Life skills and career tips for Canada's lawyers in training
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50901
with the fi rm's partners, who ultimately make the hire-back decision, but eve- ryone involved with the fi rm. "If you really want to be hired back, if you are keen on working at the fi rm, then latch on to the lawyers. And make friends with their assistant, secretary, whatever the title is," he says. Working with as many people as possible is key, says Andrew C. Lewis, the partner at Toronto's Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP in charge of do have to take some initiative," says Sat- urley. "If you want to do a particular type of work, if you want to work with a par- ticular partner, then you've got to take the initiative to go knock on their door, not just e-mail them, show some enthu- siasm and excitement for their practice." Initiative is also important when seeking feedback, says Stauff er. Th e best thing to do when giving a lawyer a piece of work, whether a letter or completed research, is to ask for some feedback, he I want students to realize as they start, that they shouldn't expect to be superhuman. They cannot expect they will be perfect. — Ian R. Stauffer, Tierney Stauffer LLP the boutique litigation fi rm's articling program. "From the perspective of get- ting hired back you want to work for as many lawyers as you can because gener- ally the lawyers you work for are the ones that will provide the feedback based on which the hire-back decision will be made," he says. "And in that respect, the more lawyers you work for, the more ex- posure you have to the people that are going to make the decision about that." And one of the most important con- tacts is with mentors, says Wong. "We assign mentors, but we also encourage students to seek out informal mentors," she says. "Th ey can have a huge impact on students because they provide guidance and they help them navigate through tran- sition." In line with the goal of meeting as many people as possible, mentors are also vital because they help articling students connect with others in the workplace and introduce students to new people. Take the initiative Rebecca K. Saturley, the partner in charge of articling students at Stewart McKelvey in Halifax, says being bright and able doesn't necessarily translate into success, as all students the fi rm hires are, well, bright and able. Articling students should go the extra mile, she says. "You 8 SPRING 2 0 1 1 says, even if it is just sitting down with the lawyer for fi ve minutes. "Students are entitled to that. I've always believed that, otherwise how else will they learn." Don't be afraid to make your inter- ests known, adds Wong, particularly if lawyers-to-be are articling at a large full- service fi rm. "For example, if they are interested in mining law or venture capi- tal fi nancing, we can certainly fi nd the partners that can do that type of work to engage the students." Be fl exible One of the most important traits of a successful articling student is being fl ex- ible in terms of assignments. "You must be able to take on some things that re- ally aren't your cup of tea," says Stauff er. "A lot of students, even by the end of law school, think they are destined to become criminal lawyers or commer- cial lawyers, but in a general practice . . . they will probably get a whole lot of areas of law thrown at them." And that's benefi cial, because students oſt en discover new practice areas they are in- terested in. Flexibility is also the order of the day when dealing with lawyers who have diff erent styles, diff erent ways of doing things, diff erent timelines, and who can C ANADIAN Lawy er 4STUDENTS be more accommodating than others, says Saturley. Lewis agrees and says of- ten the best solution for students is to accept the work as it comes, and take it as a learning experience. "You should be prepared to take any work that comes your way. One should not turn up one's nose at any particular work that a law- yer gives to you," he says. Th at serves a number of purposes, he adds. It allows the students to interact with a variety of people but it's also important because it off ers new experiences which can lead to long-term benefi ts. At the end of the day, whether be- ing hired back is the goal or just getting the best articling experience possible, it comes down to a lot of hard work. "It's important that students are able to instil confi dence in the lawyers they are as- sisting. And the best way for students to do that is to produce high-quality work consistently," says Wong. Enthusiasm counts too, she adds. "Successful students are those students who demonstrate engagement with and enthusiasm for fi le issues, and also en- gagement for members of the fi rm, that's quite important." Know your employer Much of the articling experience de- pends on where you land. Sometimes where a student articles is exactly where she or he wants to be, but that's not al- ways the case. But once you've commit- ted to a fi rm, you must adapt to your employer to make the best out of your time there — whether the fi rm is a small boutique or a big business law fi rm with hundreds of lawyers. For example, Tierney Stauff er is a full-service shop with 22 lawyers in Ottawa as well as the eastern On- tario towns of Cornwall and Arnprior. Stauff er says students at a fi rm that size will benefi t from the fact they are usu- ally more involved with clients and get more hands-on experience and court time than those articling at bigger fi rms. But Saturley says they try to give students as much face time early on as possible "so they are not just, say, in the library doing research." On the other hand, Wong, whose fi rm is one of the largest in the country, says