BY RYAN EDMONDS
Big versus littler FIRMS OF DIFFERENT I
f you thought first year was bad, wait until the stress hits in second year. After all, this is when most students apply for
those oh-so-important summer jobs that will invariably chart the course of their future career. Big firm? Small firm? Specialty boutique? What type of law do I want to practise? These are big decisions to make after only one year — or even weeks in some cases — of law school. Deciding which path to go down this
early in the game is not easy. There are many pros and cons to both the big- and small-firm experience. Small firms and
SIZES OFFER DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS-AT-LAW.
boutiques have a lot to offer students in terms of practical and hands-on train- ing, but will rarely be able to match the variety of law available at big firms. For some students, this variety can
help with deciding which road to follow. Take Kate McNeil, who was a student at McCarthy Tétrault LLP's Toronto of-
fice. Coming into, and all through, law school, McNeil was sure she wanted to practise corporate law. She took all transactional and cor- porate courses in her first three years of law school (she did a four-year JD/LLB) and spent two summers in McCarthys' business law group. However by her third summer, Mc-
Neil's student director insisted she do an advocacy rotation. She chose labour and employment, thinking it might re- semble corporate law, but instead found a new calling. "After discovering labour law during my last summer, my articling year was a chance for me to figure out
C ANADIAN Lawyer 4STUDENTS S EPTEMBER 2008 25
