Life skills and career tips for Canada's lawyers in training
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50904
Micheal Simaan, the director of stu- dent recruitment at 70-lawyer Torkin Manes Cohen Arbus LLP in Toronto, agrees with this assessment. "At a large firm, you'll often only get a small section of a section of a section of a file. It will be very high-end legal work, but you'll have no idea who the client is." Contrast this to the small-firm ex- perience, where the clients are simulta- neously the most rewarding and frus- trating part of the job. "Clients can be challenging," says Kimberlea Cartwright, who just completed her articles at two- lawyer Zubas & Milne in Toronto. "I never knew until I had my own." Still, the University of Victoria graduate says, she wouldn't have traded her experience for anything. Being the only student in a busy boutique, Cartwright had lots of re- sponsibilities. She'd conduct interviews, provide cost-benefit analysis, represent clients before administrative tribunals, draft letters and pleadings for her prin- cipal, and in some cases even settle files with opposing counsel (although during negotiations she did have to disclose she was a student-at-law). "Without doubt, the practical aspects of law are best expe- rienced in a small firm," says Cartwright. "The small firm is what prepares you for when a client is sitting across from you and wants an answer." And when she needed an answer, Cartwright was grate- ful to have her principal only a stone's throw away. The downside to working in a small shop is very clear to her, though. "We just don't have the resources that the bigger firms have," she says. "When a complex piece of litigation comes in, we're very limited in terms of how many we can handle." As for compensation, it's certainly not Bay Street. "Maybe half that, with no benefits." But what if you could take the hands- on and practical training of a small firm and combine it with the resources and complexity of work available at the big firms? In many ways, that's exactly what students can expect from Canada's liti- gation boutiques. Twenty-four-lawyer Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP receives over 600 applications for four second-year summer positions. "We look for stu- dents with what we call the 'hardware,'" s 95 Wellington Street West, Suite 1200 Toronto-Dominion Centre, Toronto, ON M5J 2Z9 T: 416.864.9700 F: 416.941.8852 C ANADIAN Lawyer 4STUDENTS S EPTEMBER 2008 27 says Andrew Lewis, the partner in charge of the firm's student program. While some boutiques will emphasize certain areas of litigation over others, advocacy is what they all have in com- mon. "Most students already know that they're litigators, sometimes even before law school," says Nina Bombier, head of the student program at Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP. "If you're even remotely unsure about what you want to do, then go to a big firm and get a taste of different things," says Lewis. "Our firm is all about advocacy." But if you are sure that a pure litiga- tion practice is for you, then boutiques have much to offer, from competitive- with- or greater-than-Bay-Street salaries to an engaging hands-on experience with some of the most complex litiga- tion out there. "We were just in Federal Court representing Friends of the Earth, on a pro bono basis, trying to force the federal government to comply with the Kyoto Protocol," says Lewis, who notes his firm often represents interveners be- fore the Supreme Court of Canada. There are no rotations at most bou- tiques, where students instead take as- signments from any lawyer in any given area. "The real objective is to get the stu- dent to participate in the litigation pro- cess and assume as much responsibility in as many areas as possible," says Bomb- ier. "The best way to learn is by 'doing.'" However when all is said and done, there is still no right answer as to which path students should go down, espe- cially after only one year of law school. "You have to be very honest with your- self about what you're looking for and what you're prepared to do," says Mc- Neil. "If it's not a fit, don't do it. The idea is to be happy with your job and engaged in your work. If you're just looking for the big firm to pay down your debt faster, it's not going to be a good experience." And if you think you've made a mis- step somewhere along the way? As Mc- Neil's story shows, keep an eye out for serendipity. You never know — it might just lead to a great future in a field you had never considered before.