Law Student Opportunities
WANTED:
Top legal talent searching for a satisfying career in social justice
LAST SEEN:
Studying Bay Street brochures, convinced there was no other option
REWARD:
Meaningful work, a career track, variety, competitive pay and a work-life balance
Are you looking for a career, rather than just a job? Are you interested in meaningful work that has an impact on the lives of vulnerable people? Would you like to work with an organization that recognizes your individuality and interests, and offers you a future in an environment that values diversity and work-life balance? Does hands-on experience on the front lines in the social justice field, client contact and a career path in an innovative and flexible legal environment sound appealing? Then turn yourself in at Legal Aid Ontario.
"LAO offers incredible work life balance and the opportunity to work with a dynamic group of people who are committed to public interest work. It's nice knowing that you are doing great work to help Ontarians who need it most every day. In my position, I have the ability to work at LAO doing something I love and then take on additional projects in my spare time. None of my friends who work in the private sector have the ability to sit on a board and take on pro bono work in addition to their full time job!"
- Kirsty Mathers-McHenry
Policy Counsel, LAO Provincial Office
"As an articling student at Legal Aid Ontario, I was struck by the diversity of the organization as a whole. I mean not only a diverse workforce, but a diversity of opportunities as well. Where else can you move from research to family law to immigration law and to general counsel within one organization? An added bonus is that the workplace culture is great. I have never worked in a more supportive or accommodating environment. At Legal Aid Ontario I have met wonderful people: people I truly respect, and who truly inspire me. It seemed that almost anyone can find their dream job here. I did"
- Tracy Roll-Passmore
Supervisory Duty Counsel, Thunder Bay
"As a parent of two very young children, I enjoy the work/life balance that LAO offers. As opposed to private practice, I actually have week-ends and evenings to spend with my children--I can't ask for much more---to practice in the profession I worked so hard to be a part of and have the opportunity to be a mother actively participating in my children's' lives, growth, and development during their most formative years! The potential to assist those people who need access to justice the most is rewarding. Making a difference for communities, families, and individuals provides a different kind of life balance---it is awareness that your knowledge and skills can contribute to improving and providing social justice."
- Christa Big Canoe
Policy Counsel, Aboriginal Strategy, LAO Provincial Office
"It is my privilege to work at Legal Aid Ontario. LAO offers an opportunity to work with dedicated, professional colleagues who are committed to serving those most in need. Innovation is encouraged and promoted to refine service delivery methodologies. It is heartening to effect change by identifying common objectives, rapidly building teams, contributing individual knowledge and expertise and evaluating the results of our efforts. As a lawyer and manager who worked in other parts of the social justice sector prior to joining LAO, I feel that my contribution is valued and worthwhile. At the same time, LAO encouraged me to expand my horizons and established a development plan that has prepared me for more senior management roles."
- Charles Lafortune
Program Manager, Central Programming and Innovation.
Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) serves over 1 million low-income Ontarians each year through Duty Counsel services (the courtroom equivalent of emergency room triage), staff services, the legal aid certificate system, and through funding 80 community legal clinics throughout the province. LAO Legal Officers provide services in family, criminal, immigration and refugee law, and support the organization through research services, policy development and certificate administration.
LAO is looking for bright legal talent. Bring your desire to work in the social justice field, desire for variety, and for a career serving low-income individuals, and LAO will offer you:
- A varied career path that will expose you to a number of practice areas in a variety of LAO business lines
- Career support in the form of orientation, mentoring and professional development
- Opportunities to work in different geographic locations throughout the province, and apply for secondments with other public sector employers
- Opportunities to train to become a future leader of the organization, or a legal specialist
- A diverse workplace that values your desire to pursue interests outside of work
- Compensation that is competitive among similar public sector employers, and the possibility for flexible work arrangements.
LAO offers both summer and articling positions. Examples of the type of work that our students are exposed to include the following:
Bail work: interview accused, contact and verify sureties, conduct surety interviews, act as intermediary between duty counsel and private counsel, facilitate interviews for duty counsel.
