Julia Pennock

I am an articling student at Strategic Criminal Defence, a full-service criminal defence law office, with central offices across Western Canada and Ontario.

The legal system is complex and can feel impossible to navigate. My involvement and experiences in law school have both provided a well-grounded foundation for me to understand the system and solidified my commitment to promoting my client’s best interest throughout the entire legal process.

I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Calgary in Psychology. During my undergraduate degree, I took various courses related to criminal justice and criminality, which inspired my interest in working in the legal profession. After completing my undergraduate degree, I wasted no time and began my law degree at the University of Calgary the following Fall.

In law school, I took several classes focused specifically on criminal law. In particular, I was given the opportunity to participate in the Gale Moot Cup, Canada’s premier bilingual law-school mooting competition in criminal appellate advocacy. I also tutored first year students on various criminal defences, helping solidify my understanding of how these defences function.

In law school, I became heavily involved in Student Legal Assistance (SLA), a pro-bono legal clinic that provides legal information and representation to low-income residents of Calgary and surrounding areas. I volunteered at SLA throughout law school and worked at the clinic for two summers during my degree. During this time, I was able to prepare and conduct several criminal trials, represent numerous clients in court, and prepare and submit multiple proposals and Charter Notices to the Crown Prosecution. I also served in leadership roles during my second and third years, where I was responsible for monitoring and assisting other student caseworkers with their various matters.

I was appointed as Early Case Resolution Coordinator with SLA in my second year of law school. In this role, I was entrusted to mentor student caseworkers and coordinate the submission of their proposals to the Crown. I was then appointed as Marketing Coordinator with SLA in my third year of law school. In this role, I worked to promote SLA to low-income Calgarians and increased our social media presence. I also strived to increase our membership levels. Through my efforts, SLA saw a significant increase in the number of student caseworkers during this time.

During my second and third year of law school, I was selected as the student within my law school year who demonstrated a high level of commitment to SLA, and who has worked on challenging files. I was also awarded the Murray and Anne Fraser Advocacy Award during my second year based on academic merit and my significant contributions to the organization.

During law school, I also worked part-time to review criminal disclosure for a large defence firm in Calgary. This exposed me to more complex files and helped me improve my ability to spot legal issues that could assist in forming a well-thought through defence for various clients. I also worked with Strategic Criminal Defence, where I prepared blog posts about various Criminal Code offences and helped coordinate social media posts.

I am committed to giving my all in everything I am involved with. With the combination of my experiences from law school and the guidance from several experienced criminal defence lawyers during my articling period, I have the tools to put my clients’ needs first and to do my best to help them reach their desired outcomes.