Please see our Toronto student brochure for a comprehensive description of our student programme.

Summer Programme

Our second-year summer programme is our primary source for recruiting new lawyers. We hire most of our articling students from our second-year programme, and do not hire first year students.

As a second-year summer student, you will have the opportunity to become familiar with the practice of law at Heenan Blaikie. Students are not assigned exclusively to specific departments but rather are exposed to all areas of law practised by the firm. Apart from drafting and research you can expect to accompany the lawyers to client meetings, internal meetings and court, as well as participate in closings and the ongoing activities of the firm.

Summer students who return to article with the firm are paid a tuition bonus of $4,000 to assist with third year expenses.

Articling Programme

Our articling programme works on a rotation basis. Students are exposed to all areas of our practice by spending an equal amount of time in the business, litigation and labour departments.

During your articles you will develop the basic skills necessary to ensure your success as a young lawyer: research, drafting, client relations and basic advocacy. We do not believe in the "sink or swim" approach – although the best training is to learn by doing, we will provide you with the supervision and guidance that you need throughout your articles.

Mentoring

Each student is assigned a mentor upon arrival at the firm. Mentors are mid-level or senior associates who are genuinely concerned about student issues. Your mentor will help you integrate into the firm and will help guide your skills development. André Bacchus, who runs the student programme, also meets with the students on a weekly basis to monitor workload distribution and to ensure that students get sufficient exposure to each department. André and the mentors are always available to discuss your concerns, and the firm’s open-door culture gives you easy access to any lawyer with whom you wish to speak.

Training

Students learn both on the job and through a series of structured Continuing Legal Education seminars (“CLEs”). CLEs are specifically designed to address the skills and substantive knowledge that students need to learn at this early stage of their career. Student CLEs are typically held over lunch and are delivered by senior Heenan Blaikie lawyers. Students are also invited to attend practice group meetings and firm-wide seminars, and are encouraged to attend external conferences to further develop their knowledge base.

An important element of our training programme is a week-long orientation session for both summer and articling students. This week is designed to ease your transition into the firm and allow you an opportunity to get to know your fellow students as soon as possible.

Feedback

Formal reviews are conducted twice for articling students and midsummer for summer students. These reviews supplement ongoing feedback provided throughout the student’s time at the firm.

Social Events

We organize a variety of social events for our students throughout the year. Past events have included student and associate socials held at c5 Restaurant Lounge at the Royal Ontario Museum, Six Steps Restaurant & Lounge and Vertical Restaurant. These events are designed to give you the opportunity to get acquainted with our lawyers outside the work environment, and to learn more about what makes Heenan Blaikie a great place to work. These events are always a highlight of our students’ time at the firm.

Students are also included in regular firm socials, which provide yet another avenue for getting to know your colleagues. And, as we recognize that you all have lives outside of the office, your participation in any social event is purely voluntary!

We look forward to welcoming you to your first Heenan Blaikie event!

Canadian Directory of Legal Employers (CDLE)

For additional information, please take a moment to review our profile, short or long version, in the Association for Legal Career Professionals’ (NALP) Canadian Directory of Legal Employers (CDLE).

Firm Tours

“Conducting Your Due Diligence” - Heenan Blaikie Class of 2012 Firm Tours

If you are a member of the class of 2012 and would like to visit the Toronto office during the summer, please click here for tour dates and details.

Meet our students

Feel free to contact any of our students about their experience at Heenan Blaikie. Please click on the student's name to send an e-mail.

2010 Summer Students:

Monique Ashamalla, Queen's University

Sabrina Bandali, University of Toronto

Michael Byers, University of British Columbia

Andrew Carricato, University of Ottawa

Oana Chivaran, University of Western Ontario

Daniel Del Gobbo, Osgoode Hall Law School

Ryan Edmonds, Osgoode Hall Law School

Liane Fong, Osgoode Hall Law School

Roni Hoffman, Osgoode Hall Law School

Ian Hurley, University of New Brunswick

William Jackman, University of Windsor

Daniel Mayer, McGill University

Gregory McLean, Osgoode Hall Law School

Martin Mendelzon, University of Windsor

Jeremy Sands, Osgoode Hall Law School

2009-2010 Articling Students:

Sara Boulé-Perroni, University of Ottawa

Andrew Bourns, Osgoode Hall Law School

Jason Harrington, University of New Brunswick

Mohamed Hashim, University of Windsor

Mark Hines, Osgoode Hall Law School

Radha Khosla, University of Ottawa

Bruce Lee-Shanok, Dalhousie University

Charlene Lipchen, University of Toronto

Bridget McIlveen, University of Ottawa

Courtney Petch, Queen's University

Chris Pigott, Osgoode Hall Law School

Katrina Reyes, University of Ottawa

Kara Smith, Osgoode Hall Law School

Jonathan Tong, Osgoode Hall Law School

Jackie VanDerMeulen, University of Toronto

Rowan Weaver, University of Victoria

How to apply

Summer students

Interested second-year students must apply before the September deadline set each year by the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Heenan Blaikie conducts on-campus interviews for second-year students in September and October and brings students back to the firm during the November interview week, in accordance with Law Society guidelines. We reserve some in-firm interview positions for strong candidates from schools at which we do not conduct on-campus interviews.

Articling students

Third-year students interested in an articling position must apply before the July deadline set each year by the Law Society of Upper Canada. Candidates for articling positions are interviewed in August at the firm, in accordance with Law Society guidelines.

Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Law Society of Upper Canada recruiting guidelines.

For additional information about our summer or articling programmes, please contact :

André B. Bacchus
Director, Professional Development
T. 416 643.6923
abacchus@heenan.ca

To apply for a summer or articling position with Heenan Blaikie, please mail / courier / email your cover letter, résumé and references (if available) as well as copies of your law school, undergraduate and graduate (if applicable) transcripts to:

André B. Bacchus
Director, Professional Development
Heenan Blaikie LLP
Bay Adelaide Centre
P.O. Box 2900
333 Bay Street, Suite 2900
Toronto, Ontario M5H 2T4
abacchus@heenan.ca