Go North, law student!

The Faculty of Law’s Juris Doctor program Northern Externship provides up to two law students an opportunity to work and live in Thompson, Manitoba for credit towards their law degrees. Students work under the supervision of Legal Aid Manitoba lawyers in an intensive externship setting at one of LAM’s two Northern regional offices. The Thompson office serves clients in the most Northern corners of the province, as well as the North-East regions. Known as the “Hub of the North, Thompson is located on Treaty 5 territory, approximately 760 kilometers north of Winnipeg.

Northern Externship students get a hands-on opportunity to provide legal services primarily in criminal defence law, with the opportunity to do family and child protection work, if interested. Work includes court appearances, preparing documents for court, and legal research. Under the supervision of practicing lawyers, students might also get the chance to travel to remote Northern communities to provide legal services to clients in underserved communities.

The Northern Externship launched at Robson Hall in 2024 with Brandon Leverick being the first law student to head north. In 2025, Stefan Lewis headed north to try this immersive experience. Upon his return, he shared his experiences with Robson Hall in both written and photographic forms. All photos in this story are by Stefan Lewis, taken on Kodak Ultra Max 400 film.

How did your journey start?

My journey north began in Professor Natasha Brown’s Access to Justice class. In one session, Rob Pellizaro, a family law lawyer practising in Thompson, Manitoba, spoke about access to justice initiatives in northern, rural, and remote communities. Through this session, we learned how long distances, limited transportation, scarce legal services, and unreliable digital infrastructure create serious barriers to justice, shaped further by local demographics and community dynamics. It became clear that these communities have distinct legal needs that cannot be met by one-size-fits-all models.

While I was not a criminal law person, I was deeply committed to access to justice, constitutional law, the TRC, and Indigenous methodologies. Although I was not interested in criminal law, I initially did not think a northern externship was a viable option for me. That changed when Professor McCandless spoke passionately about the opportunity during a 2L information session, explaining how it could be an excellent fit for students interested not only in criminal law, but also in constitutional law, access to justice, and Indigenous Legal Methodologies. After meeting with Alison Fenske from the UMCLC program and discussing my questions, I knew it was the right fit. I packed my bags, boarded a train, and headed north.

What did you do once you got there?

Much of my experience mirrored that of Brandon Leverick, a former student who completed the Northern externship the year prior and wrote about it in a previous UM article. I spent much of my time assisting duty counsel at the Thompson Courthouse with bails, remands, and resolutions. I helped draft motions, wrote research memoranda, and assisted clients on circuit with first appearances, Legal Aid applications, and dispositions. I gained hands-on experience with the bail process, applying legal tests, identifying concerns, and crafting workable bail plans; skills I had never developed before.

Much like Brandon, I saw firsthand the realities of access to justice in the North. Serving more than a dozen remote circuit communities, sometimes by long drives, other times by small plane, I witnessed how geography, limited resources, and systemic barriers disproportionately affect Indigenous peoples. That experience reinforced the importance of Indigenous Methodologies and Perspectives in legal education and highlighted the extraordinary dedication of northern lawyers who do far more than their job descriptions because they care deeply about their communities.

One key area where my experience diverged from Brandon’s was the growing impact of forest fires in the North. Beyond the longstanding challenges Brandon described, wildfires have emerged as a newer and destabilizing force that is reshaping northern life. They have intensified existing barriers to access to justice by disrupting court schedules, displacing communities, straining already limited resources, and compounding the uncertainty faced by northern and remote communities. As a result, much of my work assisting duty counsel in remote communities involved addressing significant backlogs. Many people were just returning to their communities and learning about outstanding charges, so I helped inform clients of their matters, organize court dates, and support duty counsel in moving forward files that had been adjourned earlier in the year, all while balancing new charges that continued to arise for clients.

Is there any insight or wisdom you gained about law from being in the North and experiencing its legal culture?

I would recommend this experience to other students, even those without a background or interest in criminal law, because of the depth of insight and practical wisdom it offers; learning that cannot be replicated in a classroom and is shaped by working with clients every day on the ground. Through this experience, I learned what it truly means to hold space for clients, to work on files with deeply personal and complex stories, and to practice law in a genuinely client-centred way. Those skills transcend criminal law and are fundamental to good lawyering.

I learned that practising law in northern Manitoba means understanding that law does not exist in isolation from community. Legal issues extend beyond individuals and affect families and networks, and effective advocacy requires humility and an understanding of local history, culture, and community dynamics, not just legal knowledge.

I also learned that collaboration is essential. Geographic distance and limited resources make justice a shared effort among legal teams, community justice workers, Elders, service providers, and local leaders. No one practises alone, and justice is achieved collectively. Central to this work is relationship-building and co-creation with clients, particularly in Indigenous communities. Listening deeply, respecting lived experience, and allowing clients’ stories to shape legal strategy transforms clients into partners and builds trust where legal institutions have often fallen short.

Finally, I learned that problem-solving in the North is community-based and often grounded in restorative and culturally informed approaches. Practising in this context reshaped my understanding of advocacy, instilling humility, adaptability, and a commitment to service rooted in collaboration and respect.

In addition, I was able to learn things about myself that I otherwise would not have learned had I taken part in this externship. This externship transformed the way I see and create art. Being immersed in remote landscapes and working closely with Indigenous communities exposed me to stories, and perspectives I’d never encountered before. Through the sharing circles I sat in, the stories shared by Elders, and the circuit communities I came to know, people in band offices and members of the local population who grew to know me by name, I learned to notice the subtle textures of human experience. These encounters taught me patience, focus, and a willingness to experiment, qualities that now inform every painting I make and have made my art more honest, nuanced, and alive.

By Faculty of Law