Lindsay Dixon, called to the Ontario bar in June has joined the offices of Phillips Miller. A Fort Frances native, Dixon returns home following her legal studies at the University of Windsor, in southern Ontario.
Taking advantage of a special program at the University of Windsor, Dixon was able to study both Canadian and American law at the same time.
When I graduated high school, I moved away down to Southern Ontario and did seven years of school three of which were in law school. So did my undergrad for four years (at Trent University) and then three years of law school,” Dixon said. “I attended the University of Windsor. They have a dual program where you can get your law degree in Canada and the United States. So I did that program, and then after you graduate Canadian law school, you have to work for a year. It’s called articling.”
After school Dixon did her articling in Toronto, but big city life wasn’t for her so she applied for the job with Phillips Miller
“So I did my articling placement in downtown Toronto at the Canadian Environmental Law Association. It’s a legal aid clinic,” she said. “After living in Toronto for a year, I honestly did not like the city, and I wanted to move back up home, so that’s what brought me to Phillips Miller law office.”
Dixon said that she got into law when she didn’t know what to pursue after completing her undergraduate degree in International Development Studies. She opted to pursue law because she had a desire to help people.
“I just knew I wanted to do something helping the public,” she said. “When it was time for me to graduate from my undergrad I didn’t really know what to do and that was when COVID hit too, and I felt like I wasn’t done being a student yet, so I thought I might as well keep going to school for another three years.”
Dixon came back to Fort Frances when another law student pointed out the job ad to her.
While I was articling in Toronto, one of my friends who I was working with at the time, attended Lakehead, and I saw that Mr. Phillips had sent over a job ad to Lakehead law school,” She said. “So my friend showed it to me and was like, ‘oh my god, there’s a job in Fort Frances.’ I had never imagined coming back to Fort Frances to work, because I didn’t know if there were any jobs available. So after I saw this, I immediately put in my cover letter and resume to Nicole and got hired back in the spring, and then we were both kind of just waiting for me to finish my articling placement in Toronto.”
She says she was happy to find a job as quickly as she did.
“I have a lot of friends who are still struggling to find jobs in southern Ontario, I think there’s a push for lawyers in northern Ontario,” she said.
Dixon is available to work in a variety of legal areas, she is available in family and criminal law, and can work as a legal aid lawyer. She also does work in the estate planning and real estate fields.
In the future Dixon is also hoping to take her practice across the river.
“It’s kind of weird not being a student anymore with like, exams and like, always looking for the next big test that I have to write, but because I did the dual program at Windsor in Detroit, I have my US law degree, so I’m thinking about writing the Minnesota bar so I can practice law in International Falls as well.”
Phillips Miller doesn’t currently have anyone practicing in the US but they do maintain a US address, so she would be able to practice under their banner in Minnesota as well. While there are some similarities there are also differences and Dixon says she’d need to study a bit to pass the Minnesota state bar exam.
“I think they only offer the test in February or July of each year and February is a bit close,” she said. “I’ll maybe aim for July, just to give myself a few extra months to study and get back in the groove.”
In her spare time Dixon is now trying to pick back up some hobbies from before school.
“I’ve recently been trying to pick up some hobbies since finishing law school, because I didn’t really have time to do anything,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll do it this year, but I’m hoping to start getting back into hockey again. I played with the Fort Frances Girls and Women’s Hockey Association pretty much all my life.”
Anyone interested in availing of Lindsay Dixon’s legal services can contact her by phone at (807) 274-8525 or by email lindsay@millerlawoffice.com
