52 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
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JULY/AUGUST 2017
scholarship programs aimed at boosting
diversity, and it participates in an Indigen-
ous articling program in conjunction with
Dalhousie University law school, among
other things. It also recently centralized
its recruitment soware, made it bilingual
and, for the first time, invited applicants
to self-identify based on gender, minority
status, disability and sexual orientation.
Bennett-Clayton says 26 per cent of 2017
applicants self-identified, and "25 per cent
of the students we hired self-identified."
Dentons Canada LLP also has multiple
programs. It partners with the Toronto-
based Black Business and Professional As-
sociation for a three-year renewable schol-
arship that provides $5,000 a year. "e
way we recruit for that is we advertise the
scholarships with all of our law schools"
across the country, says Natasha Prasaud,
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
"Sometimes they
give presentations
[to high-school
students] about
what a corporate
lawyer does. …
I think it's one of
the most valuable
things we do
here. Our articling
students generally
get involved
in droves."
- Natasha Prasaud, Dentons Canada LLP
Assistant Director of Professional De-
velopment and the firm's student programs
in Toronto. Prior to every recruitment per-
iod, the firm also invites someone from the
Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclu-
sion to come in and train interviewers on
how to recognize their own unconscious
bias. "We do it every single time because we
want to ensure diversity and inclusion are
top of mind when we're interviewing and
reviewing applications. So that's an inter-
esting way to recruit with a diversity lens."
Dentons also sponsors groups such as
the Black Law Students' Association of
Canada, the Federation of Asian Canadian
Lawyers, the South Asian Bar Association
and Start Proud (which used to be known
as Out on Bay Street). e firm also pro-
vides the Royal Bank of Canada's Aborig-
inal articling students with a litigation ro-
tation because the bank is not in a position
to offer a rotation in litigation. And in a re-
cent initiative, Dentons has saved a spot in
its student roster for someone who trained
internationally because "it's especially dif-
ficult for them to find articling positions
when they've moved here."
Dentons also sends lawyers and law stu-
dents into high schools to liaise with grade
11 and 12 students in disadvantaged areas
of Toronto as participants in the Law in
Action Within Schools program, a col-
laboration of the University of Toronto
Faculty of Law, Osgoode Hall and the To-
ronto District School Board. "Sometimes
[the lawyers] give presentations about what
a corporate lawyer does. Sometimes they
play dodge ball with them, or just provide
mentorship. … We've been doing this for
many years, but I think it's one of the most
