Goodlawyer Profile: Pauline Chan

Pauline Chan has an interesting history—from being called to the bar to starting Barre West. With undergrad degrees in BComm and a BA, positions in economic research and marketing followed naturally. However, getting a legal education was not always a part of the plan.

In one of her last jobs before law school, Pauline ran an insurance company with her then husband. As they were going through a divorce, her husband fired her. This became a pivotal point, ultimately leading down the path of law. Pauline’s mom, being a legal assistant, informed Pauline that this termination was in fact not legal. After things were sorted out, Pauline began to think of how difficult a similar situation would be for someone who did not have access to the same legal information and help that she had. This thought, along with the realization that other careers had not challenged her, led her to pursue law school. Funny enough, her divorce lawyer who she still keeps in touch with today, became a key mentor in her legal journey.

Following articling, Pauline’s principal told her that he could tell partnership in a big firm was maybe not the best fit, but rather she should pursue something more outside of the box. Hearing this felt right to Pauline, and she often thought about this is a moment when deciding what to do next.  

With a business and economics background, corporate commercial law seemed like a natural fit. For Pauline, the OCI process started long before orientation day at Dalhousie University, and from there she was pulled into summer and articling positions. Although, it wasn’t until she began thinking about starting her own business, that she fully realized what she had been building towards with her undergrad degrees, law degree, and practice experience. 

Then came Barre West.

Barre West was a culmination of several years of planning to exit from practicing law. Near the end of Pauline’s articles, a lawyer had asked her how she still had non-lawyer friends, as you typically can lose a lot due to cancelling plans or trips constantly for work. This question, combined with what Pauline was seeing in the work environment, led to the realization that if she wanted to continue pursuing other interests, like starting a family, or even just a chance at a real work-life balance, traditional law practice was not the right path for her. The initial discovery of barre came as a way of looking to decrease stress from practice, and fitness had always been a big part of her life. Barre was a perfect fit, and after her first class, the love affair was born!

While opening Barre West and still planning to exit law practice, Pauline was contacted by Brett Colvin, co-founder and CEO of Goodlawyer, offering a free advice session for her small business. Having never heard about Goodlawyer, she peeked at their website to learn more. She reached out to Brett for a chat, not needing the legal advice session, but wanting to learn more about the Goodlawyer proposition and practicing as a lawyer on the platform. Their chat led Pauline to join the Goodlawyer team as a solo practitioner. After many years searching for a way to practice law that suited what she wanted, Goodlawyer offered her the ability to have it all— practice law, a family, and a business. For the first time ever, Pauline felt like she was helping people as she had imagined when she started law school. 

Pauline understood long ago that if she didn’t have legal experience, starting and running a business would have been more stressful, anxiety ridden and, in some ways, a disorganized mess with cracks. Being a co-founder of a small business and seeing day-to-day what realities of a start-up look like, is exactly what makes Pauline better able to serve clients at Goodlawyer. She is able to understand entrepreneurs’ motivations, thoughts, and operational issues from a different perspective. She is able to give practical legal and business advice, and solutions to help clients fix problems and avoid future problems. There is no “perfect” legal advice or solution fits all, rather Pauline’s advice is always strongly guided by the client’s needs, wants, concerns, and what she has learned from her own experiences.

From Pauline’s personal experience with Goodlawyer, she believes it is the future of law. Goodlawyer provides a solution for access to law, as this is an issue a lot of individuals and SMEs face. It’s also an incredible opportunity on the practice side for lawyers. Unfortunately, the legal profession, like many others, has systemic barriers that make it tough for individuals from marginalized and racialized communities to succeed.  

Goodlawyer has changed the legal landscape and can be a solution to this problem. Lawyers who would otherwise face credibility, time, experience, and other barriers in creating solo practices, along with the overhead, start-up, and ongoing costs for the business of law, now have the ability to start or grow their practice using the Goodlawyer platform with the click of a button. This is just the beginning, as lawyers now have ongoing administrative, marketing, IT, and customer service support to help develop and build trusted client and advisor relationships. It is clear Goodlawyer is a disruptor to the legal profession and although tech has already changed the profession so much, the tidal wave of change is only beginning.

