Virtual Social Events

In approaching a potentially virtual articling term here at the firm, you may wonder how we manage to get to know each other? 

 Even in these strange and restrictive times, we still managed to eke out some face-to-face contact with one another. 

To get us organized, our Student Director, Ashley, created a schedule and assigned a different student each month to arrange an event for us on the first Thursday of the month. For obvious reasons, there is no requirement that the event be in-person. 

The first month, Ashley organized a virtual charcuterie and mixology class. See Ashna's blog below.

This month, Paul organized a Jackbox Games night. For those unfamiliar, these are a suite of web games where you log in with your phone and compete with others in various trivia-based games. 

Some of us keeners -- that were able -- met up in person, and the others joined via Zoom. (Shout-out to Tess who came from Ottawa.)

Zohaib generously hosted and put out an awesome spread. 

Lots of fun was had by all and many laughs were shared (along with a bottle of wine or two).

Ashley deserves credit for her expertise in selecting the right people for a student team. So, for those prospective students interviewing with the firm, rest assured that you will find yourself within a group of people who just seem to gel. Also be assured that despite the virtual world we are living in, camaraderie is alive and well. 

With that said, I am very much looking forward to our October social event.

Conner S.

Incoming articling students: What to expect during virtual orientation week

 

As the short summer term is quickly coming to a close, the incoming articling students are just a few weeks away from beginning their term. While Ontarian's are starting to experience some sense of normalcy as the province reopens, much of the working world is still virtual. The incoming articling students have the likely prospect of returning to the office at some point in their term. However, like myself and my fellow summer students, they will still have the experience of a virtual orientation week. This article highlights this summer’s orientation week to give all future students a rough understanding of what to expect.

This summer, Ashley Faust, the Director of the student program, organized and facilitated a 5-day orientation training in the first week of our summer term. Each day, we had between four and five training sessions, each led by a different lawyer of the firm.

The sessions ranged from substantive topics relevant to the firm’s common practice areas to topics relevant to daily firm administration. 

Substantive topics included:

• the ABCs of civil litigation, 
• managing a file including interactions with clients, 
• insurance law 101, 
• subrogation, and 
• accident benefits. 

Conversely, the firm admin topics taught us

• how to docket, 
• run a small claims court file, 
• be a good junior, 
• an effective researcher, and 
• be efficient in file management.

Ashley did a great job of balancing the schedule, such that we often alternated between substantive sessions and firm admin sessions. This was helpful in keeping me focused and engaged (since sitting in front of a computer screen for hours can be exhausting in itself).

As the sessions were led by different lawyers at the firm, this allowed us to meet some of our new colleagues and put faces to the names that we would soon see frequently. I appreciated this opportunity having been completely virtual this summer. Without it, it would have been incredibly daunting to start working without really knowing anybody.

During orientation, we did not have access to a firm email account, therefore, no work was assigned during the entire week. This allowed us to ease into the summer term and focus on what we were learning without any added distractions.

Ashley ran a final session each day to catch up on any content not covered in full. At this time, the students could also ask for clarification on anything covered that day. This checkpoint gave us confidence that no question would be left unanswered. (Note: we also maintained a similar checkpoint throughout the remainder of the summer).

By far, the highlight of the orientation week was our Brownie Bake Bonanza. Ashley provided her famous recipe, and one afternoon, we baked together over Zoom. While the brownies were in the oven, we joined in another Zoom call with many of the firm’s lawyers for a virtual meet and greet.

All in all, the orientation week was effective in preparing us to start our summer experience. It was also a great way to meet the faces we would be working with.

Pro-tip for incoming articling students: scroll down and read the rest of the blogs! 

by Rebecca F.

In-between Files

Reflecting at the midway point of our articling term a couple things stand out to me. One is the odd phenomenon that even though we are all given a full workload, articling students are always seeking out more work. It could be that we are given such a range of potential assignments and are just curious about what’s next. Aside from work, what stands out to me is what goes on in between files - specifically the social events that tie our firm together.

...our mid-size firm is our own community which makes learning ... that much more enjoyable.

It's been about a month, and I think it's safe to say that the embarrassment (all done in good fun) from the Christmas skit has died down. This was one of many firm-wide gatherings where we all would break bread and share a laugh together. It just so happened that this firm tradition came at a pivotal time for our articling group.

Stresses had started to spike as we all got a taste of what the end of the year rush entailed, but having an excuse to get together and remind ourselves that we are in this journey together solidified the truly congenial atmosphere that we work in, both firm wide and within our own articling group. We all rallied together to clear our desks to offer a little light hearted fun as as we said goodbye to 2014.

Ahead in our social calendar, we have our Christmas in January gathering, a range of events lined up as we continue to celebrate the firm’s 20th anniversary, amongst others. In between files, our mid-size firm is our own community which makes learning the practical side of the legal world that much more enjoyable. From an articling students' perspective, this is the jackpot. We are not only entrusted with virtually managing our own files, but the firm often encourages us to get involved in social events or attend file-related matters.

Charity Social Event  Pie in the Face

This really does create an atmosphere where there is never a dull moment. Once overcoming the unknown hurdle in a file that you didn't even know existed on any particular morning, you have a quick trip to the kitchen to refill your coffee before putting your brain to the next unknown that waits.

I'm not solely speaking of new files, research memos, or trying to know what I'm talking about while on the phone with a seasoned opposing counsel - here at MB we are an active and collegial group who makes coming to the office with an open mind a necessity. This applies to both producing quality work and taking a moment to enjoy what goes on in between files… time permitting, of course.

Michael V.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name…

With the blog now in full swing, after having been so eloquently introduced by my fellow student in its inaugural post, I find myself in the enviable position of being able to explore any, and all, aspects of being an articling student at McCague Borlack.  Faced with such a litany of choices – e.g., client interaction (we get lots), firm social events (we had a firm-wide cake party today to celebrate our record breaking year, and our annual “Ski Day” is only 7 days away), diversity of interesting work (where else do you get to run your own small claims files and assist on multi-million dollar precedent setting cases?) – I thought I would keep it pseudo-seasonal, yes Valentine’s Day is a season, and discuss one of the elements of MB that makes this place truly special, my fellow articling students.