Taking Inventory: From one Student to Another

The MB articling students are officially seven months into our articling term, with only three months left.

"Now is the perfect time for us to reflect on our experiences so far
and take inventory of the things we have learned."

If I were to pass three lessons on to incoming and future summer and articling students, I believe the following advice will have the most impact.

1. Take the time to learn

Remember that we are still students. We are allowed, and expected, to learn, grow, and make mistakes throughout the course of our articling experience. No one is expecting us to know how to do everything perfectly on our first day, or even ten months into articles. Like law school, articling is a learning process where we are invited to explore new things, make mistakes, learn from our mistakes, and try again.

2. No one expects perfection

That brings me to the second lesson I have learned which is – as cliché as it may sound – each mistake we make is a learning opportunity. This phrase is particularly applicable during summering and articling terms.

When we aim for perfection and put our best efforts into each task we are assigned, it is hard to not feel defeated when a lawyer takes a red pen to it. Likewise, when we get busy, it is easier to click “accept all changes” than to actually go through the document, learn what was changed, and ask why. However, much more is gained from taking the time to review our errors and reflect on the constructive criticism we receive. When we take this time, we create an opportunity for ourselves to do better next time by applying what we learned from our past to our future. With practice, we start seeing less of that red pen and more “good job”s.

3. You are smart and capable

Finally, and perhaps most important, be prepared to discover that you are smarter and more capable than you think. As a summer and articling student, you will face a steep learning curve, confronting new tasks that you have never before considered, let alone have the first idea of how to approach. This feeling can be daunting.

At times at McCague Borlack, I have felt like the lawyers have more faith in me than I have in myself. For example, on occasion, I have been tasked with assignments that, at first, I feel like I have no business completing. But with the right resources and mentoring, I learned that I am actually more capable than I thought, which inspires me to approach the next daunting task with more confidence.

These three things are easy to know, but much more difficult to keep top-of-mind during summering and articling. We are busy and often put pressure on ourselves to excel. I strongly believe that these three tips would have served me well throughout my summer term and articles, both in terms of my well-being and work-product, had I been more alert to them all along.

In passing them on, I hope they will be helpful to you as you embark on yours!

by Carly J.

"Articling is a marathon, not a sprint", and other advice

Almost three weeks ago, the six 2018 summer students returned as articling students. On the first day, we walked into the board room, one by one for our arrival time at 9:15 a.m. Everything looked the same, but it felt very different. We weren’t as nervous; we felt comfortable and excited to be back at the firm.

It is now the third week of articling and the “floodgates” have been open for almost two weeks. When sitting at my desk I hear either keyboards clicking or phones ringing…everyone is busy. All of the articling students have received a variety of assignments from various lawyers at the firm.

Even though we feel comfortable, having been summer students at the firm, having the title as “articling student” can feel overwhelming at times. Howard Borlack, the managing partner at the firm, gave us advice during training week that has stuck with me and been helpful in the past few weeks:

“Articling is not a sprint, but a marathon.”

As articling students, we were advised to pace ourselves with accepting assignments and avoid burning out at the beginning of the articling term.

This advice is similar to what I was told in my first year of law school. As many people know, the first year is very competitive, but it cannot be treated as a sprint because students should not be burnt out for their final exams. Similarly, although it is tempting to use all of our energy right away, we were reminded to spread out our hard work and assure that we are improving throughout the term and maintaining our hard work.

“Maintain a work-life balance.”

We were fortunate to be reminded that it is important to maintain a work-life balance during articling.

Although we will need to meet deadlines, we were advised to still make time for the family, friends, gym, or things we enjoy doing during our free time. This helps combat feelings of being burned out, stressed, and overwhelmed.

“Articling is a time to learn from your mistakes.”

We were advised to take advantage of this opportunity to learn and have lawyers advise us on ways to improve as “baby lawyers”.

We were reminded that we have the benefit of learning as much as we want to and are able to in the next 10 months. So far, the supervising lawyers on my assignments have been extremely helpful in answering questions I have had and explaining why I was wrong when I made a mistake.

With that being said, I look forward to the next 10 months of being a sponge for knowledge; making mistakes, but learning from them.

by Anisha B.

The "Practice" of Law

As I near the end of my articles (where did the time go?!) and reflect on the past eight months I keep going back to an “aha moment” that I feel is worthy of sharing. The moment where I was told by one of my mentors: remember, it’s called the practice of law.

"Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good.
It's the thing you do that makes you good." 

- Malcolm Gladwell - Outliers: The Story of Success

The majority of people in law are considered type-A personalities who strive to get it absolutely perfect the first time around. This appetite for immediate excellence is pulverized and rejigged once the natural reality of being an articling student sinks in. As an articling student, you are going to get it wrong. If your expectation as a student is to always draft an impeccable Statement of Claim/Defence, Affidavit of Documents, Liability and Damages Assessment, Mediation Memorandum etc…the first, second and even the third time around, wake up, you’re dreaming. I know, it is a hard hit to our high-achieving egos but as the saying goes - making mistakes is better than faking perfection. Your experience as an articling student will be far better if you arrive with an open attitude that you are here to learn and mistakes are inevitable.

Now, there are other ways of learning while minimizing the damage to our fragile egos, one being, that of learning from the mistakes of others. This takes me to another noteworthy piece of advice given to me: to attend and observe as many court appearances, mediations, discoveries, settlement conferences etc. as possible. I won’t touch on all of my experiences but can tell you with utmost confidence that when it came time for me to argue my first motion I was prepared for anything and everything that could have been thrown my way. This was owed to the fact that I observed a number of motions and took notes of what not to do when other articling students were being scolded by the presiding Master on issues such as improper service or why they attended court without a copy of the Rules of Civil Procedure to refer to when questioned on a relevant rule. In addition to this, if something was procedurally unclear to me I took the initiative to approach the Registrar and ask questions once the courtroom had cleared. This was also of major assistance when it was my turn to enter the courtroom as a representative and not a member of the public.

In the end, we all make mistakes, and the legal profession is no exception. As an articling student, you may not generate the final product or have a strong grasp on a specific process until after a few attempts, but that is ok and accepted. So for the future articling group coming in, do not forget - it is called the practice of law!

by Gabriela C.