54 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
JULY/AUGUST 2017
POLICIES
AND POLITICS
Law firms have their own way of doing things.
Young lawyers should be quick to learn the rules
By Sandra Rubin
When summer students come in to a cor-
porate law firm, for most it's their first real
brush with law-firm life, and there are poli-
cies and expectations that need to be com-
municated. But not as many as you might
think, says Shirin Mirsaeidi, acting Head
of Student Programs at Torys LLP in To-
ronto, adding that judgment and common
sense are traits that come through during
student interviews. "I find law students are
getting more and more mature and poised,
and have looked into these things by the
time they get here."
Still, as part of is orientation program,
Torys brings in speakers to talk to students
about things like email expectations, how
they should present themselves in emails
(no emojis, presumably), how to interact
with others lawyers and how to do business
development. While she suspects much of
it is not news to the majority of summer
students, "we cover the bases" on firm poli-
cies, including workplace discrimination
and harassment, which is discussed with
each incoming class and includes law soci-
ety rules in the area.
e Torys orientation program covers
unwritten policies as well. "We tell them if
you work past a certain time you can defi-
nitely take a cab home, dinner is served at
such-and-such a time, Monday to urs-
days you wear suits, Fridays it's jeans, that
kind of stuff. We go through all of that
with them to make sure everyone's on the
same footing."
At Goodmans LLP, before summer
students do their two rotations, they have
two weeks of orientation that combines
boardroom and experiential learning, says
Nancy Stitt, Director of Student Programs.
It's designed to convey the firm's guidelines
and help students find their feet in an unfa-
miliar environment.
In a program it started last year, students
are broken into groups of four or five and
assigned tasks such as finding out, using
only the firm's intranet, who the depart-
ment heads are, and then going out to take
a picture with them and their staff. "at's
designed to do more than put a face to a
name, but also to get them talking," says
Stitt, who is in Toronto. Other tasks in-
clude going out for lunch together, then fig-
uring out the proper procedure to expense
it, and jointly commissioning and writing
an affidavit. "ere's only so much that can
be imparted in a boardroom before people
start to tune out, so we mix it up."
e students are advised on the firm's
guidelines (Stitt says she hesitates to call
them "policies," as some can be fluid de-
pending on the circumstance) in areas such
as hours, expensing, travel, and interaction
with their colleagues including possible ha-
rassment. Handouts are then provided to
reinforce the information.
Each summer student is also assigned
mentors for each their two rotations, at
least one of whom will be an associate,
and they are encouraged to ask questions.
If they feel uncomfortable inquiring about
something, Goodmans has an app that al-
lows them to do so anonymously. e ques-
tion goes to Stitt and her group, who find
out the answer, which they oen post for
the whole group to see "because if one per-
son has that question, maybe others do as
well. e important thing is, if they're not
sure about something we want them to feel
completely comfortable about asking."
"We tell them if you work
past a certain time you
can definitely take a cab
home, dinner is served
at such-and-such a time,
Monday to Thursdays you
wear suits, Fridays it's
jeans, that kind of stuff."
- Shirin Mirsaeidi, Torys LLP
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
