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.
How many articling students do you hire?
For the 2010/2011 articling year, the Calgary office hired four articling students.
For the 2011/2012 articling year we expect to hire four articling students.
How many summer students do you hire?
For the summer of 2010, we hired two first year students and one second year student. We plan to hire three to five summer students for the summer of 2011.
What is your hireback record for articling students?
Our hireback record has always been excellent and, while there is no guaranteed hireback, we expect our hireback ratios will continue to be high going forward. We expend a great deal of time and effort selecting articling students that we believe share our passion, commitment and ideas. This is reflected in our exceptional hireback record.
What international opportunities are available at Stikeman Elliott LLP?
We generally staff our foreign offices (New York, London, Sydney) with lawyers from our domestic offices, with one or two opportunities on average arising throughout the firm every year.
What sort of continuing legal education programs do you have for students?
We have a 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 send our articling students to Toronto for a training session. We also encourage our students to attend CBA luncheons and relevant external courses.
Can I contact students or lawyers at the firm?
We encourage you to get in touch with our current students listed on our website to hear from them about what it's like to be a student at Stikeman Elliott. Please also feel free to contact the members of the Student Committee or other lawyers at the firm.
What is the typical workload for associates?
The firm assumes a rough budget of 1,800 hours for each associate.
What do I need to include as part of my application? Should I send my application by email, fax or mail?
Your application package should include a cover letter; resume; photocopies of official transcripts from all post-secondary education programs attended; list of upper year courses being taken; grading scale of law school (if available); and reference letter(s) (optional). Please send your application by mail, email or fax.
When will I hear from you once I've submitted an application?
Once we receive your application, we will send you an acknowledgement of your application either by email or letter. For articling student candidates, we will be in touch with you prior to Match Week to set up an interview time. For summer student candidates, your law school will inform you directly about whether you will be meeting us during OCI's (unless your law school requests that we contact you directly).
How much time should I allow for articling or summer student interviews?
We suggest that you schedule your interviews in two-hour timeslots so that you leave ample time to meet with our lawyers during your interview. We want to afford you plenty of time to meet with our lawyers and obtain a sense of what articling and, looking ahead, practicing at Stikeman Elliott would be like. We anticipate that you will be better able to do that if you are not racing to reach another interview.
When will offers be communicated by Stikeman Elliott for articling or summer student positions?
Stikeman Elliott strictly follows the recruitment guidelines set by the Law Society of Alberta and, as such, we will not communicate that we are making an offer to you prior to the date and time prescribed.
