Family Law Assistant (HZ Law Professional Corporation)

Yes, you heard right. I got my feet into family law while still studying towards my LL.M .

I did what every articling student or assistant would do:

Legal research? ✔️

Form filling? ✔️

Document filing? ✔️

Courtroom assistance? ✔️

Client interviews? ✔️

Prenuptial and separation agreements? ✔️

My most memorable case?

I don’t have one—because I genuinely loved all the clients equally.

Why the change? ✉️Contact me to find out

Legal Counsel

Good match? Yes. I loved the job and my colleagues.

Cross-border payment flows? ✔️ Learned.

Contracts? ✔️ Too many to count—commercial, partnership, employment.

Contract negotiation? ✔️ Too many late-night calls to remember.

Financial compliance? ✔️ Learned.

Money transmitter license? ✔️ Learned and applied for one !

Why did I leave? I still ask myself that sometimes. But I knew I wanted to live in North America. So when I got an offer from the University of Ottawa, I couldn’t let it go.

Corporate Counsel?

What was I doing between March and June? I was interning at Dentons (Shanghai)!

My boss at U&I was charismatic, ambitious, and always thinking ten steps ahead. I was learning on the go, trying to keep up—and loving it.

Contract drafting? ✔️ I could do that.

Offshore corporate structure design? ✔️ I learned how.

Private fund documentation? ✔️ Learned that too.

Taxation? ❌ Nope—still a mystery to me.

Was it a good match?

Probably not. It was too early for me to take the lead. But it was intense, eye-opening, and exactly what I needed at the time.

My journey to becoming qualified

Best time of my life!

I used to jog from 6:30 am to 9:00 am, grab a coffee around 11:00 am, and then dive straight into studying until 11:00 pm. I was learning something new every day, got into great shape, and my skin was glowing!

I felt confident I’d pass—honestly, I thought if I couldn’t, most people wouldn’t. And I did: scored a 302 on my first try!

Tips for those still studying:

Use Themis + Adaptibar
Listen to podcasts for MEE (great for passive learning)
And please handwrite your answers for MEE practice. You'll thank yourself later!

My first job - In-house Paralegal

Got a message from PPPoker’s HR right after I graduated from the University of Kent in 2019. I was playing poker for fun back then, so when I saw the job was literally at a poker platform, I took it as a sign and jumped in. Interviews felt like tournament rounds—nerve-wracking but kinda fun. I got the offer by November.

Loved the job. Loved the team. My supervisor? Best mentor I’ve ever had. He’s still the benchmark I measure all mentorship against.

Did way more than I thought I would—sure, regular paralegal stuff—but also onboarding new hires and running internal trainings. Turns out I love teaching. Talking legal concepts in front of a group with a PowerPoint? Weirdly satisfying.

Then COVID hit. Absolute chaos. My supervisor and I pulled all-nighters rewriting contracts, issuing emergency updates, and using force majeure clauses we’d barely touched before. I learned fast. Sink or swim kind of fast.

By May 2020, my role started phasing out—I couldn’t work on-site with my supervisor anymore, and remote just wasn’t the same. But honestly? That stretch taught me more than any textbook ever could.