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Lenczner Slaght - Toronto, Ontario
Recruitment & Hiring
| 1st Yr. Summer | 2nd Yr. Summer | Articling Students | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do you hire: | No | Yes | Occasionally |
| How many did you/will you hire for: | |||
| 2022 | |||
| 2023 | |||
| 2024 | 0 | 11 | 6 |
| 2025 | |||
| 2026 | |||
| Rotation | N/A | No | No |
| Split/Secondment | No | Case-by-Case | No |
|
First Year Summer Students |
|
|---|---|
| FIRST YEAR SUMMER STUDENTS:Do you recruit first year summer students? | No |
| When is the application deadline for first year summer students? | N/A |
| When is the interviewing period? | N/A |
| Do you participate in on-campus interview (OCI) programs to fill such positions? | No |
| Description of first year summer program: | |
| Comments | |
| How many weeks is the first year summer program? | |
|
Second Year Summer Students |
|
|---|---|
| SECOND YEAR SUMMER STUDENTS:Do you recruit second year summer students? | Yes |
| When is the application deadline for second year summer students? | In accordance with LSO timeline for the Toronto 2L Recruit. |
| When is the interviewing period? | On Campus Interviews (OCIs) take place in September and October. In Firm Interviews occur at the beginning of November. Specific recruitment dates are determined in accordance with the LSO recruitment procedures for the Toronto 2L Recruit. |
| Do you participate in on-campus interview (OCI) programs to fill such positions? | Yes |
| Description of the second year summer program |
SUMMER AT LENCZNER SLAGHT
At Lenczner Slaght, our students play a vital role in the day-to-day life of our firm. Working alongside our lawyers at all stages of the litigation process, summer students draft pleadings and factums, prepare motion records, and conduct legal research. Summer students attend court on opposed and unopposed motions, trials, appeals, arbitrations, and other hearings. Students meet with clients and witnesses, attend examinations for discovery, take on small claims court files for our clients and regularly accompany lawyers to every level of court, as well as to various tribunals. Over the last year, the firm has designed a comprehensive virtual onboarding process, and an improved capacity analysis system (for work allocation purposes) for its students and lawyers. The firm sets up its students for success by providing the highest quality resources from the outset, including technology, training and ongoing IT support. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & MENTORING Our Summer Program begins with orientation and training during your first week to provide you with the knowledge and skills required for a successful summer. During orientation, we introduce our perspective on the practice of law, with content ranging from an overview of the life of an action to more in-depth discussions of motions, examinations for discovery, undertakings and other litigation building blocks. Orientation speakers are lawyers and business team members of the firm, who will provide opportunities for you to engage in discussion, learn how you can make a difference and enable you to get the most out of the summer with us. You will be assigned a mentor, who will be with you for the entire summer. Your mentor will help you achieve your goals for the summer, will answer your questions, offer advice and be a source of knowledge and experience for you. They will assist you in developing your career, maximizing your potential as a litigator, and work with you to ensure your summer is both challenging and satisfying. Feedback is an important part of your development, and is provided informally throughout the summer from the lawyers you work with and formally (in a review process) at the end of the summer. SOCIAL EVENTS Lenczner Slaght is a collegial and close-knit firm, and students quickly become part of the professional and social fabric of the office. Our culture is one of our greatest strengths. We enjoy many events throughout the summer including: in-house education programs; lunches, impromptu "Lenczner Slaght Drinks Cart" events; Summer Picnic; Joint Summer and Articling Barbeque; Mentor lunches and sports games. COVID-19 has not interfered with the collegial atmosphere, and we have continued to enjoy each other’s company at virtual events including pasta-making classes, paint nights and chess lessons. Last summer we even enjoyed some socially distanced kayaking on Lake Ontario! Students are also encouraged to support the local community in fundraising activities like the Bay Street Beach Volleyball Tournament. OUR NEXT SUMMER STUDENTS At Lenczner Slaght, we are interested in well-rounded law students whose drive, resourcefulness and leadership abilities are already evident in their professional and personal lives. In addition to high academic standing, we consider personal attributes in which your intellectual capability is grounded. We look for people who are enthusiastic, engaging, and confident and who conduct themselves with civility in all their dealings. Not surprisingly we place a premium on being focused and well organized. Above all, we expect students to have a keen interest in litigation, demonstrated through participation in debates, moots, clinics and other opportunities to begin honing advocacy skills. Students with a passion for litigation are vital to the continued success of our firm. Our students are given challenging and interesting work, and a great deal of responsibility. We are confident that you will learn every day, and that a summer with us will exceed your expectations! |
| Comments |
Lenczner Slaght accepts student applications via the viLawPortal, pursuant to LSO Recruitment Guidelines.
