Often our career follows a very windy path. Despite an early interest in law, Allard Law alum Melanie Ash (LLB ’96) questioned her career choices many times along the way. Today, she has figured out exactly where she needs to be.
Ash, who grew up in Kamloops, BC, first became interested in the law in a high school law class. “I just really got into the way in which law and policy intersects and leads to the ability to make arguments,” she says. “I read a lot about the Civil Rights Movement in the US, and I appreciated the way that law can be used as a tool for social justice.”
As a law student at UBC, Ash sought out mentors who continued to spark her interest. She fondly recalls Marlee Kline and Joel Bakan, as well Nitya Iyer, who was just recently appointed to the BC Court of Appeal. “When I was at law school there was no critical race theory class and that was something I really wanted to study. Professor Iyer agreed to set up a self-directed class where a group of 8-10 students collectively studied various issues of race and the law.”
After clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada, passing the bar, and articling at Arvay Finlay in Victoria, Ash went to the US to complete an LLM at Columbia. Having fallen in love with New York during that time, she began looking for work locally. Though teaching was an option she was considering, she wanted to spend some time practicing before committing to an academic career path.
“I ended up doing litigation for four years at a big New York law firm,” says Ash. “I had a great experience, but I had never thought that private practice was really where I wanted to be. I just didn't see a big corporate firm as being my end goal.” While Ash learned plenty, she lamented not getting firsthand court experience. “You're researching, you're writing a research memo or a brief, and then you kind of just hand it off to someone and they do the rest and you never actually get to argue something in court as an associate,” she notes.
This was a turning point for Ash. She decided to explore a career in public service, which would allow her to see a case through from beginning to end, figure out if she liked litigation, and, she hoped, find meaning in her work. That led her to the New York City Law Department. “The government doesn't have the money to staff things as extensively as big firms, so you really get the opportunity to be the lead lawyer and go to court to argue it from start to finish,” says Ash. “You get to write it, file it, and then you argue the motion in front of the judge and you know it's your case.”
A few years later, she returned to Canada to be closer to family, and ended up working with another big firm. After a few years, Ash made an appointment with a career counsellor at the Law Society. She told the counsellor she felt like she was floundering.
“I remember them saying, ‘a lot of times, lawyers come in here and we say quit law immediately, you're in the wrong profession. You're the exact opposite. I look at your personality test results, and you're exactly what you should be,’” Ash recalls. The counsellor told Ash she was “a lawyer through and through” – absolutely in the right profession. What she needed was a job where her skills and abilities corresponded with her values. “I was like, ‘yes, that's exactly right. I'm not fulfilled by doing this work.’”
Ash realized that it was working in the public interest, for marginalized groups, and for the betterment of society in a broader sense that energized her – not just working for the betterment of a company. “It was a useful experience to go through,” she adds. That led her to return to New York City.
In 2012, Ash rejoined the Affirmative Litigation Division at the New York City Law Department. After a brief secondment with the NYC Racial Justice Commission, where she was responsible for overseeing the development of policy recommendations to address structural racism in New York, she returned to the New York City Law Department in 2022 as Deputy Chief of the Affirmative Litigation Division, the position she holds today.
Ash also finds fulfillment in other ways. In 2020-21, Ash participated in the Public Rights Project as an Affirmative Leaders Fellow, a program aimed at empowering local government officials to use the law to advance civil rights and democracy. She also serves as the Co-Chair of the Fifth Avenue Committee Board of Directors, a non-profit community development corporation seeking to advance social and economic justice in South Brooklyn.
In 2022, the Allard Law Alumni Association recognized Ash’s significant accomplishments and contributions to promoting justice by awarding her an Allard Law Alumni Award of Distinction. When asked about what advice she would give her younger self, Ash thought back to the isolating feeling of being the only Black student in her class and feeling like she didn’t belong. Law school and the legal community can be intimidating, she says, especially when you’re unsure of the path you should follow.
“I would tell my younger self to just be confident. To be confident that you belong in this space as much as anyone else and not to sell yourself short or question your role or your ability and your right to be in the space.”
A couple quick questions with Melanie Ash:
What is your favorite thing about living in New York City?
The energy. It’s just bustling. It' s fast. Very lively. And you can find anything at any time of the day or night.
What do you miss most about Canada?
The physical splendor. The air. The outdoors. The ocean. The mountains. It' s just... it takes your breath away.
What' s your go-to Tim Hortons order?
Well, I’m a bit of a tea granny. It's a steeped tea. Which they don' t do at Dunkin'. Or anywhere else.