A long journey that began in Bancroft and led through years of schooling, exams and hands-on training has reached an important milestone for Jackson Wiltshire.
The newest lawyer at MKC Law recently officially joined the profession after being called to the bar, a moment he describes as "lawyer graduation."
"It's just like a normal graduation," Wiltshire said. "I walk across the stage, turn, wave to my parents and my grandma, and then I'm a lawyer."
While becoming a lawyer often sounds dramatic in television shows and movies, Wiltshire says the reality is a lot less glamorous and a lot more work.
The process involved earning his degree, completing his exams and articling, which is essentially a placement where law graduates gain practical experience before entering the profession.
For Wiltshire, the road to becoming a lawyer has been anything but short.
After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the dual degree law program offered through Trent University and Swansea University. The educational portion of the journey took six years to complete.
After graduating, however, he took a different path before stepping into the legal profession.
Wiltshire spent two years working at a local church in Peterborough, pursuing something he was passionate about before returning to law and beginning the final stages of becoming a lawyer.
He then spent about a year writing his exams and completing his placement at MKC Law.
Altogether, it was roughly seven years of work spread over nearly a decade.
Despite the lengthy process, Wiltshire says becoming a lawyer wasn't something he had dreamed about from childhood.
"Pretty much as soon as I knew I wasn't going to make the NHL, I had to look for alternatives," he joked.
He said the turning point came when he was accepted into the Trent-Swansea dual degree program.
"As soon as I was in that program, I really enjoyed it," he said. "There was a clear path forward, and I never had a reason to not do it."
The journey also brought him back to a city that already felt like home.
Born in Peterborough and raised in Bancroft, Wiltshire moved to the city when he started university. Today, his family also lives in Peterborough, making the opportunity to build his career here even more meaningful.
"It's good to be in Peterborough practicing, working and being close to them," he said.
Finding a place to begin that career didn't take long.
After asking around the community, Wiltshire repeatedly heard the same thing about MKC Law: it had a strong reputation and was a great place to work.
So he decided to introduce himself.
"I just walked in here one day and I spoke to Ian, and we had a conversation," he said. "It was a good fit."
That first impression worked both ways.
Managing partner Ian Keay says bringing someone into the firm involves much more than reviewing credentials.
"We don't just let anybody in," Keay said with a laugh.
Beyond enthusiasm and academic achievements, the firm's first question was simple: what kind of person is he?
"Is he a nice person? Is he someone that we can spend our work days with?" Keay said. "We'll probably end up spending more time with Jackson than we do with our spouses."
The answer, he said, was an easy one.
Over the past year, Keay and fellow lawyer Oliver have watched Wiltshire make the transition from student to practicing lawyer.
"You start off knowing how to be a law student, but not knowing how to be a lawyer," Keay said. "I've watched him progress and apply the skills that he's learned in law school in order to start becoming a confident and capable lawyer."
Keay says the firm's lawyers remember what those early days felt like and are excited to help guide the next generation of legal professionals.
"We're very excited for Jackson," he said.
As for Wiltshire, the title may have changed, but his focus hasn't.
He plans to continue building his career in Peterborough while contributing to the community that has supported him along the way.
He hopes to work in areas including real estate, family law, civil litigation, estates and wills, while continuing to learn from the experienced lawyers around him.
"The goal is to keep working here, keep building on the good reputation that MKC has and contribute to Peterborough and the community," he said.
For Peterborough's newest lawyer, being called to the bar isn't the end of the journey.
It's simply the next chapter, and one he's happy to be writing close to home.
