At Lavery, we have three core practice groups: Business Law, Administrative and Labour Law, and Litigation, each covering more than 25 practice areas, including government affairs, criminal and penal law, real estate law and class action suits.

There are approximately 175 lawyers in our Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa offices.

40% of our lawyers practise Business Law, 33% practise Litigation and 27% practise Administrative Law.

This may vary according to the lawyer's area and number of years of practice, but we aim for an average of 1,800 billable hours per year.

We are part of associations and have formed alliances with firms outside of Quebec though they are not formal mergers. Since 2004, Lavery has been a member of the World Services Group (WSG), which is present in over 120 countries and represents some 200,000 clients. This is a non-exclusive network that enables us to work jointly with other firms in accordance with our clients’ needs.

We look for students who are both enthusiastic and innovative, who have an aptitude for business development and customer service and who are prepared to invest their energy in the firm. We also require an exemplary academic record.

We normally recruit about ten articling and summer students.

We hired 7 students last year.

Your resume, a cover letter, and a university transcript.

You can apply for 2015.

The deadline is usually during the first two weeks of February—two years in advance—i.e. February 2011. Since the firm is a party to the Recruiting Agreement with the other major firms, we are subject to the same deadlines and restrictions. Interviews will be held in March 2013.

Although we would like to offer employment to 100% of our students, the rate is generally about 70%. This percentage may also vary where students go on with further studies or change career paths. Current economic conditions may also be a factor.

You will be guided and supervised by one articling supervisor and one coach/lawyer at every stage of your article. There are three rotations in our three broad practice groups, namely Business Law, Administrative and Labour Law, and Litigation.

We do not encourage this type of articling program. We believe that articling students benefit from working in a variety of files and showing their skills to a variety of people.

We understand that preparing for an interview can be challenging and that the interview period is stressful since you are still studying at university. Therefore, we hold only one interview during which we take the time to get to know each candidate well.

During the interview, we take you on a tour of the office and ask you to complete a questionnaire to assess your skills in French and English. Finally, two lawyers from our recruiting team will meet with you for about an hour for the interview. The whole process takes about 2 hours.

We ask open questions that allow us to get to know you better and that give you the opportunity to tell us about your professional abilities, personal qualities and motivation.

Yes; you must demonstrate a high level of skill in both languages.

No. Nevertheless, we require all our applicants to be bilingual.

No, you are not obliged to do so. However, if you believe that your family status could conflict with your article, we encourage you to let us know. We value candour and will certainly be able to find a reasonable accommodation for you. Many women in the firm are working mothers and this in no way affects their career potential.

Yes.

You will participate in research, drafting legal memoranda and research reports.

You will report to two lawyers who supervise students and distribute work.

No; but a summer job with the firm allows the student to get acquainted with the firm’s procedures and research tools. This makes the beginning of your articling easier.