What I Wish I Knew Before Starting Articling

During the on-campus interviews for summer student positions, which were held over Zoom in my year, I talked about how unique it was that the firm had a student blog. A few months later, I was writing one as a summer student. Now I’m back, law school behind me and a month of articling in, writing again. The version of me on that Zoom call had no idea what the last month would look like.

It felt right to pick up where my summer student post left off. Another round of lessons, this time from the articling side.

Here’s what I wish I had known starting articling…

The intimidation fades quicker than the learning curve does.

As a summer student, asking a question was a whole production. I would draft the whole email, reread it, wonder if it was even worth sending, then save up a few more so I wasn’t bothering anyone twice. There was a lot happening in my head before a single message went out. 

A month into articling, that queue is gone. Now I ask the moment the question comes up. Everyone at McCague Borlack LLP makes that easy. People explain things without making you feel behind, and no one has ever made a question feel silly. The part I assumed would take the longest, feeling comfortable enough to talk to the lawyers, happened first.

You aren’t doing it alone.

I used to think everything about this path was competitive. Grades, the LSAT, law school, recruitment – every stage came with the sense that I was being measured against everyone around me, and I carried that with me. A month back at the firm and that assumption hasn’t held up. There is always someone to talk to, and it never has to be just about work. Somewhere in the last month, it stopped feeling like a place I work and started feeling like a group of people I know.

You’re allowed to be an articling student. 

This has been the hardest one to actually believe. There’s a quiet pressure to feel like a lawyer before you are one, especially surrounded by people who are experienced and accomplished in their legal careers. What I keep coming back to is that no one here is asking me to be anything other than an articling student. Every lawyer here started somewhere, and every one of them is still learning too. 

Almost every task this month started with me not knowing how to do it. The work was figuring it out along the way, and nobody expected anything different.

Last year I was trying to prove I belonged here. This year I have learned that belonging was never about knowing everything. I am usually the least experienced person in the room, and that turns out to be exactly what I’m supposed to be. 

On that same Zoom call, we talked about how law is sink or swim. A month and a few lessons later, I’m still swimming.

Ryyan Elgalal

Staying Connected Despite the Distance

When working for a law firm that has multiple offices across Ontario, or Canada, how do the summer students at each office connect, form professional relationships, and bond over their shared work experience? At McCague Borlack, I realized this summer that it’s not that hard at all. 

Different Offices, Same Connections

Like many law firms, McCague Borlack LLP has many offices across the province of Ontario, with summer students recruited to work at either the Toronto or Ottawa offices. This summer, I was one of two students at the Ottawa office, with the Toronto office having three students, and early on in our terms we knew we wanted to make sure we connected frequently. This connection isn’t solely for work purposes: working effectively in any team environment requires getting to know your co-workers at a personal level so that we can better support each other when help is needed. 

When you want to get to know your co-workers at that personal level, but geographic distance separates your offices, how do you solve this problem? Our student cohort, along with Director of Student Program Ashley Faust, found success by putting in the effort to make time for extracurricular activities that brought us together, even if these events were hosted online.

"Working effectively in any team environment requires getting to know your co-workers at a personal level so that we can better support each other when help is needed."

Start Early and Keep It Up

Part of any good habit is learning to maintain it over time, and our social events were no different. During our Orientation Week at McCague Borlack, we ended one day with a “Baking Social” event, where each student worked off the same recipe for brownies, making them while on a video call, and then adding our own toppings before sharing the results with the team. We wanted to keep this fun experience going throughout the summer, so we planned more social events, happening every few weeks: we held a virtual “mixology” class where participants made homemade cocktails, we would play a short round of Scattergories once a week after a morning meeting, and we even got every lawyer at McCague Borlack involved by having them submit songs for an “MB Summer ’26 Playlist”, which gets the entire firm involved in the fun. 

By keeping up these social events, even if they are being held virtually instead of in-person, the students got to know each other beyond our work habits or the favourite fonts we use when drafting pleadings. Distance between our offices shouldn’t be a barrier to creating new friendships and connections, and I’m proud of our student cohort for committing to finding creative social events that can be run online.

Why It Matters

It’s easy to make friends and find time to bond with your peers in law school: you’re going through the same, often difficult program that pushes you to reach out to others. Working at a law firm can sometimes be the same, but barriers like physical distance between a firm’s offices can make it difficult to connect with your fellow summer students. 

At McCague Borlack, the firm commits to a positive work culture and atmosphere, and our student cohort pushed ourselves to connect with each other in the spirit of that culture. With our group returning for our Articling term in about one year’s time, I’m excited to see what social events we’ll plan next, and how we’ll grow because of them.

By Callum R.

It's Called “Law School” Not “Lawyer School”

There certainly exists a gap between the theoretical content taught by professors at law school and the practice of law. This gap was incredibly apparent during my summer at McCague Borlack.

Mooting vs Court

I had the opportunity to attend the Ontario Court of Appeal for a hearing as well as small claims court for a trial. In law school moots, students are expected to demonstrate their knowledge and may be questioned to determine their understanding of the facts and surrounding case law. Shadowing at court could hardly be further from this. The court is very busy, limited in time, and does not wish to hear anything irrelevant to the specific issues under review. Also, there is no reception afterwards with snacks!

"A successful litigator demonstrates their expertise by finding a swift and practical solution to the client’s problems, not by flaunting their wealth of knowledge."

Client Experience

Law school gives you little to no client contact experience. Within my first month at McCague Borlack, I have corresponded with opposing counsel, witnesses, co-counsel, and clients regarding trial preparation, document production, service of pleadings. Prior to this summer, I did not realize how important interpersonal communication and client expectation management skills were to the practice of law.

