Articling and Summer Students
The attraction and recruitment of exceptionally talented lawyers is the lifeblood of our firm.
Waterous traditionally hires one or more law students who have successfully completed their second year of law school studies for a summer work term in addition to its Articling Students. The summer student position offers a unique experience to get hands on experience in many aspects of law as well as prepare students for what lies in store for the Articling period. Our expectation is that the summer student will transition to an Articling position the following year and we have gained many valuable Articling students through this practice.
A Great Start to a Great Career
In our view, recruiting talented law school graduates is vital to fulfilling our continuing commitment to providing excellent legal advice and representation to the clients we serve. We select motivated and well-rounded students with strong records of academic and personal achievement.
As a firm, we are proud of our ability to give our students quality training, broad experiences and the intensity of experiences that come with practicing law. Many of our lawyers articled with our firm and have chosen to build their legal careers with us.
A Unique Experience
We are able to offer our students the best attributes of an established law firm, including exposure to many different areas of law, challenging work and the opportunity to work with a broad client base, without losing the benefits of a close, hands-on environment. We strive to push our students intellectually and help them develop professionally. We offer a dynamic atmosphere in which students can learn and flourish.
At Waterous, we expose our articling students to a wide variety of legal experiences. To gain litigation experience, our students have the opportunity to independently conduct small claims court matters and landlord and tenant matters, from the initial client interview to trial, under the supervision of our litigation lawyers. In addition, our articling students assist senior lawyers in all aspects of superior court and appeals court litigation in civil, family, commercial, personal injury and employment law matters. Students are involved in conducting legal research, attending motions, discoveries, pre-trials and trials, drafting separation and settlement agreements, preparing uncontested divorces and assisting in child protection matters.
To gain corporate experience, our students are exposed to a variety of corporate transactions ranging from the incorporation of a business to complex financing and merger and acquisition transactions. Under the guidance of our business lawyers, our students develop their drafting skills by assisting in the drafting of a variety of agreements, including share and asset purchase agreements, financing and security documents, employment and non-competition agreements and wills and powers of attorney. In addition, our students are required to independently conduct a real estate transaction from the opening of a file to the closing of the transaction.
We believe that lawyers who have practiced in diverse areas make better lawyers. We, therefore, ensure that throughout their time with us, our students are exposed to different areas of the law.
Mentorship
We encourage our partners and associates to offer continuous feedback to help our students further develop their skills as a lawyer. Our students have quarterly luncheon meetings with their articling principal and some of their mentors to ensure that they are on track to achieving their articling goals and that they are being exposed to all areas of law. In addition, in accordance with the Law Society requirements, a student’s articling principal will conduct a mid-term evaluation and ethics examination.
Waterous offers its articling students a comprehensive in-house law library that is supplemented by up-to-date on-line resources and research aids, as well as easy access to the Brant Law Association library located in the Brantford courthouse. In addition, our team of law clerks and legal assistants, together with the open-door policy of our lawyers, ensures that our students have the best resources available.
Most importantly, we want you to feel at home at Waterous and part of the team. We, therefore, integrate our students into all aspects of our professional life by including them in our firm’s social activities and community events. Over the years, our firm social activities have included formal dinner engagements, dances, summer barbeques, boat cruises, golf tournaments and ski trips to name a few. Our students have also participated on our team at community events to raise funds for local and national charities.
Each month we also rotate our students’ mentors to ensure that our students are exposed to and mentored by a lawyer from each practice area. A student’s mentor will meet with him or her regularly to monitor their work in terms of work load, quality, quantity and variety. This allows our students to be exposed to the areas of law practiced by each of our lawyers, in addition to getting to know us on a more personal level.