Before the law

This is a feature from the summer 2012 Concordia University Magazine on alumni who have careers in law

Concordia University does not have a law school. Yet that hasn’t stopped countless graduates from following their Concordia education with a law degree (or two or three) and a successful career.

The long list of Concordia alumni-lawyers includes former Supreme Court of Canada Justice John Major, BComm 53, LLD 03, Jacques Tetrault, BA 51, founding partner of McCarthy Tetrault in Montreal, and Richard Pound, BA 63, LLD 10, former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

We introduce you to seven diverse Concordia and law-school graduates who’ve chosen atypical career paths.

Power couple
Pierrette Sévigny, BA 67, and Richard McConomy, BA 66
This husband and wife team have had very full legal careers since they first met at Loyola College in 1964. 

Promoting Human Rights
Erica Bach, BA 99
Bach, who studied creative writing at Concordia, earned a bachelor of law and a master's in global law.

Literary lawyer
Jim Smith, MA 81
This civil litigator has found time to succeed both behind the bar and as a poet. 

Poetic legacy
Alana Klein, BA 97
Klein translated her psychology background into a fruitful career in legal scholarship. 

Revitalizing aboriginal law
Martha Montour, BA 83
A Concordia student, Montour now has her own practice in Kahnawake, specializing in family, civil and commercial mediation. 

Thinking creatively about law
Mara Verna, BFA 98
Career evolution is front and centre for Mara Verna who has established her reputation as conceptual artist, fashion designer, and now practicing lawyer.