News

Ian Hanomansing and Nancy Trott will be attending the upcoming annual Law Alumni Reunion Weekend, which takes place Sept. 30 to Oct. 2. Ian will be the guest speaker at the East Coast Lawbster Party, and both of them will be part of the alumni/student panel discussion.

The couple met at Dalhousie Law School and earned their LLBs in 1986. Since then, Ian has had a wide variety of assignments for CBC as a reporter, anchor and interviewer, and he’s currently a host with CBC News National and a reporter for The National. Nancy is the director of professional resources for McCarthy Tétrault in Vancouver and Calgary, responsible for the professional development of all of the firm’s British Columbia and Alberta associates and students.

We’re thrilled that Ian and Nancy are participating in our Law Alumni Reunion Weekend, and that they’ve shared some memories from their time at law school in the below conversation.

Nancy: In a lot of ways, our law school experience couldn’t have been more different, from our reasons for going to Dal to our career paths after graduation. I’m from Chilliwack, B.C., did my undergrad at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and wanted to live and study in a different part of Canada.

Ian: Driving two and a half hours down the Trans–Canada Highway was about as big a move I was prepared to make, having grown up in Sackville, N.B., and going to Mount Allison. I felt Dal was the perfect combination of a major law school that was close to home. My plan was always to be a journalist. I didn’t realize my parents still quietly clung to the dream of their son being a lawyer until the summer after second year, when I sat them down and had “the talk.”

Nancy: I’ve wanted to be a lawyer since I was seven years old. I loved studying law at Dal and working in the clinic, and I really enjoyed being surrounded by students from across the country.

Ian: OK, here’s a shocking admission: I’m pretty sure I never had more than a passing conversation with anyone from west of Ontario until law school. Dal is where I learned there’s a Canadian city that sometimes goes an entire winter without getting snow.

Nancy: Dalhousie prepared me for enjoyable and challenging practices in both family law and labour and employment law. Having left active practice and after 10 years of working in professional development, I can see the difference that a rigorous, engaging, inspiring legal education can make.

Ian: As a journalist, there are constantly stories with a legal component. Law school has helped me understand those issues and know what questions to ask. And being a Dal grad also lets me casually drop the name of Mr. Justice Thomas Cromwell as “the guy” who brought a toy car to class to teach us about special damages. You wouldn’t believe how many free drinks that story gets me.