Please visit our website for more information on our student programs: www.litigate.com |
| How many weeks is the second year summer program? | 13 |
|
OCIs |
|
|---|---|
| Will you be participating in OCIs this year? | Yes |
| Schools: | Dalhousie University, Dalhousie Law|McGill University, Faculty of Law|Lakehead University|Osgoode Hall Law School, York University|Queen's University, Faculty of Law|Thompson Rivers University|University of Alberta, Faculty of Law|University of British Columbia, Faculty of Law|University of Calgary, Faculty of Law|University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law|University of New Brunswick, Faculty of Law|University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section|University of Saskatchewan, College of Law|University of Toronto, Faculty of Law|University of Victoria, Faculty of Law|University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law|University of Windsor, Faculty of Law|Ryerson University, Lincoln Alexander School of Law |
|
Other Campus Recruiting |
|
|---|---|
| We will be recruiting students from the following law schools (outside of the OCI process) |
Lakehead University Thompson Rivers University University of Alberta, Faculty of Law University of British Columbia, Faculty of Law University of Calgary, Faculty of Law University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law University of New Brunswick, Faculty of Law University of Saskatchewan, College of Law University of Victoria, Faculty of Law |
| Comments | We welcome applications from students attending any Canadian law school and foreign trained students. |
| 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| No. of 1st Year Summer Students | n/a | n/a |
| No. of 1st Year Summer Students Offered Articling Positions (region dependent) | n/a | n/a |
| No. of 2nd Year Summer Students | 9 | |
| No. of 2nd Year Summer Students Offered Articling Positions | 9 | |
| Quebec: Number of future articling students working as a 2nd year summer student | ||
| Atlantic: No. of articling students hired during 2nd year January recruitment | ||
| No. of additional articling students hired (in some regions, in addition to students hired through the summer process) |
|
Articling Students |
|
|---|---|
| When do you hire articling students? | Articling students are generally hired from our second year summer students. However, on occasion, we recruit for articling students separately. |
| Do you still have any articling positions open for this year (starting 2024)? | No |
| Do you anticipate having articling positions open for next year (starting in 2025) for external candidates outside of your current student hires (if any)? | No |
| If so, how many positions do you anticipate having for external candidates? | |
| Do you allow students to work during the licensing process in your jurisdiction? | Case-by-Case |
| Description of articling program |
Articles at Lenczner Slaght will provide you with the experiential training required to set you on the path to becoming a first class advocate. You will be engaged in meaningful, challenging and interesting work with experienced lawyers at every level in a collaborative environment.
Articling students are involved at all stages of the litigation process from meeting with the client through to attending Court. You can expect to develop your skills, to draft pleadings and factums, prepare motion records and conduct legal research, and also attend client meetings, work on a team and see firsthand how our lawyers advocate for our clients at tribunals, mediations, motions and trials. Because Lenczner Slaght focuses solely on litigation, we have no rotation system – although any student who is interested in a particular area of our practice is encouraged to pursue it. Every student will be exposed to a wide variety of practice areas and lawyers while at the firm. They will take on a wide range of important responsibilities that share one common theme: intensive exposure to the litigation process. At the end of the day, our goal is to nurture future advocates whose dedication and enthusiasm mirror our own. Over the last year, the firm has designed a comprehensive virtual onboarding process for its students, lawyers and staff. The firm sets up its students for success by providing the highest quality resources from the outset, including technology, training and ongoing IT support. We are interested in well-rounded law students whose drive, resourcefulness and leadership abilities are already evident in their professional and personal lives. In addition to high academic standing, we consider personal attributes in which your intellectual capability is grounded. We look for students who are enthusiastic, engaging, and confident and who conduct themselves with civility in all their dealings. Not surprisingly we place a premium on being focused and well organized. Above all, we expect students to have a keen interest in litigation, demonstrated through participation in debates, moots, clinics and other opportunities that develop advocacy skills. Students with a passion for litigation are vital to the continued success of our firm. We typically hire our articling students from our summer group. