Articling in Ottawa - Yours to Discover

The 2L recruitment process is all about Bay Street. But if Toronto’s Big Law scene isn’t for you, don’t let yourself get caught up in feeling pressure to apply. Instead, look around to see what else is out there – you might be pleasantly surprised!

For students like me who didn’t participate in the Toronto recruitment process, it’s hard to find information that will help inform your opinion about firms. Where to apply, what each firm is about, and which firm is your “top choice” quickly become daunting questions.

"Take your time learning about each firm online.
Reach out to students and lawyers.
Call them. Go to coffee. Ask questions."

Also, learn about the city you are considering. Many law firms hire their future lawyers from their students, so consider whether each firm is in a city you can see yourself building a life.

For those of you considering Ottawa for summer work, let me tell you what you can look forward to. Ottawa has its own unique culture. We are hard-working but laid-back and collegial; we love pubs, live music, and summer festivals; we have beautiful outdoor spaces, and an endless number of hiking and biking trails, including Gatineau National Park. We also have a much-underestimated foodie scene, with tasty bites in the hipster Hintonburg area, trendy Glebe area, and of course, the well-known historic Byward Market. Or, if the sun is shining, opt for a picnic along the Rideau Canal or on Parliament Hill!

As a law student, you will love visiting the Supreme Court of Canada to imagine your future office or touring the Parliament buildings, including the beautiful and authentic 1876 Library of Parliament. Right downtown you’ll also find the National Arts Centre, National Gallery of Canada, Canadian War Museum, Canadian Museum of Nature, Canada Aviation and Space Museum, and many more Museums and historical sites.

The moral of the story, Ontario has a lot of beautiful and well-rounded cities to work and build a life in. If Bay Street isn’t a good fit for you, discover other beautiful cities in Ontario.

by Carly J.

Ottawa Articling Students - Personalized :)

The Ottawa Articling Students have had the opportunity to work very closely together (literally-our desks are across from each other!). We have had some great times and some challenging times, but we are always willing to bounce ideas off one another and help each other out.

Before we go, we would like to better introduce ourselves and give a little glimpse into our backgrounds and what we like to do for fun in Ottawa.

David

Growing up…

David is an Ottawa Native. He is born and raised in Orleans, Ontario, a suburb in the East of the City. David grew up in a primarily French household and went to a French high school. However, he is also completely bilingual. Prior to law school, David worked at the Canada Revenue Agency.

In his spare time…

David loves to keep active. As a former competitive hockey player, he enjoys watching his favourite hockey team, the Calgary Flames, and continues to play recreational hockey on a weekly basis. Besides hockey, his favourite sports to watch on television are Football and Baseball, although he has never played either. Go, Saints! Go Jays!

David's Dog, Daisy

In the summer, you can find David on the tennis court and on the golf course or spending time with his family, friends or his adorable dog Daisy. David particularly enjoys going to concerts, and music festivals. He truly appreciates live music. Most recently, he saw the Lumineers in concert and was thoroughly impressed!

David decided to go to law school because…

David has always enjoyed problem-solving. However, throughout his young life, David gravitated towards the idea of becoming a dentist, an English teacher, an accountant or a paramedic. It was not until the end of the first year of his undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa, that it occurred to him that he should become a lawyer. David thanks his older cousin for inspiring him to pursue a law degree. After hearing about the interesting experiences his cousin was afforded during his time at law school, David decided to apply and was accepted to the University of Ottawa, and the rest is history!

Cassandra

Growing up…

I am originally from Montreal, but I grew up in Ottawa, where I completed high school, my undergraduate degree, my master’s degree and my Juris Doctor degree. Like David, I am from the suburb of Orleans. In fact, growing up, David and I lived down the street from each other, but had unfortunately never crossed paths until we met at the office!

In my spare time,

Cassandra’s dog, Missy

I enjoy skating on the Rideau Canal and hitting the ski hills in the winter. In the summers, I enjoy working on my golf game and have been taking lessons in the hopes of sharpening my skills. I also enjoy spending time with my dog, Missy, and taking her on walks through the Gatineau Hills.

I decided to go to law school because…

Like David, I enjoy solving problems and I have always had a curiosity about the law, generally. I planned my career trajectory early, as I decided to become a lawyer in the twelfth grade. Therefore, most of my university choices were geared towards reaching this goal. Now I am about two months away from accomplishing what I set out to do in grade twelve and I couldn’t be more excited to start my career as a lawyer!

What Can Come With Change! Summer vs. Articling

It’s McCague Borlack's 20th anniversary this year and just to know how far they've come, I’m writing this blog in their Ottawa office, one of the cities MB has expanded into since the firm’s inception.

Would I ever get to see the top of my desk again or will it be buried under all the new work coming in?

When I applied to the Ottawa office last year for a summer position, I was both intrigued and excited. Here was a reputable Toronto-based firm that just had expanded into Ottawa, my beloved hometown.

I suspected that given the newness of the Ottawa office, I would have an opportunity to form good relationships with the lawyers I would work with and be provided considerable responsibility as a student. Let’s be honest, during your articling period, you spend a lot of time at work, so relationships with other firm members and having challenging work assigned certainly helps. And my suspicions about how my summer experience was going to be at MB turned out to be true.

However, since last summer, the Ottawa office has more than doubled in size. I have to admit, initially, I couldn't help but selfishly think about what this all meant for me - the only articling student in the Ottawa office. Questions started to fill my head: Would I ever get to see the top of my desk again or will it be buried under all the new work coming in? Would I be recognizable to my family when they saw me next? Would all the great projects I was looking forward to being transferred to the other lawyers? Would the new members of the firm like my work and me?