Duty counsel: help unrepresented people in family court to draft applications, affidavits and motions, prepare lists of cases, summaries of cases and case books that could be accessed by duty counsel, observe courtroom presentations and assist with client meetings.
Legal research: research points of law in support of legal aid certificate lawyers. Develop new legal research material for web publishing.
Policy development: Assist policy counsel in providing research and advice to LAO on service delivery, legislative changes, prioritization and accountabilities
Area office work: Work with LAO area office staff to assist clients in completing intake information (financial statements) and regular follow-up, prepare and file court documents, attend court and client appointments, research and prepare case reports.
LAO offers a number of summer employment opportunities for both first and second year law students, and articling students. Calls for applications, interviewing and offers of employment happen in line with the Law Society of Upper Canada's recruitment timelines. Job postings are available on the Career section of LAO's website (www.legalaid.on.ca. Click on "Careers"), and are sent to law school Career offices. LAO also participates in the second year summer student On Campus Interview (OCI) process.
Benefits to a Career at Legal Aid Ontario
Throughout the province, low-income Ontarians depend on legal aid to ensure they have access to justice when they need it. Last year, Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) assisted over one million people through duty counsel programs, the legal aid certificate program, the community legal clinic system, as well as in-house family and refugee legal services. Legal Aid Ontario offers a range of legal career opportunities for people interested in contributing to this important mandate. One of the primary benefits of working with LAO is the satisfaction you get from knowing that the work you do has a direct impact on the lives of low-income people.
In addition to this however, we believe in providing a positive and supportive work environment for our employees. A legal career at LAO means you can do work that makes a real difference to people in need, in an environment that supports your career goals and provides you with the employment benefits you want.
Here are some of the benefits you can expect to receive during your legal career with Legal Aid Ontario.
- Annual salary range of $59,705 to $105,876 (under review), depending on position and commensurate with qualifications and experience, with regular performance-based increases.
- Errors and omissions dues covered fully by LAO while working for the organization.
- Professional membership fees fully covered by LAO while working for the organization.
- Three options are available so that each employee can customize the benefit plan to meet his/her personal needs. Coverage, the level of reimbursement and annual maximums differ according to the option chosen from basic packages to "deluxe" packages. From $250 to $1000 deposited into a health care spending account depending on the benefits package selected. The health care spending account is fully funded by LAO and may be used to top up existing benefits coverage.
- A benefit equivalent to your annual salary paid to your beneficiary in the event of your death. LAO covers 100 percent of the premiums.
- Option to join the LAO pension plan after 12 months of continuous service; pension vested after two years; contributions matched by LAO at 4.5 to 6 percent of salary.
- Opportunity to access a range of LAO training programs from computer-based training to management/leadership skills training.
- A confidential service that can be accessed 24 hours per day, 7 days per week for counselling services from a broad range of professionals including, but not limited to smoking cessation programs; alcohol/substance abuse support; nutrition/weight loss support; marital and/or family counselling; parenting skills; eldercare and financial counselling.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are your practice areas?
Legal Aid Ontario serves low-income clients in areas of law including refugee, criminal and family (including child protection). Legal services in these areas as provided to client in three main ways - through staff offices, duty counsel and in partnership with private bar lawyers who represent clients who have been issued a legal aid certificate.
Duty counsel are lawyers who assist unrepresented parties in criminal and family courts throughout the province by providing brief advice and representation. Some duty counsel are full-time LAO staff lawyers, and others are per diem private bar lawyers who work periodically as duty counsel.
The legal aid certificate program is a system whereby private bar lawyers assist legal aid clients who have been issued a legal aid certificate. LAO pays the lawyer's legal fees on behalf of the client, in accordance with a regulated legal aid tariff.
Legal services are provided through staff offices in refugee, family and criminal law. There is on Refugee Law Office in Toronto, three Family Law Offices, in Toronto, Thunder Bay and Ottawa, and three Criminal Law Offices, in Brampton, Barrie and Ottawa. These offices are staffed by full-time LAO lawyers.
In addition, staff lawyers at LAO's provincial office, and in some legal aid offices around the province provide support to the organization and service providers in areas such as legal research, policy development and corporate counsel.
