In honour of our 4th annual list of Canada’s Best Law Firms, we present a survival guide of sorts for young lawyers—what to wear, why you should drag yourself into the office, how to CYA (cover your ass), who earns what, who pays for dinner, why you shouldn’t fear AI, advice from some of Canada’s top legal minds and more.
Of course, it’s important to know your major law firms and what they’re best at. You’re in luck: We’ve profiled the 20 highest-ranking firms in 31 legal categories, too. Read about them here
Need to know
By Hadiya Roderique
A compendium of advice from a former corporate lawyer and organizational behaviour specialist on how to survive the early years of corporate law.
Always ask for a deadline. Never, ever, assume you know when something’s due. And diarize everything, big or small—every deadline goes in your calendar immediately (not on a sticky note stuck to your monitor). For longer-term deliverables, set multiple reminders—a week before, two days before and so on. And build in a buffer of a couple of extra days, just in case.
CYA (cover your ass). When you get verbal instructions, send a follow-up email confirming your understanding of the task and timeline. So when the partner inevitably tries to blame you for missing a deadline or messing up, you have backup.
Learn the partners’ quirks. Does Partner X prefer everything in Arial with one-inch margins? Does Partner Y tend to log off early but start work at 6 a.m.? Does Partner Z hate the word “therefore”? Write it down. Figuring out their idiosyncracies will help you better predict the flow of your work and tailor it more closely to their expectations. Plus, you’ll seem like a magical mind reader.
Keep a spare outfit at the office. Because there will come a time when it’s 3 a.m. and you decide it’s better to get an extra 45 minutes of sleep under your desk than to Uber home for a measly couple of hours.
Just ask. If you have a question, try to figure out the answer within 30 minutes. If you can’t, ask. Trust us: The partner would rather spend two minutes clarifying than have you spin your wheels for hours and have to find a way to bill your time back to the client.
Communicate. If something’s taking longer than expected, or if a more senior partner has given you a more pressing task, tell your boss. Respond to every email, even if it’s just with a “will do” or “got it.” People appreciate a junior who is proactive and communicative.
Find a mentor. You’ll never make partner on Bay Street without someone to look out for you and be your champion. Develop those relationships early—don’t hope they’ll find you. Find someone in your group with clout, and invite them out for coffee or lunch (which often ends up being free lunch, because a senior partner would never make a first-year pay). I chose and endeared myself to the oldest, whitest guy in my group, a hilarious character who loved Friday afternoon extended wine lunches, bought me my first soft-shell crab, and was ready to fight my next law firm when they tried to illegally withhold my vacation pay when I quit to go to grad school.
Set boundaries. Saying no is scary. But if you want to avoid burnout and have a life outside the law, you gotta do it.
Take your vacation. Everyone takes them. Everyone needs them. Hot tip: Don’t waste them on holidays in December—it’s usually deadsville and ends up being a mini-vacation anyway (unless you get stuck on a deal that’s closing on Dec. 31—in which case, sorry, there’s always next NYE).
Schedule emails. Give the illusion of working till midnight without actually working till midnight.
Don’t sleep with or date people at the office. Just don’t. The breakup/divorce will be awkward for you and everyone around you.
Learn to meditate. Seriously. A keyed-up nervous system is no good for your digestion, your sleep, your health or your work. Take a five-minute meditation break. If you need guidance, check out apps like Calm or Headspace.
Think about your exit plan now. The reality is that most of you will leave Bay Street, and only a few of your starting class will make it to partner. So think hard about what you want to get out of your time there. Is it connections for a business you want to launch? Skills in a specific area? If you’re not planning on staying, also think about whether crushing your soul and eliminating all the fun parts of your life are worth it for the $20K bonus you get for making target.
Remember, this is a job, not life-or-death, and you can leave Big Law at any time. (Well, as long as the new job will let you pay off your loans!)
Embrace the office
Whatever your firm’s official policy on coming into work (and most have mandated three days a week), junior associates should be in every day, or just about. There are all sorts of reasons your career will benefit from eschewing WFH.
First off, juniors learn by osmosis—listening in on conversations between more senior lawyers, being pulled in on last-minute meetings, hitting up fellow associates for help on tricky assignments—and you can’t do that on a Teams chat.
Running into more senior colleagues gives you the opportunity to ask questions on the fly, without having to muscle your way through an assistant to set up a meeting or phone call. And when work is being handed out, who do you think they’re going to give it to—the associate they see every day in the hallway or one they’ve barely met?
