summer
articling rotations
mentoring
professional development knowledge management social activities community involvement
compensation and benefitsOur student program is very much hands-on based on a "learn-by-doing" philosophy as we believe the best way to learn about the law is to practise law. There is no significant difference between our summer and articling programs in terms of type of work or exposure students will receive. Rather, our objective is to offer an experience as close to that of a young lawyer and we make every effort to expose students to all aspects of our practice and involve them in client meetings. That said, we recognize first year summer students will not have taken business courses so we tailor our orientation and professional development programs accordingly for each of our summer and articling classes. While our orientation provides students with an introduction to the firm and the practice of law, students will work alongside lawyers as members of a team to really learn about practising law and will develop close working and mentoring relationships. Colleagues will become friends and mentors and students quickly learn how to manage their workload and how to interact with clients. Our open door atmosphere enables students to accept and request work from any lawyer and we encourage lawyers to provide ongoing feedback. In addition to informal and frequent feedback, the student committee oversees the formal evaluation process and meets with students on a regular basis to ensure the students' objectives are being met. Summer students typically receive two formal reviews during the summer months and articling students typically receive three formal reviews during the articling term.
summer
Our second year summer students are hired each fall. We also hire a limited number of first year summer students each February. Our summer program runs from mid-May to mid-August. Our goal is to allow summer students to learn about firm culture and work with a broad range of lawyers in order to make an informed choice about articling. While we prefer summer students spend the entire summer at Davies to fully benefit from the experience, we do permit some split-summer arrangements (for example, allowing students to spend part of their summer with a public interest organization, researching for a professor, working at one of our other offices or at another non-Canadian based law firm). Our split-summer option is made available to any second year student from any Canadian law school hired by us for the summer. Students interested in such an arrangement should approach us with a specific proposal preferably at the time of hiring but no later than December 1. As a general rule, we are flexible to sponsor up to two second year students each summer under a split arrangement.
articling
In addition to summer students returning to article, we hire a limited number of additional students each August. Our articling students join the firm the following August after completing the Law Society's Licensing Process and writing the Barrister's and Solicitor's examinations. We hire back students we believe will become partners of the firm since this is a critical component to our success and we are proud of our high standard of excellence. There is no "B Team" at Davies and we believe everyone hired back will ultimately succeed as a partner. We do not hire back simply to create leverage for partners and it is a testament to the quality of our people that most associates make partner early on. Our hireback ratio in recent years has been over 90%.
rotations
We offer a flexible rotation system allowing students to customize their summer or articling term to pursue their own practice area interests. Since we encourage students to see matters through to completion, we recognize there will be ongoing adjustments to the initial rotation selections. Since the summer term is often a student's first exposure to legal work, students may either choose the practice area(s) where they wish to contribute (recognizing their interests may change) or simply choose to gain a broad-based experience to all practice areas. As a general guideline, we suggest articling students complete a five-month rotation in Corporate and perhaps gain exposure to at least one other practice area. Here's a snapshot of the rotation schedule for four articling students:
mentoring
Our mentors are chosen for their ability to communicate effectively with both students and lawyers and for their commitment to and interest in the student program. Mentoring is a process continued for our young lawyers since it is a critical component of assisting with their career and professional development. At Davies, mentoring begins at law school since we match students with a mentor immediately after hiring. This provides recently hired students with access to at least one Davies lawyer during law school. Along with our Director of Student Affairs, these "law school mentors" are available to assist students on a variety of topics and serve as a general resource for advice and assistance. Once at the firm, each summer and articling student is also paired with one or two formal mentors who provide advice, feedback and generally help students settle in. Each member of the Student Committee also acts as an unofficial mentor or overseer to offer an additional source of support and assistance.
