Canadian Lawyer InHouse

INHOUSE EDITOR'S BOX By Jennifer Brown www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse Group Publisher: Karen Lorimer karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Editorial Director: Gail J. Cohen gail.cohen@thomsonreuters.com Editor: Jennifer Brown jen.brown@thomsonreuters.com Staff Writer: Michael McKiernan michael.mckiernan@thomsonreuters.com Copy Editor: Mallory Hendry Art Director: Bill Hunter Production Co-ordinator: Catherine Giles Advertising Sales Representatives Legal Suppliers: Kimberlee Pascoe Tel: (416) 649-8875 E-mail: kimberlee.pascoe@thomsonreuters.com Law Firms: Karen Lorimer Tel: (416) 649-9411 E-mail: karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Grace So Tel: (416) 609-5838 E-mail: grace.so@thomsonreuters.com Sales Co-ordinator: Sandy Shutt Tel: (416) 649-8864 E-mail: sandra.shutt@thomsonreuters.com Canadian Lawyer InHouse is published 6 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd., One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto ON. M1T 3V4 (416) 298-5141. Fax : 416-649-7870 Web: www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse LinkedIn group: www.goo.gl/9tytr Editorial advisory board: Robin Brudner, MLSE Ltd.; Sanjeev Dhawan, Hydro One Networks Inc.; Kari Horn, Alberta Securities Commission; Jonathan Lau, TVO; Janis Vanderburgh, York Region Rapid Transit Corp. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Canadian Lawyer InHouse disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. Publications Mail Agreement #40766500 ISSN 1921-9563 Copyright © 2012 H.S.T. Registration #R121349799 To subscribe or change addresses Call (416) 649-9926 Fax (416) 649-7870 or e-mail Ellen Alstein at ellen.alstein@thomsonreuters.com RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESS TO: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto ON. M1T 3V4 Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index Articling in-house W thing that's not widely talked about. But a perfect storm of over-taxed legal depart- ments and students desperate for articling positions might be culminating in some creative solutions and an expansion of the idea that articling can happen in-house. For example, this past spring I was visiting family in northern Ontario and saw hile the legal community awaits the Law Society of Upper Canada's report on the articling crisis, expected out this fall, a partial solution may be hiding in corporate law departments. RBC, Hydro One, Ontario Power Generation, and the Bank of Nova Scotia all have articling programs, but it seems to be some- an ad in the local newspaper for an in-house articling position with the City of North Bay. It stipulated that the candidate had to be a recent law school grad and a native of northern Ontario. The full-time, one-year contract position was being partially funded by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. and the Northern Ontario Youth Internship & Co-op Program. Candidates had to be grads of a Northern Ontario high school, 29 years of age or under, and a recent graduate from a Canadian law school. Anyone who had lived in the north for at least one year was also eligible. The articling student would have the opportunity to work in municipal law, liti- gation, employment and labour law, prosecutions, administrative tribunal law, and real estate law. They would assist both the city solicitor and city prosecutor with the duties of operating a municipal legal department. No doubt it's a two-way street with provincial funding programs aiding a cash- strapped municipal legal team while also creating a position for a law grad. Now, when I've spoken to some general counsel about the idea of articling students coming in-house right from law school some dismiss it, saying in their opinion, a student still needs private practice experience to get a solid foun- dation in the law. Generally, if the in-house law department is small they may not be able to provide the same level of training a student might get in a law firm, one in-house counsel told me, adding that getting a firm footing the law in the early years is critical. But consider that some in-house departments work on a broad range of mat- ters. Rod Crown, the assistant general counsel at Hydro One, told me at a recent networking event that Hydro One has had an articling student position for the last 20 years. Crown, who is a member of the utility's articling committee, is passionate about the program. With 17 lawyers in the Hydro One legal department, the arti- cling student they hire each year is provided a network of mentors and can learn about many aspects of corporate-commercial law. This year Hydro One received more than 300 applications for its articling position — they hire one in August. While they typically don't hire back, it can happen. This doesn't have to be limited to large legal departments. Lisa Skakun, the GC for Coast Capital Credit Union in B.C. recruited two articling students to fill posi- tions she created in her small legal department of less than four. She felt the experi- ence was beneficial for all involved. Perhaps some smaller departments could consider these innovative models and build on what others have started. Send your news and story ideas to jen.brown@thomsonreuters.com CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 • 3

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