The objective of our summer program is to provide an excellent introduction and orientation to our office by having our summer students work on real files for real clients under the mentorship of our dedicated lawyers. Our summer program is intended to provide you with a taste of the kind of work we do in the Ottawa office. We give our summer students the opportunity to stay with the files they are working on, and we involve our students in as many direct client service experiences as possible. While students have the ability to seek work from any practice group, we aim to place students in one of the following four practice areas during the summer term: (1) litigation (2) regulatory (3) corporate and (4) financial services and real estate.
Our office typically hires three to four second-year students, ideally from candidates who are interested in returning to do their articles with us.
Training and development
A primary goal of our student program is to provide our students with substantive experience dealing with clients and legal issues. At Dentons Ottawa, students are treated as legal professionals. Our students have full access to all of the Firm’s resources. Training on how to use these resources begins immediately, and ongoing support is continually available to our students. Our summer students are also assigned two mentors responsible for making sure that the student is properly oriented and has someone to go to with any questions that may arise.
We pride ourselves in having a friendly, non-competitive student environment. Our students are encouraged to (and in fact do) work together to make sure that the needs of the office are met. Students in the Ottawa office are very much part of the team.
Social events
Due to the demands placed on our team, we recognize the importance of gathering on more relaxed occasions to socialize and get to know each other on a personal level. Informal after-work gatherings allow students to socialize with other lawyers in our office. Our students are always invited to these gatherings.
Evaluation
Evaluations are a part of your summering experience. You can expect to receive informal evaluations from the lawyers you will be working with. You will receive feedback from lawyers on the work you do on an ongoing basis.
Before returning to school in the fall, students will receive individual feedback during a formal interview. This will provide an opportunity for you to share any comments and suggestions you might have.
Our hireback policy
Our office enjoys a strong tradition of hiring back the summer students as articling students, and we expect that this will continue. For that reason, we are most interested in summer students who also have an interest in articling with us.