Weird Projects, Field Trips & RAAAPTORS!

After orientation, an email that came through for me on the file assignment list was ambiguously phrased,  “Who in Toronto wants to take on a weird project?” A thrill of both anticipation and slight apprehension ran through me. This sounded like a challenge, which only made me more excited as I collected my pen and notebook to discuss the file with the assigning partner. We chatted about the matter, which turned out to be a research assignment pertaining to an overseas John Doe who had fraudulently stolen a client’s funds through online hacking.

I was asked to determine the best way to move forward in order to recover our client’s losses and was given wide latitude in ascertaining what that might be.

This freely given trust and responsibility were exactly why I had admired MB’s student program. Excited, I sped back to my desk. Time to research!

Week 2: Spontaneous Field Trips

My first field trip was a contested motion in Superior Court, where I watched the negotiation process unfold between two lawyers outside the courtroom in a bid to save their client's costs by settling the matter early. In law school, we learn more theoretical and black letter law concepts, and therefore it was interesting to see how the law operates on an everyday, practical basis. Before this, I didn’t realize how much of a legal outcome relies on pragmatic and measured negotiation prior to actually speaking in front of a judge.

Then later an email came in off the list requesting that a student partakes in an examination for discovery. So I spent the next two days observing a multi-faceted examination where various parties were questioned by many different sets of counsel. I was responsible for transcribing all of the evidence and returned to the office with a deepened understanding of effective examination strategies. I also got to prepare undertakings charts based on my notes for all the parties who were examined! In-depth involvement in files such as this allows you to feel like, even as a summer student, you are doing practical and valuable work on a file.

Summer Students 2019: Jennifer and Chelsea 

Week 3: Accomplishments

On Monday, the whole firm celebrated the recent Raptor’s NBA Championship win! We had been told the week before to wear our favourite Raptor’s regalia to work, and a firm-wide email was sent out encouraging everyone to go see the parade. There was also a viewing party complete with pizza in one of our boardrooms, and everyone at the firm came together to enjoy the wave of excitement that was sweeping Canada.

The energy in the city carried me through the rest of the day, and I speedily started preparing motion materials for my previous John Doe assignment. The assigning Partner had wholeheartedly agreed with my recommendations for further action and told me to prepare a novel motion that our firm had never fully brought before. Again, the same familiar frisson of excitement tinged with a sliver of self-doubt; Can I do this? Did I really get my research right earlier?

The answers to the above questions are yes! I have just submitted my draft motion materials, and am looking forward to moving the file along further and keeping up with its future developments. Being involved with strategic decisions and taking charge of the next steps for the forward movement of a file is a heady feeling for a student who has just finished her second year of law school. I am excited for more opportunities to expand my capabilities in the future with MB!

by Chelsea D.

Hit the Ground Running

It is our second week at MB as summer students and if I could describe the experience so far, it would certainly be to say we have hit the ground running. During our first week, we immersed ourselves in learning about the various practice areas the firm specializes in, the art of docketing, file management, research skills, and getting to know many wonderful and talented people. This week, it was time for us to put theory behind us and begin the real work.

it is always exciting to find out what our tasks are for the day...

At MB, work is mainly assigned through 'The List'. Students are placed on this List alphabetically and respond to assignments in that order. So far, it seems to be a great system that equally provides everyone with varied opportunities. We do not get to cherry pick assignments or decide who we want to work with in terms of the assignments that come off the List, so it is always exciting to find out what our tasks are for the day and with whom we will be working with. In just two days, I have had the pleasure of working with two partners in conducting research for a file, drafting an Affidavit of Documents, and a Damages Brief. My peers have also received several interesting assignments, including drafting a Notice of Motion and a statement of claim. In addition to the List, we can always seek out work in areas that particularly interest us or from lawyers we are eager to work with.

Although we are very excited to begin our journey as summer students at MB and gain all the practical skills of lawyering, the learning curve is steep. There is a world of a difference in learning the theory behind drafting a particular type of document versus actually doing it. The key to success in this program is to work hard, take initiative, have a positive attitude, and be open to trying new things and understanding that you might not get it right the first time (or the second). My first Affidavit of Documents required multiple drafts and revisions, and entailed several hours of pouring over thousands of pages of documents, determining which of them were relevant, and then sorting them into the appropriate schedules. It is important to stay motivated and avoid focusing on mistakes. Making mistakes and asking lots of questions is an important learning tool. It also helps that the lawyers here are all more than willing to help and it is clear they want to see us succeed.


Also, the summer students have quickly bonded with one another and have formed great friendships. MB encourages collegiality, teamwork, and cooperation. Rather than focusing on competing against one another, we focus on pushing ourselves to learn as much as possible. We know we can always lean on one another for support and motivation should we need it. We are all looking forward to seeing what new experiences the weeks ahead of us are going to bring!

Taskeen A.

Don’t judge a book by its cover: Affidavit of Documents (AoD)

As MB students, we are exposed to a wide range of assignments during our summer and articling terms. There is no doubt that some assignments are more popular than others simply because the tasks involved appear to be more “lawyer-like” vs. tedious. However, even tasks that appear to be boring provide a great insight into each case and, believe it or not, have their own high points. A great example is preparing an Affidavit of Documents (AoD).

Parties must disclose any relevant documents in their possession in order to avoid “trial by ambush”...

Document discovery is a significant process in pre-trial litigation. Parties must disclose any relevant documents in their possession in order to avoid “trial by ambush” and to encourage early settlement. Preparing an AoD, at times, requires sorting through large volumes of documents; and yes, this inevitably includes many paper cuts!

What's Relevant?
However, in preparing an AoD, you encounter an array of documents, including contracts, reports, invoices, photos, and correspondence between parties. While reading through these documents, you determine where the parties stand in the litigation. Also, it provides good practice for learning what type of documents are relevant in different cases.

Privilege
Furthermore, a decision has to be made whether privilege is to be claimed over any documents. This decision generates much discussion amongst the students. The most common forms of privilege encountered are settlement privilege, solicitor-client privilege, and – the number one discussion item – litigation privilege.

Unfavourable Information
In one assignment, we had to determine whether litigation privilege could be claimed over an accident report prepared by an employer on the date of loss for injuries suffered by an employee at work. While the report described the clients’ injuries, it also contained some unfavourable information. However, unfavourable or not, we could not claim litigation privilege based on this. The decision is based on when the document was produced (to determine if it was made before reasonable contemplation of litigation) and ascertaining its dominant purpose.

As you can see, while preparing AoDs may at first glance seem like a boring task, it can provide a great opportunity to assess the subject file and enhance your analysis of what is deemed to be “relevant” or “privileged”. I guess it’s true when they say: “never judge a book by its cover”.

Navid G.