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McCarthy Tétrault LLP - Vancouver, British Columbia

Recruitment & Hiring

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  1st Yr. Summer 2nd Yr. Summer Articling Students
Do you hire: No Yes
How many did you/will you hire for:
2022 9 9
2023 9 9
2024 11 9
2025
2026
Rotation No Yes
Split/Secondment

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?
When is the interviewing period?
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? Per VBA Guidelines.
When is the interviewing period? Per VBA Guidelines.
Do you participate in on-campus interview (OCI) programs to fill such positions? Yes
Description of the second year summer program Our summer program is designed to introduce students to the practice of law and to the firm's variety of practice areas.

Our summer students have the opportunity to work with Canada's leading lawyers in business law, tax, litigation, real property and planning and labour and employment law.

Our summer program begins with orientation and training to introduce our students to the firm, research and writing techniques and to provide our students with tips and strategies to help them maximize their summer experience at the firm. As part of the summer student orientation training, students receive a 2 day exercise based research training workshop from members of the Firm's Research Group.

Additionally, we offer extensive legal education and professional development programs covering topics such as “The Student’s Role in Closings”, “The Student’s Role in the Litigation Process” and “The Student’s Role in Due Diligence”. Our lawyers are frequently invited to speak to the students about their area of practice or topical cases or transactions.

Summer students are given a broad range of responsibilities, including attending meetings, hearings and other litigation processes, researching and drafting legal memos, providing research support to our trial teams, preparing draft advocacy and transactional documents, due diligence and work relating to the closing of transactions, participating in the drafting of conference materials, articles for publication, and case summaries. It is important that our students have a well-rounded experience.

As a strong supporter of pro bono initiatives and as the sole firm sponsor of Pro Bono Students Canada, our lawyers provide pro bono services to the community in areas as diverse as civil liberties, human rights, financial, business, labour and employment law. We also think it is important to involve our students on pro bono matters through a variety of different pro bono projects. To offer our students the opportunity to work on student directed pro bono initiatives, the Firm offers through its Pro Bono Committee a wealth of opportunities for students to get involved and make a meaningful contribution. Under the supervision of our lawyers, our students get hands-on experience working with clients and solving real world problems with all of the benefits of the Firm's resources and experience.

Each of our summer students will be assigned to one of our practice groups for the balance of their summer. However, students will have the opportunity to receive work from each of our practice groups, in order to gain a breadth of experience. Members of our Student Committee act as mentors and monitor the flow of work to each student. If a student indicates a preference for a specific practice area, we make every effort to place the student in that practice group area.
Comments
How many weeks is the second year summer program? 13-14 weeks

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 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)
Comments
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 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)


For Quebec and Atlantic Employers: Do you allow your articling students hired to work for you during their second year summer?

Articling Students

When do you hire articling students? During Articling Interview Week as set out by the VBA
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 The articling program is designed to maximize student exposure to all aspects of the practice of law and our law firm.

It will provide you with the opportunity to experience our practice first-hand by attending and working on transaction and advocacy documents, conducting research, attending client meetings, strategy sessions, hearings and trials. You will be encouraged to work independently on some matters, all the while having support and guidance.

Our informal approach enables you to work with many lawyers in each area of practice. At McCarthy Tétrault, there is a spirit of co-operation and mutual respect that promotes teamwork and encourages us to work together and develop important working relationships, within the Vancouver office and within the firm. The Director, Professional Resources and the mentors work closely with our students to monitor workload and to ensure that students are getting a wide variety of work experience in each of their rotations.

In Vancouver, our rotation system allows articling students to spend time working with lawyers in each of our practice areas: business law (including tax), real estate, and litigation (including labour and employment). While working in these areas, students are encouraged to approach and work with lawyers who practise in more specialized practice areas. In each rotation, you will work on a wide variety of files and projects, and get exposure to a diverse range of expertise and styles.

Members of our Student Committee act as mentors in each rotation. They are experienced lawyers who will provide assistance, support and guidance throughout the articling period. They are responsible for assisting students in managing their workload, and for ensuring that students receive interesting and challenging work, as well as a balanced articling experience. Each student is also assigned a principal lawyer to oversee their progress and to provide assistance with their professional responsibility and practice obligations.
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 For foreign trained students who are not yet eligible to be formally assessed by the NCA, it would be helpful for them to indicate in their application when they reasonably expect to article after consulting with the NCA.

Required Application Materials

Required Application Materials Resume
cover letter
post secondary transcripts
law school transcripts
list of upper year courses
Comments

Preferred Method of Application

Preferred Method of Application viDesktop Portal
Comments
2023 2024
How many articling students did you offer a first year lawyer position? 7
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? 2