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & MENTORING Your Articling term will begin with a refresher training and orientation course, designed to reintroduce you to the firm and its resources, and redevelop the skills that you acquired during your time as a summer student. The learning continues – for students and lawyers alike – through meetings on a variety of subjects, from substantive legal issues to helpful practice tips. In addition, we encourage our students to attend continuing legal education programs, many of which are taught by our lawyers. The goal underlying all of these efforts is to give students the solid grounding they need to support the learning curve and achieve success – at our firm and in the profession. Each articling student is paired with a formal mentor who, together with your articling principal, will aide in your professional development. This mentoring program – which extends to lawyers in their first year with the firm – includes guidelines for both mentors and mentees that are designed to facilitate the relationship. Parallel to this formal arrangement there is also a very strong informal mentoring relationships that unfold naturally as students and lawyers forge connections with one another. Feedback is an important part of your development. As with our mentoring process, at Lenczner Slaght feedback is provided on a formal basis but also happens informally – we encourage our lawyers to provide comments on each piece of work that a student undertakes. Formal feedback is also provided at the mid-point of articles and before the end of articles. Your mentor and principal will work with you to ensure you fulfill the Experiential Training Competencies during the articling term and that your articles are both challenging and satisfying. You will also be supported by our Senior Manager, Student Programs & Professional Development and Specialist, Allison Mastervick. Kyle and Allison work with Andrea Wheeler and Brendan Morrison, Co-Chairs of the firm’s Student Program to ensure you are receiving interesting and challenging work, and that you gain a well-rounded litigation articling experience. SOCIAL EVENTS Similar to the summer experience, our students are included in all of the firm's events, including: lawyers lunches; in-house education programs; impromptu "Lenczner Slaght Drinks Cart" events; Lawyer's Holiday Party; Summer Picnic; Joint Summer and Articling Barbeque; New Associate Champagne Reception; Dinner/Theatre evenings; and Mentor Dinners. Students are also encouraged to support the local community in fundraising activities like the firm's United Way Campaign; Sporting Life 10K for Camp Oochigeas; Lawyers Feed the Hungry; LEAF; the Holiday Food Drive to benefit the Daily Bread Food Bank; and the Winter Hope Clothing Drive. |
| Comments | |
| Do you offer internships? | No |
|---|
|
Summer/Articling |
|
|---|---|
| Do you accept applications for summer/articling positions from foreign trained students/lawyers? | Yes |
| If yes, do applicants need to have an Assessment Report from the National Committee on Accreditation (in Québec, an attestation from le Barreau du Québec) before applying? | Yes |
| Comments | If you are not eligible to be assessed by the NCA at the time of application, please indicate when you reasonably expect to be able to article. |
|
Required Application Materials |
|
|---|---|
| Required Application Materials |
Resume cover letter post secondary transcripts law school transcripts list of upper year courses |
| Comments | Reference letters and writing samples, while helpful, are not mandatory. |
|
Preferred Method of Application |
|
|---|---|
| Preferred Method of Application | viDesktop Portal |
| Comments | Lenczner Slaght is committed to hiring top notch students and lawyers from all backgrounds, and to provide them with a collegial atmosphere, solid training and real-world work experiences to allow them to develop their skills and become first class advocates. Decreasing Barriers in Student Hiring Lenczner Slaght is committed to having an unbiased recruitment and selection system. We are a work in progress. In 2018, we took the bold step to “anonymize” student applications (by removing a candidate’s name) in order to reduce barriers to entry for diverse candidates. We are the first law firm in Canada to implement this and have pioneered the strategy and the processes required to execute this on more than 450 applications. We applied an automated and manual process which removed candidates’ names from all documents. However, all other information submitted by candidates will be considered. This new selection system assisted screeners and interviewers to evaluate students on their skills and qualifications, and helped address any unconscious biases and remove barriers. Our application screeners and interviewers also receive training on an annual basis on interviewing skills and unconscious bias. If you have any questions about our process please contact Kyle Magee. We would love to hear from you. |
| 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| How many articling students did you offer a first year lawyer position? | 8 | |
| How many articling students in your articling program were seeking a position? | 9 | |
| How many additional first year associates did you hire outside of your articling student program? | 1 | |
| How many of the additional students clerked? | 1 |