How are community legal clinics related to Legal Aid Ontario?
LAO is a funder of clinics. Student legal clinics are housed in each Ontario law school. In addition, 80 community legal clinics exist throughout the province. The work that clinics do varies somewhat from clinic to clinic. Core service areas include landlord/tenant, income security (Ontario Works, Ontario Disability Support Payments, Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance), law reform and community development. Several speciality clinics offer services to a particular cultural community, or in a particular area of law.
How do I apply for a job in a clinic?
As clinics are independent organizations, they hire students separately. Most clinics sent LAO their job postings, and are posted on the LAO website, and send their postings to law schools.
The specific clinics that hire summer and articling students varies from year to year. For the 2010/11 articling term, the following clinics will be hiring articling students:
- Parkdale Community Legal Services (Toronto)
- Legal Assistance of Windsor
- Canadian Environmental Law Association (Toronto)
- Centre Francophone de Toronto
- Jane-Finch Community Legal Services
- Lake Country Community Legal Clinic
- Lanark Leeds & Grenville Legal Clinic (Perth)
What is LAO looking for in candidates?
The most important thing that LAO looks for in candidates is a demonstrated interest in social justice or public interest work. That interest may be demonstrated through volunteer experience either at law school or in the community, prior work experience, or even in a persuasive cover letter that sets out why you are inclined towards this type of work. If you have the opportunity to volunteer in the student legal aid clinic at your law school, that experience is a definite asset. LAO recognizes however that not all students are able to have that opportunity, and recognizes that other types of experiences may just as strongly reflect an interest in the type of work we do.
As with any job application and interview, if you can demonstrate that you are familiar with what LAO does, your application is stronger. Do a bit of research by browsing the LAO website, by talking to legal aid lawyers - anything to familiarize yourself with our organization.
What is the interview like?
Interviews of LAO are somewhere in between the rather informal interviews at many law firms, and the highly structured substantive law questions often asked in government interviews. Normally a small hiring panel asks a series of standard questions, some of which are open-ended, intended to get a sense of your interests and skills, and some of which explore your knowledge of what we do, and how our work fits into the justice system as a whole. Interviews do not focus on substantive legal questions, so it will not be necessary to memorize the Criminal Code or crack open Supreme Court of Canada cases in order to be successful in the interview. Interviews are meant to give you the opportunity to showcase your skills and interests, and for you in turn to become more familiar with what we can offer you.
What are my career prospects?
LAO's recently launched Lawyer Workforce Strategy is meant to offer more than a job to students and lawyers. LAO is seeking to develop a dynamic workforce with lawyers who develop skills in a number of our service lines. Lawyers are supported with orientation and continuing legal education programs, and training in areas such as practice management, project management, finance. LAO is committed to developing a strong pool of legal aid service providers who will become the future leaders of the organization and legal specialists. Our lawyers will have a well-rounded view of the organization by gaining experience in a number of our service areas.
Lawyers are not hired in order to do one specific job. Rather, lawyers are hired with the intent that they will move throughout the organization to gain a wide range of skills, and exposure to many areas of practice. As lawyers develop, they may choose to enter a management stream, or to settle on a legal speciality. Regardless of position, LAO believes that we serve clients best and run the most effective and efficient legal aid system when all of our lawyers are knowledgeable of all of LAO's service lines.
The number of career opportunities that LAO can offer its summer and articling students varies from year to year according to budget and vacancies. Whenever possible however, articling students will be offered a position in the organization.
Are there any volunteer opportunities at LAO?
Yes. Pro Bono Students Canada partners with LAO to provide students with volunteer opportunities working with LAO's family law duty counsel in courthouses in Toronto, Brampton, Kingston and London. If you are interested in these volunteer opportunities, please contact your campus Pro Bono Students Canada representative.
LAO itself does not have a formal volunteer program. However, some students have found volunteer placements in community legal clinics by simply calling a specific clinic and asking for a volunteer opportunity.
Where can I get more information?
Contact:
Lynn Iding, Manager, Lawyer Workforce Strategy
Idingl@lao.on.ca
416-979-2352 ext. 6246