professional development
Our professional development philosophy is simple. Our students learn the most by practising law, by discussing issues with other lawyers, by interacting with clients, by keeping up to date on current issues and by participating in a strategic mix of continuing legal education programs. While the primary focus of our student training is hands-on work experience, professional development is a high priority at Davies and starts on the first day. Our Director of Professional Development works closely with the Student Committee and is committed to assisting students with their career development and training. Our ongoing professional development curriculum follows an intensive one to two week initial orientation program at the start of the summer or articling term. Various substantive and business skills programs are offered throughout the year and students are encouraged to participate in firm-wide practice group meetings focusing on current legal issues as well as attending student-focused sessions where lawyers discuss ongoing files and any cutting-edge issues that may arise. The goal of our comprehensive and well-rounded training program is to produce students (and ultimately lawyers) with superior professional and business skills. We are dedicated to providing the best training possible and students are considered an integral part of the curriculum design process. Accordingly, our Director of Professional Development hosts regular focus group meetings to solicit feedback and ideas which are a key component to the success of our programming. For more details about our professional development curriculum or initiatives, please contact Eric Leduc, our Director of Professional Development, at 416.367.6922 or eleduc@dwpv.com.
knowledge management
Our culture strongly supports knowledge sharing. We have devoted significant resources to the development of an innovative and state of the art approach to knowledge management. Our strategy is to ensure that the collective knowledge of our lawyers is identified, captured and disseminated. We are deeply committed to providing our students and lawyers with easy access to all of the precedents and knowledge they require as soon as they require it. Our Director of Knowledge Management is charged with responsibility for leading the implementation of knowledge management initiatives across the firm. This involves collaborating closely with lawyers to develop comprehensive precedent collections and ensure the capture of internal legal research and analysis. Following orientation, our students are carefully trained in the use of our extensive knowledge management tools. The availability of these tools and resources enhances their ability to respond promptly and efficiently when asked to draft documents or conduct legal research. For more details about our knowledge management initiatives, please contact Rhonda Levy, our Director of Knowledge Management, at 416.367.6942 or rlevy@dwpv.com.
social activities
Students have numerous opportunities to socialize at both formal and impromptu events. In addition to regularly scheduled weekly lunches and Friday cocktails, we arrange a variety of events throughout the year including wine tastings, theatre nights, boat cruises, sporting events (golf, ski day, curling, bowling, skating, whirly ball, etc.) and a number of partners host smaller group dinners for students at their homes. While these are all great opportunities to socialize, attendance is optional because we appreciate the need to pursue independent interests outside the firm.
community involvement
We are involved in numerous community service and pro bono initiatives which both enrich our personal experiences practising law and help us contribute to the community. For example, our lawyers engage in pro bono work for community organizations such as Big Brothers, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Virgin Unite (the charitable arm of the Virgin Group). We support the activities of the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), Soulpepper Theatre Company, Lawyers Feed the Hungry program and by offering a summer placement to an inner-city high school student as part of the Law in Action Within Schools (LAWS) initiative. We are active with charitable causes including the United Way, Camp Oochigeas and the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR). We organize and participate in fundraising efforts for many worthwhile causes including the Terry Fox Run, Brain Tumour Foundation, Kids Help Phone, Heart & Stroke Foundation, Share the Warmth, Alzheimer's Society, Habitat for Humanity and the Daily Bread Food Bank. We organize and sponsor the Canadian Corporate/Securities Moot and we are active on campus with law school alumni mentoring programs, résumé writing workshops, conferences and other speaking or sporting events with specific clubs.
compensation and benefits
Our students receive a salary of $1,600 per week ($83,200 annualized), a fully-paid health club membership and their own office (not shared). Articling students also receive:
- full health (medical/dental) benefits and life insurance coverage
- signing bonus of $5,000 (less statutory deductions) upon accepting articling position
- payment of Law Society's fees for Licensing Process and Barrister's and Solicitor's examinations
- full salary throughout Licensing Process plus additional paid days to study for and write examinations
- 10 paid vacation days during 10-month articling term
