

    Sept, no card. Write a letter asking what's up. No response.

    November, no card. Write a letter. No response.

    Finally in late January we found out we were expecting, my mom was finishing her last weeks of nursing school in Toronto and totally stressed out undergoing MRI's and catscans for some mystery pains she'd been having and taking heavy painkillers for for some time. She kept asking when I'd visit, I wanted to share the news and had only been home once in 5 years so I threw reason out the window and just went home. I think about that decision a lot.

    Got to the border after a quick 3-day visit, and when I had them run my Alien number through the computer it said that the FBI hadn't processed it yet and that it wasn't complete and because I'd turned in my permit and hadn't gotten another one my application for permanent residency was CANCELLED. I even had some paperwork on me, a signed contract acknowledging the conditions of my permanent residency. No good. "But I had the interview! I was DONE!" "Where's the stamp in your passport then? You get a stamp with your number on it." They didn't give me the stamp because the arrest check wasn't done (never been arrested, BTW). It still wasn't done, and they weren't going to let me in.

    My wife's birthday. Her first trimesters. My baby's ultrasounds. A semester of law school. A whole lot of LSAT work. I was going to miss it all. It hit me hard those first few days. And they have all come and gone.

    Some good has come of this time, though. I was able to chaffeur my mother around for a few weeks until she finished school after her car was totalled, bailed her out of a handful of money situations, and even talked her into changing her plans - so that she ended up getting married several months sooner to a widower in Hawaii she'd been seeing. She's super happy now; he's a wonderful man. Probably the happiest I've ever [heard] her (on the phone) in my whole life. My taxi-driving cousin I grew up with like a brother finally stepped up and enlisted in the Army this past month, which I'd like to think I pushed a little in the extra time we've spent together. I've been able to reconnect having several weekends with my Dad, Stepmom and my siblings on their side, who I'd only seen a few times in 7 years. And I've been able to help other family friends out here and there with things. I've been humbled in many ways.

    A sympathetic legal recruiter told me today she's shocked I'm handling it all so well. I said the worst of it hit me the day I couldn't leave, and I've calmed to an endurance mode since then. I was thinking about it today, and couldn't pin it down to an analogy, (maybe something like barbed wire?) - but it's like an experience where the more you struggle and fight it emotionally, the more you get hurt; so you have to calm down and wait it out patiently.
     
  6. ryalex

    ryalex Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 6, 2003
    24,957
    Las Vegas, NV
    Full Name:
    Ryan Alexander
    Well, no Canadian law firms would touch the defector, so I am now in Kingston selling knives door-to-door.

    At the least I'll get more sales experience and seminars out of it.
     
  7. ryalex

    ryalex Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 6, 2003
    24,957
    Las Vegas, NV
    Full Name:
    Ryan Alexander
    I'M GOING HOME! For those who didn't see the news on the "Free Ryan Alexander" thread in the Politics forum, a director at the White House called the consulate for me and got them to see me next week. So I'll be back in time for school and my son's birth.

    As a side note, I did well at the knife thing for a few weeks before focusing my efforts on my new business, www.ryalexdesign.com .
     
  8. Burnout

    Burnout Formula Junior

    Nov 3, 2003
    733
    Canada
    Good stuff Ryan! All the best, and keep us updated.
     

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