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The articling program at Gowlings appeals to students looking for challenging and diverse assignments. Such students typically demonstrate superior academic achievement, initiative, leadership and self-reliance.
Gowlings Waterloo Region prides itself on its congenial, professional atmosphere, made possible by the relatively small group of remarkable professionals that make up our staff. Able to offer the quality of work associated with a national law firm, the Gowlings Waterloo Region office provides a unique opportunity to develop national experience, while working in a smaller office and in an affordable community.
We design our rotation programs to encourage student exposure to the practice areas of the Firm, provide contact with a wide cross-section of lawyers and agents, and offer the flexibility necessary to meet individual interests.
Our articling program consists of two main rotations: advocacy and business law. Generally speaking, students spend approximately half of their articling year with each group. They gain exposure to all the Firm's practice areas and work with all of its lawyers.
The Waterloo Region advocacy group is engaged in all types of litigation and administrative law. Practice areas include commercial litigation, professional negligence, employment law, municipal law, insurance defence work and insolvency. Articling students are directly involved with clients, attending client interviews, hearings and trials, examinations for discovery, and in preparing court documents and legal research.
The business law group offers a broad range of expertise in all aspects of corporate and commercial law, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, real estate, secured lending, tax and estate planning, public and private financing and securities.
A particularly vibrant and growing group within business law is the technology law group—comprised of lawyers with a focus on business law and intellectual property, this group addresses the challenges faced by small-to mid-sized growth companies. Gowlings is one of the few law firms with high-level expertise in technology and intellectual property law issues such as e-commerce, patents and software licensing, as well as vast experience in corporate transactions such as venture capital financing, securities law, tax planning, acquisitions, joint-ventures and spinoffs.
The business law group is typically involved in the largest and most complex transactions in the area. Articling students participate in the drafting of documentation and assist in due diligence, overseeing file management from initial contact to closing and researching points of law.
With a broad clientele of national and multinational organizations, Gowlings Waterloo Region provides students with exposure to a wide variety of industries including Energy, Financial Services, Government Relations, Infrastructure, Mining, Manufacturing, Technology and Life Sciences.
While we do not set a target number of hours for our students, they are generally expected to carry a workload similar to that of our associates. The annual budget for Gowlings Waterloo Region associates is 1750 docketed hours, which means approximately 35 docketed hours per week. Our students participate in weekly work allocation meetings to ensure equality of work distribution and exposure to a variety of skill sets and professionals within the Firm.
The articling program at the Gowlings Waterloo Region office appeals to students who value the diversity of our practice areas and the broad talent base of our professionals. We're looking for individuals who are passionate about the practice of law, dedicated to client service and driven to excel in everything they do. Our culture encourages collaboration, rewards innovation and recognizes the value of interests outside of school and work. At Gowlings we're all about the team, so we want people who recognize the value of teamwork, but who can also work independently when the occasion calls for it.
Gowlings Waterloo Region generally hires two students for its summer program and three students for the articling program. For Summer 2010, we hired one student and we will have four articling students for the 2010/11 term.
The deadline for application for an articling position is April 30, 2010 and interviews will be scheduled in early May at a mutually-convenient time. Please note that this office does not participate in the OCI process.
Gowlings Waterloo Region recruits in accordance with any and all applicable Law Society of Upper Canada guidelines and procedures. As an equal opportunity employer, we encourage candidates to voluntarily self-identify if they are an Aboriginal person, a member of a visible minority or a person with a disability.
At Gowlings Waterloo Region, students receive regular feedback and ongoing guidance. During the course of the year, students meet with their Principals for formal assessments as required by the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC). We view these sessions as supplementary to the daily opportunities for informal feedback made possible by an "open door" policy of accessible partners and associates.
The articling committee Chair has regular lunch meetings with students to review rotation schedules and discuss the articling experience. The Chair is also available to meet with students as required.
Our commitment to our students includes a competitive salary, based on the market rate for articling students—currently $55,000 per annum (2009/10 term), plus vacation pay for articling students. Articling students receive generous medical and dental benefits and two weeks' paid vacation. In addition, we pay the Bar Admission Course tuition fee for our articling students.
Gowlings offers a great opportunity for students to challenge their minds and test their abilities in a friendly atmosphere. We host a number of social events in which our articling students are encouraged to join. For example, our students attend our professionals’ golf tournament and enjoy student-specific events and informal get-togethers as they arise.
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