MAHCP has been lucky. Very lucky, indeed. Blaine Speck, an articling student, has been with our team since June 2023, working under the mentorship of experienced staff lawyer, Jacob (Jake) Giesbrecht.
“When I was young, I knew I wanted to go into something where I could help people, like medicine or a CSI, maybe,” said Blaine. “Unfortunately, science did not suit me, so I had to pivot in high school.”
Blaine completed his first two years of law school at UM’s Robson Hall online during the height of the pandemic. “I literally only met my classmates in person for the first time at the start of year three.”
During his time with MAHCP, Blaine has been researching precedent, digging into collective agreements, and offering interpretations on clauses, as the majority of our members begin to live out their recently ratified collective agreements (July 2023).
“It has been great to have Blaine here,” said Jake, who joined MAHCP in 2012. “He is a very proficient legal researcher. He has a quick grasp of the legal issues involved in most of the legal questions we deal with, and he is a very good writer. Plus, he has a positive attitude and a great sense of humour.”
According to Blaine, who did his undergraduate degree in Political Science at Ontario’s University of Waterloo during the fascinating era of Donald Trump’s U.S. presidency, employment law suits him.
“I find labour law challenging and interesting, and I could practice for either side: employers or unions. When you go through law school, you have to take constitutional law – I did NOT like that at all – as well as family law, real estate, corporate and criminal. Many of my classmates jumped at articling opportunities with private firms and some of them already knew lawyers who planned to take them on. When I saw the MAHCP articling opportunity, it jumped right to the top of my list.”
Blaine says the next step for him will be the call to the bar in Manitoba, which unlike other jurisdictions, doesn’t include a harrowing exam.
“In Manitoba, in order to be called to the bar, law grads must article for a year and complete a year of course work, which culminates in a week-long capstone project. This serves as a larger demonstration of our knowledge. Once I complete that successfully, I can practice as a lawyer!”
Blaine loves sports of all kinds, and played high level, competitive hockey until university. Growing up, he also dabbled in basketball, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, football and volleyball, and has recently taken up taunting MAHCP’s diehard Winnipeg Jets fans with his light-blue Toronto Maple Leafs jersey.
“I have really been enjoying my time here with this fun and dedicated team, and I have learned so much from Jake,” said Blaine. “I don’t know where I will end up after my articling is complete in June, but MAHCP has been a great experience for me.”
