Nana Adjei-Poku; enhancing our legal knowledge

BY NANA ADJEI-POKU

I realize that there is a need for legal education here in Canada. I am a licensed paralegal in the Province of Ontario, and I am also the founder and currently sole practitioner of Infordus Legal Services. I would like to share a bit about me with you.

In 2001, after a two-year program at Humber College, I obtained my Legal Office Administration Certificate.  Shortly after, I secured my first legal position working in the Legal Department of one of Canada’s top four financial institutions, TD Bank Financial Group. I worked directly for the Associate Vice President of Litigation at that time. This was the role that officially exposed me to the “legal world” from an in-house perspective.

I worked in that role and learned a lot about how a financial institution operates from the legal standpoint.  I found that after a couple of years, I was seeking a challenge and wanted more legal exposure. I applied and then secured a position as a legal assistant in one of the top Bay Street Toronto law firms, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.  I worked directly for a partner and a law clerk in the Health Law (Medical Malpractice) and Insurance Defence practice groups.  Working in this capacity opened my eyes.

I wanted to become more independent so in 2005, I enrolled in Sheridan College’s Law Clerk Certificate course. This was a two-year course and was only taught at night so I would work downtown during business hours and then commute back home to Mississauga, pick up my four young sons from daycare and the babysitter, drop them to my mother’s house in Brampton and then jet to night school until 10:00 p.m.  This routine became my life for the years to follow.

In 2007, I officially became a law clerk. Working as a law clerk allowed me to be more independent with my work, review files and problem solve on my own and come up with suitable resolutions for my files. I typically carried over 100 files at any given time.  I loved working in this role. I have always wanted to become a lawyer and being able to run my own files and make senior decisions felt good.  I specialized in Health Law (medical malpractice), Insurance Defence, Civil Litigation and Plaintiff Personal Injury.  I worked in this capacity for 10 years before, going to back to school, yet again, and becoming a licensed paralegal in 2017.

In 2018, I was working for the Ministry of Attorney General – Crown Law Office and then the Hamilton Criminal, Civil and Family Courts.  I told myself in the Summer of 2019 that “I believe I have learned all I can in my capacity in the public/private sector for the past 17 years; it’s time to take this knowledge and apply it on my own.”  I made the big decision to start my own business on a full-time basis in August 2019.

Infordus Legal Services specializes in the following areas: Immigration Law (Immigration and Refugee Board matters only), Small Claims Court matters, Landlord and Tenant Tribunal matters, Provincial Offences Act and Highway Traffic Act matters, Human Rights Tribunal matters, Criminal Law (Summary offences only) and Records Suspensions and US Waivers.

As of 2020, I am halfway through completion of my immigration consultant license and expecting to be licensed come the fall.  It is still my intention and goal to enroll and complete my law degree in the next couple of years.

If you don’t find me in the courtroom or tribunal in the GTA, you will definitely find me enhancing my knowledge by keeping up with the current legal and social justice news in Canada as it affects all of us. We need more people to inform and educate about what is going on around us. I am looking forward to giving back to my community by sharing issues of legal importance.