So far I've completed at least two months of articling and I’m still intrigued and excited, these worries of mine… well most of them… have faded away. I've learned more in these last two months about the law than I would have ever expected... and sometimes liked. The lawyers have been good at assigning me interesting work and, I think, I've also been good with prioritizing tasks.

Additionally, I've been able to tag along to trials and examinations conducted by the lawyers here and I've been able to observe their differing styles. I've also already done my first settlement conference and appeared before the Provincial Court. Plus, I have my first trial scheduled in November!

It’s not to say that I have no more worries about articling (because that would be a lie!). They've just been replaced by new ones, like making sure I get that pleading or reporting letter out in time or making sure to draft that coverage opinion correctly (all under great mentorship and supervision of course).

While things have changed considerably for me since the last summer, I've learned that change can be good. Oh, and I’m happy to report that my family still does recognize me.

Sam M.

Half-Time Recap!

I started just over a month ago with the Ottawa office of MB and I have just over a month left. Yikes! Where did the time go? So I thought this would be a perfect time to provide my half–time commentary on how things are going from the perspective of a student (me!), and my game plan to conquer the second half of my summer with MB.

It seems like just yesterday when I was gearing up and excited for orientation. I wouldn’t consider myself the best athlete – okay, maybe not an athlete at all – but I was ready to begin and hit the ground running.

"You’ll experience a rush when you find that perfect case that matches the fact scenario that you’re dealing with."

Right out of the gate, I couldn’t believe that I was working directly with partners and senior counsel. Of course, I felt intimidated at first. While I would consider myself to be a naturally confident person, I was hoping for a few practice runs before being thrown in with the big leagues. However, I have quickly realized that, despite the wealth of knowledge and experience possessed by these individuals, at the end of the day, we are all on the same team. I just have to trust my abilities and put my best foot forward.

There will, of course, be days where you feel that you’ve had a solid performance and not once was the red pen used for corrections busted out for you. You’ll even experience a rush when you find that perfect case that matches the fact scenario that you’re dealing with. There will also be days where two cups of coffee and three drafts later, you wish you could have shined a bit brighter. I guess after all, as students, we’re hardest on ourselves. However, I’ve learned that if you keep yourself benched, you won’t learn from the sidelines. This is the benefit of being a student at MB, you get out there quickly and you’re given considerable opportunities to explore what areas of the law you like and what areas you may grow to like. In addition, just like my colleagues have reiterated, there is tons of support and direction provided to you by people at MB, including the associates, assistants and law clerks. People are always willing to provide guidance and tips on how to tackle what can sometimes feel like a daunting task.

Finally, as one of the two students in Ottawa, I feel like it’s my duty to represent my hometown turf and shed light on my specific experience as a student in the Ottawa office of MB. I’ve experienced impromptu pizza parties, where the lawyers, assistants and students will have their lunch in the boardroom to break some cheesy bread together and discuss non-work-related things. I’ve also been able to form strong bonds with the same lawyers I get to work with day in and day out.

As for my game plan to conquer the second half of the summer and things I’ve learned along the way, here it is: first, don’t forget to breathe; second, remain confident and; third, always be game for everything that’s thrown at you. Yes, admittedly, this is a very simple strategy, yet not only have I learned tons with this mentality, but I’ve also had fun along the way!

Sammy M.

Just down the hall...

If you’ve been following the blog you’ll know my colleagues in Toronto have already discussed the terror that consumes you on your first day of orientation as a summer student and the relief you feel when you discover (a) the supportive environment of MB and (b) that the other students are just as terrified. However, as the first Ottawa summer student to have the opportunity to contribute, I wanted to share some aspects of the experience that are specific to this end of the hallway.

"We were told repeatedly to think of Ottawa as ‘just down the hall’ from Toronto..."

The other Ottawa student and I arrived in Toronto along with nine Toronto students for orientation. Feeling overwhelmed (and outnumbered) we nervously tried to make a lasting impression in the short time we had. We were pleasantly surprised at the warm reception we received. Instead of being considered temporary visitors, we were welcomed as any other member of the team. We were told repeatedly to think of Ottawa as ‘just down the hall’ from Toronto – a five-hour drive down the hall, but down the hall nonetheless. Excited, nervous, and a little skeptical we returned to Ottawa with these sentiments for our first day on the job. We learned quickly however that in the age of technology with everything available at our fingertips, down the hall may in fact be closer than it seems.

Working in the MB Ottawa office allows students to have the benefit of a small firm experience with the support and opportunities of a large firm. This close integration whether achieved through email, phone or videoconference allows me to receive (what I think is) the best of both worlds. I have been able to work in varying areas of law (employment, medical malpractice and administrative law to name a few), and for various MB lawyers (both in Toronto and Ottawa), while enjoying the close-knit interactions of a small firm.

Aside from this, Ottawa as a city provides a unique and charming summer experience to its students. Admittedly some of us succumbed to this allure a few weeks ago when we stepped out for a quick lunch as just outside our offices the streets were bursting with people enjoying the annual rib fest. There is something incredibly endearing about seeing hundreds of people dressed to the tee in their suits, all draping themselves with paper napkins to dig into a rack of ribs. It is a city that has managed to find a commendable balance between the work hard and play hard philosophy.

It is clear that whether in Toronto or Ottawa, MB offers its students with a unique learning experience. Not only in the type of work it offers but in the unified approach it takes to dealing with both offices. While they both have distinct features the overarching theme remains that we are part of the larger MB network. Knowing this, provides me as a student, with the comforting thought that I have that much more support, guidance and opportunities available to me.

Divya K