Alberta, BC, Manitoba, NS, Sask. law societies share report aiming to improve articling experience

According to the report, the law societies’ research project seeks to improve articling experiences across the board, help students prepare themselves for legal practice, and possibly explore opportunities to foster collaboration and attain common goals. 

The study addressed lawyer competence in terms of preparedness for entry-level practice, adequacy of training, and the time to complete bar admission course requirements. It also covered topics like mentorship, compensation, workload, discrimination or harassment during recruitment or articling, and resources to deal with discrimination and harassment. 

Research highlights

The report stated that, among survey respondents: 

• In Nova Scotia, more students, new lawyers, and those who finished articling but had yet to practise felt “prepared” or “very prepared” 
• In Alberta and Nova Scotia, students and new lawyers were more likely to strongly agree that they had adequate training in most competencies listed 
• In Alberta, more students and new lawyers considered compensation a positive aspect of their articling experiences 
• In Saskatchewan, students and new lawyers were less likely to report workload challenges and discrimination or harassment experiences, possibly because of the smaller proportion of equity-seeking groups within the province’s sample 
• In Alberta, students and new lawyers were more likely to believe they could access appropriate resources to tackle discrimination and harassment 

In a news release, the Law Society of Manitoba noted the following regarding survey respondents within the province, compared with those polled from the other jurisdictions: 

• Students and new lawyers more often reported insufficient feedback on their performance during training 
• 61 percent considered the absence of meaningful compensation for internationally trained lawyers a significant challenge, compared with 45 percent in other provinces 
• Principals and mentors displayed more awareness of issues of discrimination or harassment than in other jurisdictions 

The report said that all surveyed provinces – especially principals, recruiters, and mentors in Manitoba – considered the lack of time to mentor articling students a key obstacle. 

In BC, survey respondents emphasized inadequate training, tools, and resources for articling students and ambiguous expectations for principals, recruiters, and mentors as notable issues. 

According to the report, survey respondents in Saskatchewan reported difficulties in training articling students across all competency areas and exposing them to different practice areas.