FAQ
What are you looking for in the students you hire?
We are looking for bright, engaged, self-motivated people who show a real interest in our practice, together with good team skills, judgment, strong ethics and leadership skills. We embrace diversity and a broad range of talents and backgrounds, and look for people who enjoy challenges 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?
We are one of the few remaining firms that looks outside of its summer student group to hire articling students. We participated in the articling student recruitment process last August, and hired 12 additional articling students for 2006-2007. We will have 25 articling students in total for this articling period. For the 2007/2008 articling year, we expect to hire 8 to 12 additional students in August.
How many summer students do you hire?
The Toronto office generally hires between 10 to 15 summer students. For the summer of 2006, we hired 13 summer students. For the summer of 2007, we plan to hire within this range as well.
What salary and benefits do you provide to students?
Our current articling and summer student salary is $1,300 per week, plus a one-time $1,000 technology grant. Articling students receive related employment benefits such as a fitness membership and an extended health care and dental plan. The firm will pay a "pre-articling bonus" up to a maximum of $4,000 to third year law students who commit to complete their articles with us. In addition, the firm pays tuition for both teaching terms of the Bar Admission Course for all students who commit to complete their articles with us. During the Bar Admission Course all articling students will be paid their articling student salary.
What is your hire-back record for articling students?
Our hire-back record has always been excellent, between 80 and 100% in recent years. While we have discontinued the guaranteed hire-back policy of the last few years, we expect our hire-back ratios will continue to be very high.
What international opportunities are available to students and associates?
We generally staff our foreign offices with lawyers from our domestic offices, with one or two opportunities on average arising every year. Summer students can apply for any available secondments outside Toronto, which are based on the needs of our foreign offices, during the months of July and August. In past years, students have worked in our London, New York, Vancouver and Ottawa offices.
What is the typical workload for students and associates?
In serving the needs of our clients, students and associates at Stikeman Elliott 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.
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 continuing legal education seminars that are put on by our lawyers, as well as selected educational seminars offered by external organizations we invite to the firm. Each seminar is followed by a group dinner at a nearby restaurant with lawyers who practice in the area of the evening's topic.
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 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.