That’s not to say you need to be there every day from morning till midnight. On days when you need to just put your head down to draft a motion or factum, you can do it from bed.
And the pandemic means that at many firms, it’s possible to go home at a decent hour, have dinner, then log back in from your kitchen table (unless you’re working on a hot file or prepping for trial, in which case, you can kiss your evenings, weekends—heck, even your bed—goodbye).
Stuff’s gonna go wrong. Don’t freak out.
Wise counsel from lawyers who’ve been down that rocky road.
Ted Flett
Partner, Zubas Flett Liberatore Law, Toronto
WWW (what went wrong): You file a statement of claim without getting client approval, and they complain it’s not robust enough. You’re worried getting consent to amend would cause delay and irritate the client even more.
NFOR (no-freakout resolution): First, check to see if it’s been served. If it hasn’t, you can then just reissue, refile and swallow the filing fee for the second pleading. No delay. Client trust regained. Problem averted.
Ava Chisling
Lawyer and editor, Montreal
WWW: You find out you’re going to be inspected or audited by the law society.
NFOR: Do not panic. They’re not out to hurt you—and audits can often help. In most cases, audit targets are randomly selected or are new firms. There are many resources, including Facebook groups, where you can find other lawyers who will give you real-life advice on what they ask for and how to handle it. The process is painless, but you need to do the required preparation.
David Fraser
Partner, McInnes Cooper, Halifax
WWW: You’ve been given an assignment by a senior lawyer and you’re in over your head, struggling to get it done and losing sleep.
NFOR: Don’t suffer alone. Ask someone to weigh in, because the longer you wait, the more overwhelming the problem becomes. Generally, other lawyers want to help. So ask the experts in your firm or even at another, as long as you keep confidentiality and conflicts in mind. This also staves off imposter syndrome.
Show me the money
Chances are you’ve graduated from law school with a soul-crushing (and bank-account-draining) amount of student debt—the average for newly minted Canadian lawyers is somewhere around $80,000. The upside: Corporate law pays well. And the good news for young lawyers is that compensation is generally no longer lockstep—that is, based solely on seniority. Most firms jettisoned that model when their rainmakers started defecting. These days, pay is based more on performance, taking into account billable hours, bringing in new clients and big cases, and generally being a profit-generating member of the team.
That said, here’s what you can expect to make as an associate between years one and seven, according to the 2024 ZSA Private Practice Lawyer Salary Guide.
Why’s it so hard to find out who makes what?
Canadians have always been weird about discussing money, and that’s especially true in law, where the machinations of a firm’s compensation committee can even be a mystery to the partners themselves. Now it’s even more opaque, thanks to new wage-fixing provisions in the federal Competition Act. Afraid they’d be accused to colluding on associate pay, the National Association for Law Placement has even removed standard first-year pay levels from its law firm directory.
The Legal Singularity: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Law Radically Better by University of Toronto law profs Abdi Aidid and Benjamin Alarie, co-founder of Blue J Legal, whose AI-powered tax tech answers tax-related questions with 95% accuracy. They posit that AI will make law radically more efficient, accessible and equitable.
Embrace AI (resistance is futile)
According to a 2023 report by the market research group Forrester, no industry will be affected by AI as significantly as law—it predicts that 78% of jobs in the legal sector could be reshaped by the technology. And Goldman Sachs posits that AI could automate 44% of legal tasks—including much of the work currently done by juniors: researching and drafting legal briefs, reviewing contracts, parsing documents and so on.
But don’t worry, you’ll still have a job.
Suit up for success
By Kasia Mychajlowycz
Hey, it’s 2024. You probably don’t need to wear a suit every day. But you’re going to need at least a couple. We asked two experts what to look for.
Sydney Mamane has been tailoring suits at his Toronto menswear shop, Sydney’s, for nearly 20 years, and he’s helped plenty of new lawyers select that landmark first suit post-graduation. “It’s a big thing for them, and they’re asking us what to do because they don’t want to make any mistakes.”
Atrisha Lewis is a civil litigator, bencher and partner at McCarthy Tétrault. And she says that while you can’t go wrong with a classic suit, there’s been an evolution toward comfort and individuality. “I think—or at least I hope—we’ve moved away from prescribed rules and more room for people to be who they are.”
So take these do’s and don’ts more as sage advice than rules, to help you dress for success on Bay Street.
DON’T
Cheap out. “Inexpensive suits tend to use synthetic fabrics,” says Mamane. “Unfortunately, that tends to overheat the body and trap scent—and once you trap that scent, it’s nearly impossible to get it out, even with dry cleaning.”
