Our summer students spend most of their first week in orientation, getting to know each other and learning about things like docketing their time and working with a legal assistant. Representatives from each of the firm’s practice groups participate and offer guidance. And our articling students share their wisdom in a candid session called “If I Knew Then What I Know Now.” We provide our summer students with extensive training on our firm’s systems, and we also offer training on external research tools like Quicklaw and Westlaw.
Over the course of the summer, we offer weekly Lunch-and-Learn seminars on a variety of topics, including Legal Research and Writing, Practice Management Tips, Managing a Closing, the Basics of a Loan Transaction, the Litigation Process, as well as various practice area overviews.
Neil Guthrie, our Director of Professional Development, oversees continuing legal education at the firm and takes a strong interest in helping students. He is an excellent resource for students. He teaches a section of Advanced Legal Research and Writing at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, and developed the research and writing curriculum for the Law Practice Program at Ryerson University. Neil blogs on legal writing for slaw.ca.
Angela Swan (Counsel, Legal Education), is also a great resource for our students. Angela’s practice focuses on supporting lawyers and students with respect to research and opinions. Angela is one of our nation’s best-known experts on contract law, and an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School.