About Justin Marlow
I am a former lawyer and current freelance fiction editor who has made English Language Arts education my primary focus with the launch of Marlow Learning in 2026. Holding a Bachelor of Arts in English (University of Victoria, 2010) and a Juris Doctor (University of Calgary, 2016), I have built my professional life around the skills at the heart of English Language Arts: careful reading, precise analysis, clear argumentation, and compelling writing.
From 2017 to 2022, I represented clients at the Alberta Court of Justice, the Alberta Court of King’s Bench, the Appeals Commission for Alberta Worker’s Compensation, and the Alberta Human Rights Commission, with a focus on personal injury, employment, and human rights law. Law is a discipline of language and argument. Reading dense, complex texts for their precise meaning, constructing nuanced, evidence-based arguments, and communicating those arguments clearly and persuasively to skeptical audiences are skills I honed as a lawyer and now bring to my work with students. Running a solo legal practice also demanded the kind of organizational discipline and deadline management that I now help students develop.
Fiction Editing
Section titled “Fiction Editing”The combination of the Covid economy and my parents’ health brought me back to Calgary in 2022, where I shifted into freelance editing. Working as a conceptual editor for novelists, I focus on the structural dimensions of long-form writing, such as narrative architecture, character development, plot coherence, pacing, thematic consistency, and a manuscript’s relationship to its genre and prospective readers. This work has further sharpened my ability to identify precisely where a piece of writing succeeds and where it needs work. I continue to provide conceptual editing services for novelists alongside my tutoring practice.
Education
Section titled “Education”Tutoring has been a part-time, periodic focus of mine since I completed my Bachelor of Arts in 2010. Over the years I have developed a substantial knowledge base and a library of educational resources. I also draw on my legal and editorial experience to help students develop the reading, writing, and analytical skills that ELA demands. With the launch of Marlow Learning in 2026, education has become my primary professional focus.
A Neuro-Affirming Approach
Section titled “A Neuro-Affirming Approach”I know what it feels like when the standard approach to teaching does not match the way your brain works. Classroom instruction is usually designed for a general, neurotypical audience, and students whose brains process language, organize ideas, or manage attention differently are frequently left to adapt without support or, worse, misread as lazy or disengaged. I do not take a one-size-fits-all approach to tutoring. Rather, I work with each student’s specific neurological profile, building on their genuine strengths while addressing the gaps that are holding them back. Whether a student needs help navigating executive function challenges, processing the inferential demands of literary analysis, or finding the confidence to speak publicly or develop a distinctive written voice, I meet them where they are and work forward from there.