Mentor Lawyer Profiles - Tersha de Koning
The Blazing Trails Mentorship Program (“BTMP”) is a mentorship program available to all law students in Canada. It helps law students connect with lawyers passionate about social justice-oriented careers. This summer, Level is highlighting some of its BTMP mentor lawyers to find out what made them pursue social justice in the first place. Today, we proudly profile lawyer Tersha de Koning.
What made you follow a social justice centered career as a lawyer and would you recommend it to law students who hope to do the same?
I’ve always been interested in issues that have fallen within the ambit of criminal law, constitutional law, and human rights law and, soon into law school, it became obvious that those were the only areas in which I would be interested in working. And although I didn’t actively and self-consciously choose to work in a social justice centered career, the legal areas I have chosen to work in (and increasingly choose to work in) lend themselves to that sort of career, and I am certainly not displeased about that. As to whether I would recommend such a career to law students: absolutely! Such a career - and particularly criminal, constitutional, and human rights law - are rich in moral and intellectual ideas, allow you to help hurting people, and allow you to make meaningful differences in the world, all of which can be fulfilling and rewarding. So, if it’s something you’re interested in doing, it’s worth doing.
What is your favorite memory of your time as an advocate?
I worked at Innocence Canada for a little less than a year before I matriculated into an LLM program at the University of Toronto. In that year, I had the opportunity of working exclusively on historical and contemporary homicide cases (typically, first- and second-degree murder cases) that had exhausted appeals at their provincial appellate courts and, often, the Supreme Court of Canada. I reviewed wrongful conviction claims and, where applicable, assisted in the litigation of those claims. I also assisted with public policy and education initiatives, including supervising law students. All of this was a thrill, but a particular thrill was the opportunity I had to work on written submissions that were submitted to the Minister of Justice on behalf of a Innocence Canada client who the organization believed to have been wrongfully convicted. This case, regarded as one of the first Mr. Big sting cases in Canada, involved a missing victim who was presumed dead and a client, a presumed perpetrator, who had been in prison for over 30 years. The document we submitted to the Minister of Justice took several months to research and write, was over a 100 pages long, canvassed a number of factual and legal issues, and required both substantive and stylistic effort at an individual and team level. Although the ruling on the case is still forthcoming, the work my team and I did on the case makes me so proud!
What is your favorite part of mentoring law students in the Blazing Trails Mentorship Program?
I am grateful for the opportunity to be a mentor in this program. While I find it fulfilling to provide support and guidance, I learn so much from the students and am always inspired by their talents and ambitions. My favourite part of mentorship is observing mentees develop confidence in their own stories, their unique strengths, and in their own definitions of success as future lawyers and leaders. Every student in this program is impact driven and we should all look forward to seeing where they go from here.
BTMP will begin accepting mentee applications in September 2025. To stay informed, please sign up for our newsletter or follow us on social media (@leveljustice).
