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to create a divide in the profession and among students. "I can't imagine a firm would be willing to hire a young lawyer that hasn't had experience in their firm or a firm environment," he says. "So I really think the LPP licensees are going to be at a severe disadvantage when compared to students that are going through the articling process." University of Ottawa first-year law student Eric Vallillee says he's worried about the changes. "If big law firms or small law firms or anybody aren't willing to hire people for articling programs, then why would they be willing to hire graduates who didn't get those articling positions?" he says. He's willing to take the LPP route if he isn't able to secure an articling position, but only as a last resort to get his licence. Vallillee is particularly concerned about the cost of the new program. The articling task force estimated the LPP would drive the current licensing fee up to $5,670 per candidate from the current $2,950, once a final assessment is factored in. During November's heated debate, law society benchers agreed to increase LSUC members' fees to help cover the costs of the pilot project. It's also expected that the co-op placements will be unpaid. "I don't know if people can afford that," says Vallillee. "We're graduating with record amounts of debt, so I don't know how you can expect somebody to work for several months, full time [at] an intensive job like a legal co-op, where they don't get paid." Conway says he understands students' concerns about the cost, but they should keep in mind not so long ago articling positions weren't as wellpaid and graduates had to complete an expensive six-month bar admission course. "We have to look at these reforms in context," he says. "Sure, there's no doubt, it creates more debt for students but in context it's not of the magnitude that some people have said it is." Andrew Langille, a Toronto lawyer and author of the web site youthandwork. ca, says law students are already overburdened by the current tuition levels, which are becoming "horrendously excessive." It's not unheard of for students to gradu- ate with $100,000 to $150,000 in debt, he adds. Langille points to the law schools as a major cause of the articling crisis. "The underlying issue is that the law schools are producing too many law students, and that's an issue that the law society doesn't have control over, so any solution that they come up with is going to be imperfect because they don't have buy-in from the universities and the government." University of Ottawa common law dean Bruce Feldthusen defended the law schools in an article called "Legal profession in turmoil: Let's blame the law schools," which he wrote for Canadian Lawyer's web site in December 2012. "We could close every law school in Ontario and still have an articling crisis," he wrote. "Between 500 and 1,000 students who obtained their legal education in a foreign law school Looking for the right fit in intellectual property? Ridout & Maybee LLP is a long-established intellectual property boutique. Our legal expertise and real-world technical knowledge are highly recommended in independent international surveys. We are a firm of approximately 45 intellectual property professionals – large enough to handle the most interesting and challenging intellectual property matters while remaining small enough to provide a tight-knit and collegial work environment. www.ridoutmaybee.com TORONTO MISSISSAUGA OTTAWA C A N A D I A N Law yer 4 students dout_4st_Mar_11.indd 1 Spring 2013 19 2/23/11 11:03:09 AM

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