FAQ
What are you looking for in the students you hire?
We are looking for bright, engaged, and self-motivated people who show a real interest in our practice, together with excellent team skills, judgment, work ethic and leadership skills. We embrace diversity and a broad range of talents and backgrounds, and look for people who enjoy a high level of responsibility and teamwork, work hard, and will add to the texture of our firm.
What distinguishes your firm from other firms?
We are a young firm both in age and in spirit. We have mandates of the highest quality. We are entrepreneurial and give our students and associates opportunities to work with stimulating colleagues in a team environment on national and international files. We encourage our students and associates to take on lots of responsibility early in their career, with the firm supplying top-notch support with a minimum of hierarchy and structure. We embrace diversity, value a broad range of talents and backgrounds, and encourage you to be yourself.
How many articling students do you hire?
We are one of the few remaining firms that looks outside of its summer student group to hire articling students. For the 2009/2010 articling student recruitment process, we hired 11 additional articling students outside of our current summer group.
How many summer students do you hire?
We typically hire 12 to 15 summer students. During the 2009 student recruitment process, we hired 14 summer students who will be joining us in May 2009.
What international opportunities are available to students and associates?
We generally staff our international offices with students and lawyers from our domestic offices, with one or two opportunities on average arising every year based on the needs of the international offices. In recent years, students and associates have worked in our London and Montreal offices.
What is the typical workload for students and associates?
In serving the needs of our clients, students and associates docket between 1,600 and 2,000 hours a year. The firm assumes a rough budget of 1,800 hours for each associate in the corporate, real estate, litigation, competition and labour groups, and 1,500 hours for each associate in the tax group.
Does the firm have a Diversity Committee?
Yes, Stikeman Elliott's Toronto Office has a Diversity Committee which is made up of partners, associates, and firm management members. The committee meets monthly to discuss our ongoing initiatives within the firm. For more information about our Diversity Committee and our initiatives, please click here.
What sort of continuing legal education programs do you have for students?
We have a very comprehensive CLE program for articling and summer students. We offer intensive in-house CLE seminars that are put on by our lawyers, as well as selected educational seminars offered by external organizations we invite to the firm. We also have an evening seminar series throughout the summer and articling year. Each seminar is followed by a group dinner at a nearby restaurant hosted by lawyers who practice in the area of the evening's topic. Our CLE programming helps you gain important legal skills and practical knowledge.
What is your Maternity Policy?
Any associate may take a leave up to the maximum period permitted by law. For maternity leave, Stikeman Elliott provides a 17-week salary supplement to the Employment Insurance maternity benefits to "top up" to 95 percent of an associate's regular salary, provided that she has completed at least one year practice with the firm. For other leaves of absence, we consider those on a case-by-case basis.
How can I go about getting a tour of the firm?
We are happy to have student groups visit the firm and learn more about our practice areas. For firm tours, we like to have a group size of at least 15-20 students. Unfortunately, we are unable to organize individual firm tours. To request a firm tour, please contact Julie Gellos, Student Programmes Coordinator, by phone: (416) 869-7775 or by e-mail at jgellos@stikeman.com.
How can I find out more information about Stikeman Elliott's Student and Associate Programmes?
For more information, please contact Ritu Bhasin, Director of Student and Associate Programmes, by phone: (416) 869-5203 or by e-mail at rbhasin@stikeman.com or Julie Gellos, Student Programmes Coordinator, by phone: (416) 869-7775 or by e-mail at jgellos@stikeman.com.
Photo (left to right): Ritu Bhasin, Julie Gellos, Ashleigh Currie, Shanin Lott
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