Our summer program is intended to serve as an introduction to the practice of law. Most of our summer students have little, if any, previous experience in a law firm, and our summer program is designed as the first step in the transition from the academic study of law to the practice of law.

Our summer students are treated as articling students in virtually all respects. The size of our Toronto office enables our summer students to work directly with senior lawyers, as well as associates. Summer students receive the same range of work as our articling students, and we encourage our summer students to explore specific areas of interest – to see whether a particular type of law is as interesting in practice as in the classroom. Each summer student has the benefit of a supervising lawyer who acts as a mentor and provides guidance and feedback to the student over the course of the summer. Our summer students are, of course, encouraged to participate in the firm's various social activities.

During the summer, we present a series of seminars, coordinated by our Professional Development team and tailored specifically for our summer students, to discuss practice-related topics such as conflicts of interest, the business of law, professional civility and courtesy, risk management, and effective client communication. Our students are also encouraged to attend other firm-wide in-house professional development seminars. 

We hope that our summer students will return to law school with a fundamental understanding of the practice of law that will serve as a solid foundation for their articling experience.

Compensation and Benefits

Summer students’ salaries and benefits are competitive with those of other major Toronto firms, and are reviewed regularly. We offer a $6,000 tuition bonus to our summer students upon signing on as articling students with us.

Offices and Administrative Support

We endeavour to provide our summer students with their own offices. All of the firm’s administrative resources are available to our summer students as required.

Hireback Ratios

All of our summer students have been offered the opportunity to return to article with the firm and, with the exception of clerks, all of our summer students have returned to article with the firm. 

Applications

We will be participating in the on-campus interviews (OCI) and in-firms of the 2L recruitment process for our summer student positions. Please apply by the deadline by way of the viLawPortal. 

We strive, through our articling program, to train highly capable, practice-ready lawyers who will remain with the firm as associates and ultimately become partners. Our articling program enables our students to complete the transition from the academic study of law to the practice of law. Most of our students take their first step in that transition as summer students and then return to the firm to article.

Our articling students do not follow a structured rotation during their articles. We encourage our students to work in as many practice areas as possible, with both our solicitors and our litigators.

From our solicitors, our articling students gain experience in a wide range of commercial transactions and corporate matters, and have the opportunity to develop their drafting skills by documenting various transactions, including purchases and sales of businesses and of residential and commercial real estate.

From our litigators, our articling students learn the art of oral and written advocacy, as well as strategic considerations relating to the litigation process. Our students become involved in the entire gamut of the litigation process, from briefing the law, to drafting pleadings, to assisting in the conduct of examinations for discovery and trial. Our students also gain valuable experience by appearing in court on contested and non-contested motions and conducting trials in provincial court.

Resources

All of our firm’s administrative resources are available to our articling students as necessary.

Our firm law library is administered by a professional law librarian and experienced library professionals, who assist our students and lawyers across Canada. Online research is, of course, available and all of our students are trained in using and searching computer databases, including Lexis Advance and WestlawNext.

Professional Development

The professional development of our students is a priority. Our Professional Development team coordinates a series of seminars for our articling students designed to reinforce the training provided in our summer student seminars and to provide instruction and guidance on other practice-related topics. We drill down on topics previously covered in our summer student seminars, such as conflicts of interest, the business of law, professional civility and courtesy, risk management, and effective client communication, and discuss additional topics such as advocacy, solicitors’ opinions, commercial closings, and drafting pleadings. Our students are also encouraged to attend other firm-wide professional development seminars and presentations.

Evaluation and Feedback

We feel that providing effective, constructive feedback to our articling students is essential. We obtain formal evaluation feedback from the lawyers for whom our students have worked, and we share the relevant feedback with each student. We also encourage our lawyers to provide informal feedback to our students about their work product and performance.

Compensation and Benefits

Our articling students’ salaries and benefits are competitive with those of other major Toronto firms, and are reviewed regularly. The firm provides compensation for time spent in studying for the bar exams and related fees.

Hireback Ratios

Over the past three years, the majority of our Toronto articling students have accepted offers to remain with the firm as associates.

Applications

Our articling student positions are typically filled by the summer students hired through the 2L recruitment process noted above. Should an articling student position become available in one of our offices, we will update this page accordingly.