The strength of Kent Law School’s ongoing links with its alumni in Canada led to a summer of work experience and an articling placement for Mark Lauriola who is now employed at the offices of Law School alumna Sarita Samaroo-Tsaktsiris in Toronto.

Both Mark and Sarita studied the Law School’s two-year Senior Status LLB; Mark graduated from Kent in 2016 and Sarita graduated in 2005. Sarita is now Principal of her own real estate law firm, SST Law Professional Corporation, and Mark is her first articling student.

Mark first applied for a summer of work experience at Sarita’s firm during his studies at Kent thanks to the support of the Law School’s dedicated Employability and Career Development Officer Jayne Instone. Jayne’s weekly bulletins detail placement and networking opportunities at home and abroad for the diverse international student body at Kent.

Mark said: ‘In the second half of my first year at Kent I began to become familiar with how Canadian firms did their hiring and tried to build a network through the research. In the meantime, Jayne was constantly sending emails to facilitate networking to former Kent students. This made it easier to meet Canadian lawyers who previously attended Kent Law School.’

Mark is keen to encourage other Canadian students who are studying their law degrees in the UK and hoping to practice law in Canada: ‘In all honesty, there will be hurdles but it is possible to overcome those and you can do it. Try hard to get your first opportunity wherever in Canada and go from there. Any experience is good experience. With some luck you’ll be fine. I’m always happy to help Canadian Kent Students, especially in Ontario if they have any further questions on this.’