Gina Murray, '19 JD, was three days away from giving birth as she hustled to get her application in for a clerkship to the Supreme Court of Canada. Then it got crazier.
"My daughter was premature and required a five-week NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) stay," she says. "I had submitted my application just before her arrival and then completed all of my writing sample editing and interview prep from the NICU."
Baby Elowyn was discharged from hospital a few days before Murray flew to Ottawa in January for the job interview. In March, Murray learned she's earned a clerkship at the Supreme Court of Canada with the Hon. Russell Brown in 2020-2021.
Her success makes Murray the fourth University of Alberta Faculty of Law graduating student in three years to be selected to clerk with one of the Supreme Court of Canada's nine judges.
Ashton Menuz, '17 JD, clerked for Justice Brown in 2018-2019. Brandyn Rodgerson, '17 JD, and bronze medal winner Dylan Gibbs, '18 JD, will start their clerkships for the 2019-2020 term, this fall.
Murray was an intensive care nurse for eight and a half years before law school. For the first year and a half of school she volunteered with Student Legal Services and the Edmonton Community Legal Centre. Later, she was an editor and secretary for the Alberta Law Review.
"I think my past career gives me a different point of view on the world and that, coupled with my successes in my law degree while starting my family, may have made my (clerkship) application stand out among my peers," says Murray. "I've been involved in situations that are life and death."
With a first child born during her second year of law, she's also a master of juggling many responsibilities on three hours' sleep. Luckily, her husband, Brian, her mother and friends from nursing provided strong support at crucial moments, such as when both Murray and her son had H1N1 during her final exams.
"I like to joke that my career was sponsored by Red Bull, but sadly I don't think they consider law school-withchildren an Extreme Sport."