LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
JULY/AUGUST 2016 55
FOR GENERATIONS,
law firms have
been recruiting top students straight from
school, with the goal of grooming them to
someday become partners.
While that's still the objective for firms,
some students have a different plan.
A partnership is no
longer considered the
brass ring for many
millennials. Instead,
they see a position at
a law firm as a launch-
ing pad to a more var-
ied long-term career.
"It's a different
marketplace," says
Craig Lockwood, a
partner in the Toronto
office of Osler, Hoskin
& Harcourt LLP in Toronto and chair of its
student committee.
"e era of everyone coming into Bay
Street law thinking their career trajectory is
to be a partner in 10 years is no longer ap-
plicable. We're seeing a lot of students com-
ing in, starting on Bay Street, but having no
long-term vision of staying there. ey have
a diversity of interests."
e change in career path has many firms,
like Osler, rethinking how they attract and
retain the next generation of lawyers. Forget
perks such as ping-pong tables, stocked bars
and promises of work-life balance, which
are used to lure millennials in some sectors.
Today's promising lawyers are looking for a
better working experience, including access
to big cases and ongoing training, develop-
ment and mentorship.
"Training has taken on a different focus,"
says Lockwood. "It's no longer exclusively
oriented towards life at Osler, it's life in the
profession of law."
Osler has adjusted its professional de-
velopment initiatives to better reflect what
millennials want. at includes broader-
based training programs to cover various
skills, practice areas and professional topics.
Students are also seeking more practical
on-the-job experience from the day they
walk in the door.
"ey really want to get their hands dirty
early on," Lockwood remarks. "We put
them on real files with [the firm's] clients, so
they can actually be contributing members
from the beginning."
e ability to work on big cases was part
of what attracted Lauren Hulme to Osler as
a summer student in 2011. She also wanted
a firm with a range of practice areas.
"It mattered to me to try to get at a firm
that had access to big Canadian and in-
ternational clients and that was doing big
deals," says Hulme, who is now a third-year
associate with a focus on mergers and acqui-
sitions, corporate finance and securities, and
corporate governance.
Hulme completed her articling in
2012‒2013, during which time she was sec-
onded to Osler's New York office. At the
firm so far, she has worked on major files
such as Target Canada and the merger of
Tim Hortons and Burger King.
Hulme says work-life balance wasn't
something she sought in her job hunt, nor
does it fit the ambitious nature of many law
students she has come across.
"You're hungry, you've been in school for
a long time, and you feel very grateful and
excited to get this job that is very coveted
and hard to get. You want to work hard,"
Hulme says.
What's more, she says, "the more you
work, the more you learn and the better
lawyer you become."
Osler also offers students access to an in-
house career development officer and vari-
ous mentorship programs. at includes
a "tag-along" program, where students are
partnered with senior leaders, and get a taste
for the profession at the top.
"We do our best to try to give them a
sense not of what it's going to be like as a
second- or third-year associate, but what
their career trajectory would be long term,"
Lockwood says.
"at perspective is hugely important to
them, not just in terms of assessing firms,
but also assessing a professional partner-
ship," he says.
Recruiting the top tier of students and
keeping them fully engaged is only part of
the challenge for law firms, says Frances
Mahil, Director, Associate & Student Pro-
grams at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg
LLP in Toronto.
"We know our job isn't done once we've
hired them. e issue is how to retain them
and keep them intellectually challenged and
motivated," says Mahil. "You need to invest
in their development."
at includes giving them "meaningful
work" and plenty of hands-on experience,
but it also means offering the latest technol-
ogy the digital-savvy generation has become
accustomed to.
Mahil says it amounts to helping young
lawyers build their brand.
"You need to keep them stimulated be-
cause they have options," Mahil says.
Attracting the Best
WITH FEWER LAW STUDENTS LOOKING
TO MAKE PARTNER, LAW FIRMS ARE
SHIFTING HOW THEY ATTRACT THE TOP
STUDENTS
BY BRENDA BOUW
"We know our job isn't
done once we've hired them.
The issue is how to retain them
and keep them intellectually
challenged and motivated."
– FRANCES MAHIL, DAVIES WARD PHILLIPS & VINEBERG LLP
CRAIG
LOCKWOOD
> OSLER, HOSKIN
& HARCOURT LLP
ENGAGEMENT
STUDENT RECRUITMENT
