9
B
alance. Discipline. Leadership. Advocacy. Empathy. Focus.
Those are the values and skills that third-year law student Dan
Griffin says he is learning in class and that will form the foundation
of his career as a lawyer…in the music business.
Griffin has a head start on that goal: he was a member of Arkells,
the Juno Award-winning indie band that he left temporarily in
October 2011 to attend the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law.
“I thought that pursuing something like a law degree in
particular could really enhance my career,” Griffin says.
Growing up, he was surrounded by the twin influences of law
and music. His father and uncle are partners in a real estate and
mortgage firm in Mississauga, Ont. His father also plays guitar and
his mother sings. Griffin says that his father taught him “you don’t
have to choose between music and law—it’s how to balance the two.”
Realistically, the move from stage to school is one that most
aspiring rock stars would never consider.The band had just
released its second album, “Michigan Left,” and enjoyed a growing
buzz in the wake of its 2010 Juno Award for New Group, earned
for its 2008 debut, “Jackson Square.” A few months after Griffin
left, Arkells claimed a second Juno as 2012 Group of the Year. For
Griffin, however, the decision came down to the desire to take the
skills he had learned in one arena and transfer them to another.
He says that Arkells provided him with a dawning appreciation
of the complexity of the business side of music—dealing with
managers, agents, record labels, and studios. Griffin, who had
also worked summers in his uncle and father’s law firm, began to
realize how a law degree could be a powerful asset.
“I hope to offer something unique to people in the industry: the
credibility of someone who has both a legal and music background.”
Arkells, named after a street in Hamilton, Ont., formed as a
group of McMaster University students who came from different
parts of Ontario. A Mississauga native and keyboardist, Griffin
was considered by many to be a key part of the band’s success. One
newspaper music critic called him, “the musical glue that holds
everything together,” and the group’s “Renaissance man,” who could
play several instruments, sing and compose.
Griffin has recorded both as a member of Arkells and a solo
artist. He released a 2011 solo album, “Leave Your Love”. Available
on iTunes and through his website
, “Leave Your
Love” is a mellower, more introspective work, tinged with folk
writing influences from the likes of Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon,
and Bob Dylan. One song, “Lorne Park”, was used in an episode
of the TV show “Rookie Blue” that aired in June 2013, and the
opening track “Stars and Satellites” was the music of a Canadian
Tire holiday commercial.This past August, he released a new EP,
“Bordertown”, which he says was heavily influenced by his life
in Windsor.
Christopher Waters, who served as associate dean when Griffin
started law school, calls him “an unassuming, friendly guy who dived
into the study of law and worked hard.”Waters says Griffin, “never
gave the impression that he would rather be doing music and was at
law school because it was the ‘sensible’ thing to do.”And yet sensible
is exactly how Griffin pursues life and the opportunities that come
his way.
Griffin says he still enjoys “performing” in front of an audience,
no matter if in concert or courtroom. “I think whether it’s up
on stage or on my own, or even standing up and giving oral
submissions for a moot for a case in school—I get the same sort
of thrill.”
V
The article originally appeared in the Spring 2013 issue of
Canadian Lawyer 4 Students
magazine.
STUDENT PROF I LE
At left: third-year law student Dan Griffin.
BY PAUL RIGGI
“I THINK WHETHER IT’S UP ON STAGE OR ON MY
OWN, OR EVEN STANDING UP AND GIVING ORAL
SUBMISSIONS FOR A MOOT FOR A CASE IN
SCHOOL—I GET THE SAME SORT OF THRILL.”
DAN GRIFFIN
The Law School of Rock
DAN GR I FF I N
