Jim Cunningham is a shining example of how following your passion can lead to the most fulfilling kind of success.
Law students like Jim come from a variety of backgrounds. Some are fresh from an undergraduate degree, others from a Masters program or a year or two of work experience, and some come after a 鈥榝irst career.鈥� The latter group often hopes to use their experience to inform their legal practice, but for Jim it鈥檚 the other way around. 聽
Jim鈥檚 background is in the music industry. Specifically, he鈥檚 been a tour manager for acts including In-Flight Safety, Royal Wood, Jill Barber, and Dan Mangan, and has learned from some of the industry鈥檚 future leaders. Touring throughout Canada, the United States and Europe, Jim learned valuable lessons about prioritization, loyalty, and recognizing what isn鈥檛 worth worrying about.
鈥淭here are a lot of things going on and you鈥檙e responsible to a lot of people,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚 used the same logic in dealing with law school: I didn鈥檛 want to worry about its more normative elements. I did my best to refuse the idea that I should be stressed about something because everyone else was.鈥�
Jim sees the ability to practice law as a unique value-added service which he can offer in a future artist management role, giving him the ability to create a unique in-house counsel-like position for his clients. 鈥淚 want to be able to put my money where my mouth is,鈥� as he puts it.
From touring to torts
It seems only fitting that Jim was on tour when he found out he would be attending Dal. It鈥檚 a story Jim tells with both pride and confidence, secure that both he and the Schulich School of Law made the correct decision.
Sitting in a Halifax airport terminal following a one-shot 47-hour solo drive from Texas to Halifax, he got a call from his twin brother in Moncton. 鈥淗e told me there was a big envelope from the University of Ottawa at home and I was certain that was it: all the acceptances were out and I wasn鈥檛 going to get into Dal 鈥� again.鈥�
鈥淚 was waiting to fly to Frankfurt for a new tour, and I decided Dal just had to let me in because my experience warranted it.鈥� He wasn鈥檛 wrong. Before boarding his flight, Jim sent a final, impassioned e-mail plea to the Schulich School of Law鈥檚 Admissions Office.
鈥淲hen I landed in Frankfurt, I was so drained after the drive and the plane. I turned on my phone, incurred the 40 Euros in roaming charges, and there it was: the email that said I was in after all, and that the offer package would be there when I got home. It was vindicating.鈥�
Making a difference
Dal was Jim鈥檚 top choice for law school because of the respect he has for the Legal Aid Clinic and the staff who make it work. For Jim, working at the clinic was validating 鈥� getting to see his hard work met with some tangible success, both, academically and in the movement toward the resolution of his clients鈥� problems.
With all the hard work that Jim has put in to building his career, he is quick to acknowledge some guiding lights. 鈥淢y brothers, mother and father have been huge,鈥� he acknowledges.
He also credits the greatest inspiration to Paul Gourlie, one of Canada鈥檚 great musical agents who gave valuable mentorship and the fundamentals of a real professional personality.
Jim will article with a boutique corporate/ commercial firm in his hometown of Moncton, New Brunswick.