Canadian Lawyer 4Students

If you're articling at a small law firm, it's up to you to make it the best experience it can be (and learn how to be a lawyer in the process). BY YAMRI TADDESE E ntrepreneurship is a catchword in the practice of law these days, but it's also a skill you could use when articling in a small law fi rm, where there is less structure and more room to innovate and create the kind of experience you want. Elena Losef says when she articled at intellectual property boutique Deeth Williams Wall LLP, she was able to do the kind of work she wanted versus simply taking the assignments she was handed. "It did require some entrepreneurship, kind of under- standing what you want out of the experience, and not just wait- ing around for someone to tell you, ' is is what we're going to give you,'" she says. So when she wanted to try her hand at trademarks, she told her colleagues she wanted more assignments in that area. "It was really nice because they were very receptive and handed me more work," she says. So if you can create your own experience and make the best of it, what are some of the things you should look for? With the Law Society of Upper Canada recent introduction of a new skills requirement for articling based on the Federation of Law Societies of Canada's guidelines, what regulators across the country expect from articling is becoming clearer and more consistent. Law fi rms, regulators, and law schools alike seem to agree you shouldn't spend all your time in a law fi rm doing research and writing memos. While those skills are important, you also need to gain advocacy, inter- viewing, and communication skills. LSUC Treasurer Janet Minor, who led the law society's project to revamp the articling system, says the new skill requirements are mandatory for all students who choose articling or the new law practice program. " ey are meant to be competencies any practising lawyer should have whatever the area of practice," she says. "So for instance, fact investigation and research, dra ing and legal writ- ing, being able to interview a client or a witness for that matter, and being able to plan a course of action," she says. e requirements are meant to create more consistency in the skills students are receiving through their articles. Part of the new requirements is that an arti- cling principal sets out a plan for the students, and students have access to this from the beginning of their articles. Several industry sources agree, how you go about developing the required skills is partly up to you, especially if you end up in small law fi rms that typically don't have the structured programs of larger law fi rms. In large law fi rms, expec- tations are o en set out in extensive orientations and reinforced through regular 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 19

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