Shortly before Rana Hazarat was born, her family fled Afghanistan for the United States. After being denied asylum in the US, Hazarat and her family came to Canada, where they were eventually accepted as refugees, after four long years of waiting.
“My dad was the only provider of a family of eight, and we often had to rely on income assistance,” Hazarat says. “I knew that if I was going to university, I’d have to figure out how to pay for it on my own. Not because my parents didn’t want to, but they just couldn’t afford it.”
Today, Hazarat is a graduate of Allard Law and one of the directors of the Vancouver Summer Mentorship Society, which for over 10 years has brought BC high school students to Allard Hall every spring for their Legal Bootcamp. Developed by friends and lawyers Alon Mizrahi, Isaac Filaté and Karenna Williams, this free, week-long bootcamp provides an intro to law school and the legal profession. Hazarat first joined the team as a student coordinator while studying at Allard Law.
Students who attend the bootcamp typically have top marks and are curious about law, but most have also faced challenges, says Hazarat. One recent bootcamp grad maintained straight A’s throughout high school, despite having to work long hours to support her grandmother. “I can’t emphasize how amazing and resilient these students are. We need their unique perspectives and lived experiences in the courtroom,” Hazarat says.
The path to law school wasn’t certain for any of the program’s organizers. Each of them makes a point of talking with students about their own families’ stories, emphasizing that financial obstacles can be overcome. “My story, Alon’s story, Isaac’s story and Karenna’s story — each of us has something about our background that resonates with the students,” adds Hazarat.
But encouraging students to consider a legal career is not the program’s only objective. “The goal isn’t to make everyone a lawyer,” says bootcamp co-founder Mizrahi. Instead, the main thing he wants students to take away from the program is that they have the ability to achieve their goals. “I’m trying to ensure that students who maybe aren’t in the best social situations know about the opportunities that are available to them,” he explains. “They may be the only one in their group of friends who is focused on school, and their friends probably don’t even know just how well they’re doing.”
A crash course in law
Throughout the bootcamp, Allard Law professors and practising lawyers lecture on topics ranging from environmental to video game law. Mizrahi says that about half of Allard Law faculty have volunteered to speak at the bootcamp at some point over the years.
“The professors give these 101 lectures with the same enthusiasm as when I was in law school,” says Hazarat. “It makes me proud to be part of the Allard alumni community.”
Professor Nikos Harris, KC (LLB ’95) has lectured on wrongful conviction year after year since the program began. He says he comes back each year because students who don’t already have connections to the profession are far less likely to consider it. “The program helps make sure large, diverse groups of students get an intensive introduction to the legal system and working as a lawyer,” he adds.
Mentorship is another key part of the program. Each student is paired up with a practising lawyer, and the team strives to ask lawyers from a wide variety of backgrounds to lecture throughout the week. “Students come up to each of the directors and say, ‘It was so inspiring to see lawyers who look like me,’” says Hazarat. “I think seeing is believing for them.”
Inspiring future lawyers
Since the bootcamp first launched in 2012, several bootcamp alumni have since gone on to law school. McMillan LLP Associate Navaneeth Ravichandran completed the bootcamp in 2015, as a grade 12 student at Vancouver Technical Secondary School. He was considering a career in law when he signed up, and the experience helped make up his mind.
“I hope people know how unique this program is,” says Ravichandran. “Unless a child has a family member working in law — and most BIPOC immigrant families don’t have this privilege — it’s difficult to get any type of inroads in the industry. It’s a program that has impacted lives.”
At bootcamp, Ravichandran met Vancouver lawyer Chris Gear, then general counsel for the Vancouver Canucks. “I’m not sure if sports law is in the cards, but Chris convinced me it’s an option. I found that so thrilling.”
Inspired by stories like Ravichandran’s, the Legal Bootcamp team is committed to keeping the program going. “How do you judge success?” asks Mizrahi. “This one lawyer — what does that change mean for his or her life, family and the people around them? When you’ve helped to change a person’s career choice, the doors that open will change the circumstances for their future family.”
