Canadian Lawyer 4Students

C A N A D I A N L a w y e r 4 s t u d e n t s F a l l 2 0 1 4 21 At big law fi rms like Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP, there's recognition these skills must be learned and there are training programs in place. "We train [students] on the so skills they're going to need," says Jennifer McNaught, direc- tor of legal personnel and professional development at Blakes' Vancouver offi ce. e training covers matters like what to do when you think you're going to miss a deadline, McNaught explains. Or it could be "how to say no to work with- out sounding like you're not interested in working on that fi le," or what the word "dra " means for that matter, she adds. In smaller law fi rms, students may develop some of these skills through tighter interpersonal relationships with their colleagues. Losef says she was able to form suffi ciently close relationships with the lawyers she worked with that she felt comfortable pointing out im- provements they should make to their web sites and social media pages. Her input was well received, she says. In the same vein, McNaught recom- mends students suggest topics for ar- ticles they would like to co-author with lawyers, a process that builds relation- ships while demonstrating students' ini- tiative. Professional development train- ing, of course, is another way students can become better at what they do. At Blakes, students have a professional de- velopment opportunity at least once a week, says McNaught, but of course, this isn't always the case in a smaller law fi rm context. Still, students in big and small fi rms can seek out professional develop- ment training outside of their law fi rms. "With respect to smaller fi rms, I think it's maybe diffi cult to do [frequent pro- fessional development training] inter- nally, but obviously, there are so many opportunities for professional develop- ment that are now just available for the legal community," says McNaught. For Cyr, small law fi rm articling can be just as enriching, if not more enrich- ing, than a big law fi rm experience. "I don't think it's necessarily true that a student who goes to a small law fi rm that doesn't have a recruiter that's in charge of having a professional develop- ment program or regular feedback and that kind of thing necessarily means that they're going to have a lesser articling experience," she says. In fact, Monnin says, "I would venture to say that unlike the larger fi rms, we hit the ground run- ning a lot sooner here. We do one thing, and we do it well, and that's litigation." Monnin also says the likelihood of a job a er articling is greater at his bou- tique fi rm than in the big law fi rms in which he has previously worked. e need for articling students is limited at Hill Sokalski, he says, but, "When we do hire articling students, it is to hire a future associate and hopefully a future partner." He adds: "Unlike the larger fi rms, which tend to hire a consistent crop of students on a yearly basis and making no promises on whether they'll get kept on, [at Hill Sokalski], a fair bit of them do get kept on." ■ Hit the ground . Hit the ground Hit the ground . At WeirFoulds, we know students and associates are eager to get to the chase. As a regional fi rm known for our high-quality legal work, prioritized personal service, and a "faster on their feet" approach, we provide the early responsiblity our new recruits are hunting for. Consistently ranked in Canadian Lawyer's Top 10 Regional Firms, we set the pace for a satisfying career. For more details on offi ce tours visit www.weirfoulds.com/offi cetours. 416.365.1110 www.weirfoulds.com Protect your future. Gain a competitive advantage. WeirFoulds LLP. Follow us on:

• Cover