Having a dreamer mentality, being curious, organized, and planning for possible outcomes—are all traits that Pauline can attribute to her success. Never ending curiosity means to constantly question and wonder about every aspect of a problem and the new paths, which may or may not lead somewhere. But Pauline believes seemingly dead ends can often come back in the form of new opportunities, learning experiences, and lead to gaining deeper knowledge that connects back to the problem. 

“Information is truly power, and the more curious you are, the more information you gather”

Dreamer mentality is a characteristic that Pauline has often been made fun of for, but it’s the first step towards making something real. Once you dream it, get curious about how to get there, then your dreams can begin to become reality.

“One step at a time, some steps backwards, and always pressing on”

There is no way to juggle everything without knowing where you are going and how you plan to get there. Breaking down a plan into smaller steps you take daily or regularly and adjust as you go. Although easier said than done, Pauline believes it is extremely important to ask for help when you need it. We all face challenges, whether it be with work or relationships, and being able to have someone to support you makes facing those challenges a lot easier. 

The toughest obstacles for Pauline throughout her career have been managing self-expectations and maintaining personal physical and mental health. As a lawyer, there is a lot of pressure to do perfect work under major time constraints. Unfortunately, the consequences are not always “just” financial. The consequences can be personal and serious for the client and their family’s physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing. The thought of not having done something perfect, or missed or forgotten something, can always creep in. From strict time commitments to non-arbitrary deadlines that go along with a profession in law, it can be hard to make sure you are taking care of your own personal wellbeing.

General tips about “scheduling your self-care time in advance”, “making it non-negotiable”, “saying no”, “finding self-care activities that work for your needs and your time”. All are great tips. However, the nature of the law profession can make for an awkward fit with these general tips. Reality is… work is demanding and requires long and highly focused hours, deadlines you can’t control, and urgent client matters that require you to drop everything else. And this is only the practice piece. 

She is involved with the community through her childrens’ schools and activities, her neighbourhood, and supports communities and organizations that her friends, family, and clients are involved in. The juggle of being an entrepreneur, lawyer, and a parent to two young boys, is so fulfilling but exceptionally difficult, so it’s critical to find efficiencies whenever she can. Pauline has learned that balance is something you have to work towards constantly with highs and lows. Pauline’s passions and interests include barre, camping, snowshoeing, travelling, and anything to do with food. Recently, as a way to help her children connect to their Chinese heritage, she cooks traditional recipes from her mom and grandma. 

As both an entrepreneur and lawyer, there’s no one single moment that made Pauline jump up and shout “I did it, I’ve arrived!”. You don’t become an entrepreneur or lawyer overnight, it’s a series of steps forwards, backwards, sideways, over a much longer period of time than most think or expect. The journey isn’t a straight line and being adaptable has been a huge strength of Pauline’s. Looking back, Pauline feels like her journey has very much been a maze with multiple doors in and out, around and through, with dead ends and new corridors. Every piece of the journey has brought her to where she is today and has informed future decisions. 

Above all, it’s important to not lose sight of your personal goals, wants, needs, and give yourself the flexibility to change as the journey unfolds.

As young entrepreneurs and lawyers, doing your due diligence and sticking to what you know is a must! Start with yourself. Know who you are, what you want, need, love, hate. Get curious about what is out there that suits what you know about yourself. Some may be inclined for the traditional law practice, others something completely opposite, and some in between. Whatever it is, just pick what is right for you and be willing to change if doesn’t end up being a right fit. 

“If you can’t find what suits you, build it or find someone who can help you build it”

A legal education teaches you how to approach and break down problems so you can find ways to solve them. Those same skills can be used to solve personal problems of how, where, when, and what you want to do whether it’s in law or as an entrepreneur, or both!