Canadian Lawyer 4Students

16 F A L L 2 0 1 5 C A N A D I A N L a w y e r 4 S T U D E N T S 16 F A L L 2 0 1 5 C A N A D I A N L a w y e r 4 S T U D E N T S ing much luck with the articling stream," she says. "While there were jobs in Mani- toba, I was focusing my job search on On- tario. I was getting calls in Winnipeg but none in Ontario. Toward my last semester of law school, I heard about the LPP pro- gram and what interested me was that it was a simulated work environment with a greater range of experience, as opposed to going to a small fi rm and getting a more narrow range of experience," she says. Nguyen was interested in corporate-com- mercial and employment law. A er the fi rst four months, she landed a work placement in-house with Nissan Canada's legal team from January to the end of April. It was her fi rst choice — described in the job posting at the LPP as an automotive company. Nguyen worked with an arbitration spe- cialist during her time at Nissan and helped prepare cases. In one situation, she had the opportunity to go to Small Claims Court and presented the case to the judge because her colleague was giving evidence. "It was nerve wracking, but we were successful in the end and it was a really good experi- ence," she says. She admits she went into the LPP with some concerns based on all the criticism about it. " ere was the idea that these candidates would be 'second tier' and a lot were skeptical that it wouldn't give candi- dates the right training or that it would be another school-like experience, but even on the fi rst day it put my mind at ease," she says. "It all felt like work and something I would expect from an articling experience. I think it was an even wider experience than if I had gotten an articling position." Nguyen was not hired back at Nissan, but she says the opportunity gave her the chance to broaden her network and she feels positive about building on her net- work to fi nd a job in the Greater Toronto Area. She admits she wishes the work placement was longer, perhaps six months, to match the LPP up with the traditional 10-month articling term. "In the beginning I was getting involved in the business, but the legal work came more at the end and I would have liked to stay longer to get more of that experience," she says. "I really enjoyed my time in-house, but I realized I need some law fi rm experience working with corporate clients." Amanda Amiri went to law school at the University of Montreal and did an under- grad in fi nance at Concordia University. "My plan was to stay in Quebec, but when I did common law in my fi nal year, I real- ized I liked it better than civil law and I de- cided I wanted to go to Ontario and work in Toronto," she says. "But I had never done on-campus interviews and Ontario fi rms weren't really recruiting at my law school. I had some second-round interviews, but nothing was really panning out." Nearing the end of her law degree, she found all the opportunities were for the fol- lowing year. "I wanted to start right away and that's when I heard about LPP," she says. "It was backed by the law society so to me that was as legitimate as it could be, so while I had some concerns I thought I would give it a shot." She landed an in-house placement with RBC doing corporate commercial work including litigation and privacy law as well as e-commerce and wills and estates. " e highlight for me was the connections I made and the principals who acted as men- tors to me. I really came out with two solid mentors," she says. " e form of training was intense but really helpful. I think some articling positions don't get the broad expo- sure or training on running their own fi rm." Amiri reported in to Jeff rey Francis, se- nior counsel at RBC. He says he too won- dred about the LPP program when it was launched and whether it would give stu- dents what they needed to know. "When I was articling I estimate it took me at least six months to get up to where Amanda was when she joined us. She knew what an NDA was, an indemnity, and a lot of other things you aren't taught in law school," says Francis. Like Nguyen, Amiri questions the length of the placement, wondering if it would be more competitive if it was longer. Jobs she has looked at since are asking for one or two years of experience. e four-month unpaid training period can also be tough fi - nancially, she says. Although the fact it was online for the fi rst half means she was able to stay at her parents' home in Montreal. While her placement was paid, Amiri questions whether it was paid at the same rate as an articling student. While she wasn't hired back in the legal department, she did land a job in wealth management at RBC as a consultant. "It's a good starting Amanda Amiri

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