My name is Jeremy Robert Costin, and I live with my wife in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood. Our neighbourhood is home to the wonderful shopping and restaurants of West Broadway, West 4th Avenue, and Arbutus Street; but most noted for the famous Kitsilano Beach, which faces the West End of downtown across English Bay.
I work in the historical Marine Building downtown, out of a north-facing office that, until the completion of the Fairmont Pacific Rim residence, will continue to have a spectacular view of the Burrard Inlet and the North Shore.
That office with the prized view is the training office of LexisNexis Canada’s western headquarters. I train judges, lawyers, articling students, paralegals, and other legal professionals in LexisNexis’ research products, such as Quicklaw, Lexis.com, etc.I recently graduated from the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Law with an LL.B., having focused on information technology, entertainment, and business law. I prepared substantial essays in intellectual property; media, entertainment, and Internet regulation; and advanced business transactions. I also presented several papers on legal philosophy. My work earned me letters of recommendation from Professors Jon Festinger, Brock Smith, Steve Wexler, and Joe Weiler (forthcoming).
During law school, I maintained a balanced life: I sustained a decent average while nurturing the relationship that would become my marriage, and also while being an active citizen of the community around me. By the time I graduated, I had published a short story in Esoteric Magazine, volunteered at the Pacific Legal Technology Conference, attended Canadian Bar Association section meetings, volunteered legal assistance to several groups, and become Acting President of the Jewish Law Students’ Association.
I began law school on the heels of completing a B.A. in Honours English, granted summa cum laude by McMaster University. Although I prepared a large volume of work there, it was the challenge of the honours program that brought out the best in me. The Honours Seminars created an environment of academic exploration and intellectual intensity that yielded my three best papers, which had a GPA of 4.0. My favourite of them was an expansion of what Dr. Lorraine York described as “something very intriguing and important with this line of inquiry. Your term ‘liminal lucidity’ captures it perfectly!” The final paper was titled “Liminal Lucidity & Michael Ondaatje”.
It was during my time at McMaster that I also indulged my creative side, beginning a novel that, at this writing, is some 30,000 words long and an ongoing labour of love. During the summer between the two years I spent at McMaster, I came home to Vancouver and reconnected with the wonderful woman who would become my wife.
Before completing my B.A. at McMaster, I worked at Universal Learning Institute Ltd. in Richmond, British Columbia, for three years. ULI is a career college at which I began as a lab facilitator and left as the Curriculum Director and Principal Instructor for the Internet Programming and Web Page Design Diploma Program.
I maintain a colourful life, indulging a wide range of hobbies outside of my professional life. I love music and literature, and in both cases I am both a consumer and a creator. The same can be said of my fascination with computers and the Internet. In everything I do, as my passion develops, I strive to imagine the possibilities and opportunities; there is nothing in my experience that cannot be considered a canvas, be it the blank page, the law, my guitar, business, or even family.
For a more formal listing of my experience, please feel free to examine my resume.
– Jeremy Costin, November 2007