Overlook Aritzia. “I spent too much money on suits from brands like Theory,” says Lewis, who now favours a wrap dress with a blazer. “Aritzia has really stepped into the women’s wear space and provided a lot of options.”
Worry too much about changing trends. Suiting does evolve, says Mamane, “but the arc is very, very long.”
Overdo it on the dry-cleaning. Mamane’s rule: “If it doesn’t smell, do not dry clean.” And no steamer: It causes shrinking and puckering at the seams, leading to a sloppy look.
DO
Stick with a classic, conservative look. No checks, no stripes. Mamane suggests a two-button notch lapel in navy or grey. “This is not the time to express your individuality.” Budget about $1,000 for a well-made suit. “It’s an investment.”
Focus on fabric and fit. Choose natural fibres in a cut that flatters you. “It’s actually advisable to cut trimmer on a larger frame,” says Mamane, who worked on films in the wardrobe department before becoming a tailor. “That way you don’t have all this excess flowing fabric, right?”
Reuse, recycle. Consider what Lewis calls the “Barack Obama ethos” for building your wardrobe. “Have a few pieces and wear them. And then you’re not making decisions about what you’re wearing all the time.” (Speaking of presidential candidates, Lewis says she’s enjoying the Kamala Harris pantsuit aesthetic—she owns one in brown.)
How to drink on the job
Use this guide to figure out when to nurse that Aperol spritz and when to give ‘er (spoiler: rarely)
1 drink
- Lunch with boss at a fancy restaurant
- Cocktail reception
- Landed a major client
2 drinks
- Lunch with fellow associates
- Office barbecue
3 drinks
- Annual holiday party
- Lost a major client
4 drinks
- Missed a filing deadline and have to break it to the boss
What if I don’t drink?
More and more people these days, especially young ones, are forgoing booze for all sorts of reasons—and law firms are far more mindful of that choice than they once were. Most restaurants and event organizers offer non-alcoholic cocktails and beers, so you can feel like you’re joining in, with zero chance of mouthing off to a partner after a few too many.
Mind your manners
- Check out the menu beforehand so you don’t hold everyone up
- Let the senior person at the table be your guide: If they order an appetizer, go for it. If they order a salad, maybe don’t go for the filet mignon
- Avoid ordering food that’s likely to slop, stain, get stuck in your teeth or leave your napkin covered in goop
- Put your napkin on your lap as soon as you sit down; if you go to the bathroom, leave it on your chair, not the table
- Leave your phone in your bag
- Remember BMW: bread plate on the left, meal in the middle, water and other glasses on the right
- When you’re done eating, place your knife and fork at the 4 o’clock position on your plate
- The most senior person at the table, or the one who issued the invite, pays
- If you happen to be the one paying (and as a junior associate, you rarely should be), hand over your credit card before you even sit down or on a trip to the bathroom to remove any post-meal awkwardness
Advice from top lawyers
Dominique Hussey, CEO of Bennett Jones.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
The easiest way to impress partners is with impeccable, practical work product, delivered on time. Show that you understood the assignment. Will your work be part of an email to a client or a memorandum for the Court? Go that extra mile to prepare a few point-first, clear, concise paragraphs for the partner to use. Always run your work through a spelling check, a grammar check, and if you have it, a clarity check. Avoidable errors make decent work look bad. Proofing makes decent work look great. Clarity makes great work excellent. Practicality makes excellent work magnificent.
— Dominique Hussey CEO, Bennett Jones
Paul Davis, Chair of the Board of Partners at McMillan.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Law can be a long career, and you will spend most of it learning. At McMillan, we pride ourselves on arming our new associates with the training and tools they need to be successful lawyers, including helping them to build relationships and finding great mentors and champions. However, to be successful, I believe you need to be passionate about the field you choose to practise in and the non-billable matters you decide to focus on. This, more than anything, can ensure long-term success and even—dare I say—happiness.
— Paul Davis Chair of the Board of Partners, McMillan
Jennifer Teskey, managing partner of Norton Rose Fulbright LLP.Tijana Martin/The Globe and Mail
When I started as a student in 2001, I had a mentor who took a real interest in my career. My advice is to find a mentor to show you the ropes, champion your work and help you navigate the business of law. Seize opportunities, don’t be afraid to speak up, volunteer for assignments and try new things. Value the people you work with, learn from them, and create your path by staying true to yourself. As you grow, you will become a trusted adviser for your clients and your team.
— Jennifer Teskey Managing Partner Canada, Norton Rose Fulbright