Let me start with saying that I articled in-house at an insurance company so some of these things may not exactly apply to everyone but are more or less transferable to those articling in private practice.
As we are approaching articling season (I remember starting right after Civic Holiday long weekend in August two years ago), I thought it would be helpful to provide a quick breakdown of a few things I think would be helpful to note:
- Start networking from day 1 – I know this is in almost every career services guide, but really, you need to begin making connections. This can be very difficult for an introvert like myself but being able to connect with the people you work with allows you to build social capital that you may have to cash in later. Articling is a means to an end so treat it this way, get the most out of your 10 months. If you don’t get hired back the meaningful connections you made can be crucial in providing you with leads, reference letters or other resources you will need.
- be resourceful – I cannot stress this enough. I know many people will say to you “Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions” and while that is generally true, people are BUSY. To ask someone for an answer to a question that could have been answered on your own if you did a little work shows lack of initiative and lack of independence. Familiarize yourself with the shared database/system in your office and learn how to do a search for precedents yourself so that you don’t waste your breath asking people. Of course, conversely, don’t spend hours looking for something that doesn’t exist when you can ask someone and get your answer quickly. I know this sounds like a blatant contradiction but trust me, there is a balance.
- be proactive – part of the articling process is learning and observing. In your first year as a lawyer you will likely not have the time to be tagging along with others to motions and discoveries. When I was articling I was asked to go on many discoveries and motions. I learned that there were certain styles I liked and that meshed more with the type of lawyer I wanted to be. I would stalk these lawyers’ calendars for upcoming appearances or appointments that seemed interesting and would reach out and ask to attend. I was never turned down, most lawyers are happy to teach and let students observe.
- manage your time properly – I worked in a large in-house department and at the time there were over 70 lawyers and I was one of 2 articling students. As you can imagine the demand for assistance was high but the supply was limited. I never said no to an assignment but I learned to manage expectations. If a lawyer assigned something to me, I always made sure I knew what the deadline was and what was expected of me (how much time should be spent on the assignment and if research, whether a memo is required). I also kept a running list of all the assignments that were provided to me. I would keep this on a word documents and strikethrough assignments that were completed as I went along kind of like this:
In general the usual advice applies, be yourself and stay grounded. Make sure that you do your best to surround yourself with positive people and people that you can learn from.
Hopefully these tips are helpful and provide you with some guidance when beginning your articling term. This is an exciting time, enjoy it while it lasts!