Getting the Right Answer

I have also learned that effective counsel is not always about finding the right answer, but rather about finding a practical solution. Many law school exams have a certain formula the students must follow to demonstrate their knowledge in the subject matter. I have learned in my short summer that a successful litigator demonstrates their expertise by finding a swift and practical solution to the client’s problems, not by flaunting their wealth of knowledge.

Work Schedule

Perhaps the largest difference between law school and practicing as a litigator is the volatility of personal schedules. When a law student prepares for a moot or exam, they can be sure that they will write the exam or participate in the moot. This is not always the case in the practice of law - a witness may not show up, documents may not have been produced, or preliminary issues may prevent a trial from starting. It has become clear to me that a litigator must be adaptable and “go with the flow”.

As amazing as Law School is for developing the foundation required for the practice of law, the law firm is responsible for practical development of the student. I have noticed all the above differences within 8 weeks of starting at McCague Borlack. I can only imagine what Articling has in store.

 By Robert R.

Calling (Potential) Clients – Yikes!

Prior to McCague Borlack LLP, I have had no formal law firm experience. My knowledge of interviewing and counselling was limited to what I was taught in law school, and I had never communicated with a client directly, let alone by myself.

Law Firms receive many inquiry calls from potential clients when looking to find a lawyer to take on their case.

When my turn came up in the rotation (read about our student rotation list), I was asked to call back a potential client and do the initial screening of their legal issue, I was so nervous! To calm my nerves, I prepared a mental script on introducing myself and what firm information I needed to provide to the individual from the outset. I quickly learned that there was only so much I could do to prepare for speaking with someone who is under a lot of stress.

From the start of the call, the individual was overwhelmed with their difficult situation. They often spoke in circles, repeating the same concerns, and reacting with strong emotions when answering questions. I was taken aback on how to acknowledge the caller’s emotions and still gather the information I needed.

As the conversation progressed, I found my footing and worked out how to direct the conversation to focus on the underlying issues. I acknowledged their emotions and difficulties while maintaining a professional tone. I realized that this approach helped in calming the caller down and guiding them to provide direct answers to my questions. Additionally, I began frequently referring to previously mentioned details, which helped the caller feel heard and provided me with the clarification I needed.

At the end of the conversation, I felt relieved and more confident in my direct client communication skills. Although it was a very emotionally charged experience, it was a great learning opportunity and exposure to client management.

by Simran S.

From Serving Tables to Serving Clients: How Customer Service Prepared Me for the Practice of Law

Before law school, I ran the gauntlet of customer service jobs. Food services, retail, receptionist, server – you name it, I did it. At the same time, feeling an early aspiration to pursue law, I couldn’t help but wonder if there were other jobs that would make me a more appealing candidate to schools and employers alike.

I was surprised not only by how receptive legal employers have always been to my past customer service work, but also how helpful it’s been in legal practice. 

Here are just a few ways I’ve felt the benefit of my experiences:

Managing Expectations

When I was a teenager, I could not stop getting myself into sticky situations by making promises I couldn’t keep. Once, a customer at a retail job asked me if they had a shirt in a certain colour, and I replied with an emphatic “Yes! Let me go get it from the back”.

After spending far too long in the back, realizing that we indeed did not have that shirt in that colour, the dread set in. Not only did I waste the customer’s time, but I now needed to return and admit my mistake to their face. The only real consequence upon doing so was being met with a blank face and “Oh, okay”. Even so, it was a simple lesson that empty promises aren’t worth the risk.

In law, there’s often a pull to try to placate clients by giving them immediate validation. Their matters are already taking “forever”, and the outcome is important to them. However, if you make a promise you can’t keep, you risk undermining their confidence in you. Once a client loses faith in their lawyer, the whole client-solicitor relationship may as well collapse entirely.

Information Gathering

In customer service, I quickly learned that what a customer says they want isn't always what they actually need. A customer who asks to omit shrimp from their dish may simply dislike the texture or tase. Or, they may have a shellfish allergy, in which swapping in scallops without asking is a bold way to find out. I learned to ask targeted questions and read between the lines, ideally before your customer starts breaking out in hives.

When a client comes to the firm with a legal issue, we’d be lucky if they present a neat, chronological, legally relevant timeline. Instead, they may give a messy narrative filled with personal grievances, irrelevant details, and missing gaps. My time in customer service taught me how to interview people effectively, including active listening, knowing when to dig deeper, and how to gently guide a conversation back on track to get the facts I actually need.

Dealing with Conflict

When I was much younger, my instinct was always to be very deferential to rowdy customers. I didn’t want to risk making them angrier. Over time, I found that coming in with an assertive-but-respectful attitude was far more successful than appearing sheepish. Customers who are upset are often testing the waters, gauging how much room they have to push. A confident "here's what I can do" landed better than being needlessly apologetic because it signaled that I was actually in control of the situation.

Now in legal practice, the stakes are much higher. Some clients are a combination of emotional, on tight time constraints, or confused by the legal process. Opposing counsel can be belligerent, or worse, incompetent. All-in-all, the average lawyer may be confronted with several difficult conversations per week. Any opportunity I had to build my confidence in dealing with confrontation was a valuable one.

The Main Takeaway

Looking back, I don't think my time in customer service made me a stronger candidate because it filled in space on my resume. It mattered because it forced me to develop skills that no amount of studying could have taught me. I shouldn’t have discounted the years I spent folding shirts, serving tables, or answering phones. I may not have known it at the time, but I was already a lawyer in training.

by Caroline S.