Karina Vandenhoven
2025 Second-Year Summer Class, Toronto
Karina’s ability to question different viewpoints and understand varying perspectives will be essential to her law career.
While she has an interest in commercial litigation, Karina is excited to explore different practice areas and industries which will allow her to develop both existing and new skills.
She was awarded Best Delegate, Harvard National Model United Nations, February 2023 and Best Delegate, Columbia Model United Nations, September 2021.
Would you rather live in the ocean or on the moon?
Definitely the moon. I find the fact that only 5% of the world’s ocean has been explored deeply unsettling. If Finding Nemo is any indicator, I would rather take my chances with aliens than the terrifying creatures that live in the depths of the ocean. Besides, space travel will soon be very commonplace and routine, which would make it easy to visit home. From a career standpoint, we will also need some laws to govern how to deal with inter-planetary disputes.
What are you most looking forward to during your time at Davies?
I am most looking forward to meeting the other students and lawyers at the firm. Everyone I have met has been so friendly and welcoming, so I cannot wait to get acquainted with life in practice. One of my favourite things about Davies is that it really feels like a tight-knit community of advocates at the top of their game, and I cannot wait to join that community!
Is there a skill you would like to learn?
I would love to learn how computers work in terms of both their software and hardware. My brother is a software engineer, and it is difficult to conceptualize what he does on a day-to-day basis. As technology continues to innovate, lawyers will need to know how to respond to these advancements, both as it relates to understanding clients’ work and its incorporation into practice. My laptop also has the propensity to break in some way throughout a semester, and I would love to be able to identify and fix the problem myself.