BUSINESS
CAREERS
Articling
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Law Society of Upper Canada responds to crisis
Standing out from the masses
can be difficult but it is possible,
experts say. Bulwa recommends
students channel their inner politician and shake a few hands
and network.
She recommends developing
connections with lawyers and
potential employers as early as
they can so they’re not relying on
the limited number of postings
the masses apply for. Ideally, they
can make a favourable impression
with a lawyer or a firm that hadn’t
considered hiring an articling student before, she says.
Bruce King, managing partner
of Pitblado LLP in Winnipeg,
agrees. He says while there’s no
substitution for strong academic
performance, students should try
to make valuable contacts long
before they start applying for
articling jobs. For example, students involved with a public interest law centre or who help organ-ize mentorship programs can get a
leg up on their fellow classmates in
the legal community.
“They’ll develop contacts and
those contacts can often by very
valuable in assisting the students
to connect with a firm,” he says.
It helps to be imaginative and
flexible, Scott adds, and recognize
that legal training can lead to a
career outside of the legal profession, too. He says a number of
Western law graduates will go
into business, including some
with a joint law/MBA degree, or
into the public service. Some will
also go into teaching, government
and journalism.
“I believe students in undergrad programs and at the graduate level who show they have a
willingness to work in other
regions and cultures and are willing to travel and expand their
horizons will have better opportunities,” he says.
“Firms are looking for young
people like that, who have ambition and the drive. The growth
in Asia and India isn’t going to
slow down, Africa is making
great strides, so is South America. There are opportunities all
over the place.”
Even though it doesn’t control the
number of articling positions available
in Ontario, the Law Society of Upper
Canada isn’t sitting idly by.
In response to growing
concerns about the increasing
number of unplaced candidates
each year, its governing body
approved the formation of an
articling task force in June to
determine how the articling
requirement can best be met,
given the evolving needs of both
the public and the profession.
The task force began meeting over
the summer and will provide a report
next May.
“As the number of unplaced
candidates continues to rise, we
will face increasing scrutiny,” says
Laurie Pawlitza, treasurer of the Law
Society of Upper Canada. “We need
to ensure that all of the components
of the licensing process are
accessible and fair. At the same
time, we also need to make sure
that our licensing criteria ensure
that all candidates can demonstrate
the entry-level competencies
required to serve their clients
competently immediately after
being called to the Bar.”
She says she’s confident the
articling task force will come up
with some solid recommendations
in its report.
“Articling must be a bridge, not a
barrier, to candidates interested in
being legal professionals and in
responding to the needs of the public
in Ontario,” she says.
This isn’t the first time the law
society has got involved in the
affairs of articling. Three years ago,
it made changes to the articling
requirement following consultation
with the profession and the
licensing and accreditation task
force. The changes included
simplifying the administrative
requirements of the articling
process; encouraging flexibility
through joint articling and part-time
articling; and allowing an exemption
from the articling requirement for
lawyers who have practised for
more than 10 months in a common
law jurisdiction outside of Canada.
Firms are
looking for “
young people
who have
ambition and
drive. There are
opportunities
all over the
Lorna Turnbull, dean of the
faculty of law at the University of
Manitoba, says part of the problem is law students have a “TV
image” of what a lawyer is—a
glorious litigator on Bay
Street—and it’s hard to move
away from that to doing wills, real
estate work and family law in a
smaller centre.
“That’s not what they came to
law school for. There’s a disconnect between what the students
think they are going to become
and the opportunities that are
there. That’s always been true but
it’s more so now,” she says.
“A law degree is never a waste.
Those who are really determined
to be lawyers will find themselves
a place. Some will find something
else to do with an incredible
arsenal of skills from a law educa-
tion,” she says.
“Somebody who is not yet
familiar with the nuances of the
legal community might inadvertently offend those that they later
are looking to for employment,”
he says.
Bulwa says Osgoode doesn’t
advocate that law students use
social media but if they absolutely
have to, she cautions that they do
so in a professional manner.
“We guide them from being
an undergrad posting pictures
of themselves in Cancun on
spring break on Facebook (and
recommend) they get rid of that
page. You need to look at your
online presence because any
potential employer can Google
you,” she says. n
place.
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Online networking a great tool when done right
Online
Continued From Page 23
practice in an area that changes
all the time. I have to keep cur-
rent. It doesn’t take that much
time to write a couple of para-
graphs [in a blog].”
However, he noted, “lawyers
are uncertain about the tech-
nology and hesitant to post
something that was written in
ten minutes.”
There is one thing lawyers can
be sure of, said Crouch. Their
competition is online. “If you
aren’t going to network online,
your competition is, guaranteed,
and your competitor will get
more business. Today, when pros-
pects are looking for professional
services, they do their research
homework online, when they find
you, a presence on LinkedIn can
provide comfort that you are con-
nected and have experience. It is
proof of credibility.”
“Online networking is
changing the way people do busi-
ness, how they research busi-
nesses and professionals, and
what they will expect to find
when they do that research. Not
engaging in online networking is
going to hurt those who refuse to
participate,” said Shields.
