Articling Program

1. Articling Student Rotation System



2. Mentoring System



3. Professional Development



4. Social Events



5. The "Nuts & Bolts" of Articling



6. Student Committee



7. How to Apply

Articling Rotation System

• At Blakes, we try to ensure that you receive well-rounded articles bygetting experience in different areas of law. This ensures that they obtainbroad exposure to the principal areas of our practice under the individualguidance and supervision of experienced lawyers in each of these areas.



• We want our students to receive exposure to the core areas of our practice.We believe that our rotation program best allows us to develop and assess ourstudents and gives them individual attention.



• In our Vancouver office, students do rotations in the following areas:
  
  
  • Corporate-Commercial (Including Commercial Real Estate, Financial Services and Tax)
  
  
  
  • Litigation (Including Environmental Law, Aboriginal Law, Labour and Employment)
  
  
  

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Mentoring

• During each articling student rotation, students are assigned a mentor. Themost important role of a mentor is to make sure a student gets a good workexperience at the firm. Mentors give the students work directly, but also make aconcerted effort to find work for the student with partners and seniorassociates at the firm in the rotation practice area. A mentor also helps thestudent deal with work flow, shows them precedents, reviews their work and givesthe student advice about work styles of different lawyers.



• The mentor will also ensure that students receive ongoing feedback on theirwork and will prepare a written evaluation of the student's performance at theend of each rotation.



• We evaluate our students twice during each rotation. These evaluationsprovide useful and constructive information for the students and afford studentsa formal opportunity to express their views on the firm, the opportunities givento them, and the direction they would like to see for the balance of theirarticling year. This is in addition to the "open-door" approach we have foraccessibility to all lawyers.



• On an ongoing basis, members of the Students Committee are available forongoing assistance and problem-solving with respect to student issues.

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Professional Development

When articling students start at Blakes, they receive an orientation on theresources at the firm. We have a series of monthly in-house seminars tosupplement our rotation program. The seminars cover topics ranging from thedevelopment of basic practice skills to introductions to specific practiceareas, and in the past few years have included general overviews of thefollowing topics:

• Mortgages



• Intellectual Property



• Mock Motion



• Bankruptcy & Insolvency



• Commercial Leases



• Securities



• Due Diligence



• Buying and Selling a Business



• Factum Writing



• Agreements of Purchase and Sale



• Incorporation



• Professional Responsibility

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Social Events

• Social events are a great way to get to know the lawyers and other studentsat the firm. Throughout the articling year, students have the chance toparticipate in a range of social events. In addition to our Christmas dinnerparty, we hold an event in the summer or fall which in the past has included ariver cruise, train cruise, Halloween party and barbecue/picnic. Spouses orsignificant others are invited to attend many of these events.



• We have additional social functions tailored specifically to lawyers andstudents, including dinners and casual social get-togethers. We believe that oursize, our relative youth and the characteristics that we look for in ourstudents and lawyers make our office a friendly, as well as exciting, place topractice law.

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The "nuts & bolts" ofarticling

• The Law Society of British Columbia requires students to complete the Law Society Admission Program (LSAP) which consists of : nine months of articling; 10 weeks of full-time attendance at the Professional Legal Training Course (PLTC); and two qualification examinations based on the PLTC practice material and course work.



• At Blakes, we strongly encourage all of our articling students to complete their PLTC before starting the articling period at the firm. For information about the PLTC, click here.



• At Blakes, we pay salary and all course fees for the PLTC,regardless of whether the student is hired back as an Associate.



• The Law Society also grants 10 days of vacation during your articles.



• The current annual salary for articling students is $45,000 which includes 10 days of paid vacation. We pay a salary comparable to the highest paid students at Vancouver firms.



• Our students are covered by British Columbia MSP (family coverage), extended medical coverage, a dental plan and an employee assistance program.

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Vancouver Student Committee

There are 15 members on our Student Committee. The primary responsibility of the Committee is to administer the student program which consists of hiring, monitoring and reviewing student performance. The Committee also determines which students will be asked to join Blakes as associates. If you would like to find out more about Blakes' student programs, please feel free to contact any of the committee members listed below and they would be pleased to provide you with further information.

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How To Apply

The application deadline and interview dates for 2012/2013 articling positions will be in accordance to the Vancouver Bar Association Guidelines (2011 Summer).

Congratulations to Tiffany Chung, Drew Gilmour, Bryan Hicks, Krystin Kempton, Michael Li, Luke Pangman, Andrea Piercy and Josh Tarnow for joining our team!

Email or telephone inquiries may be made to:

Jennifer Moberg
Student Coordinator

Email: jennifer.moberg@blakes.com
Telephone: (604) 631-4246

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