Law Times

Law TiMes • May 14, 2012 Not all articling students look to big cities Some firms attract candidates through benefits of small-town practice FOCUS W BY KENNETH JACKSON For Law Times had a few interviews at firms in Ottawa but really had his heart set on a small town. Brennan, 33, looked across hen Joe Brennan was looking for an articling job three years ago, he hire someone because I really didn't want to have to look again in a year, who went to law school at the University of Ottawa. "I like it here. It' " says Brennan, smaller area." s nice working in a see Brennan enjoyed the work. "He stayed because he Eldon Horner says he could Ontario and even had a job lined up in St. Thomas, a smaller community near London, Ont., that was close to where he' in a town with a population of about 3,000. "I was in my bar course and Then he called a little firm somebody mentioned this little firm in Morrisburg, Ont. So I cold-called them and they got back to me a week later and that' enjoyed the environment," says Horner. "I think it' s from. things a lot of law school students really don't have an appreciation for is the breadth of law you do in a small town in a rural practice. They really feel all the interesting law is done in the big cities, which is far from the truth. In fact, it' s one of those Brennan of Horner & Pietersma in Morrisburg, a small town off Highway 401 between Brockville and Cornwall, Ont. Brennan says the small-town atmosphere was part of the lure to Morrisburg. "I was looking for that life- style. My wife and I were looking to start a family and I didn't want to be in a big city. We were look- ing for that type of firm and they don't really exist in the city. the firm was looking to hire a third lawyer. That lawyer turned out to be The other key factor was that " Brennan. He focuses on family and real estate law at the firm. "It was really important for me to find a firm that was looking to s where I ended up," says offer something many of the larger ones in the big cities typi- cally don't: articling students actually get to be lawyers. "In the big centres, while they the opposite in my experience and I articled in Ottawa." Horner says small firms give you a broad training, the work you get tends to be at the very lowest level, whereas if you join a small firm, you tend to get much more responsibility because there is only so many people to do the work. You'll actually get to the court, you'll do small-claims trials, you'll argue motions, you'll do things you may not get the chance to do in the bigger centres where it' students isn't difficult. In fact, he doesn't think any firm looking s a lot more paper-intensive." Still, Horner says attracting articling task force had been accepting submissions on the consultation report released in December 2011. The goal is to address the concerns around unplaced candidates given their growing numbers. The task force has noted s Students 'feel all the interesting law is done in the big cities, which is far from the truth,' says Eldon Horner. for a student has had difficulty finding one. That' students than there are articling jobs across Ontario every year. While the Law Society of Upper Canada has noted the tendency of law school graduates to seek jobs in the big cities, Horner' firm has always had luck in finding people. "I know in our experience, s we've hired a few and whenever we look for a student, we don't have trouble finding some- body, of students who are in need of articling positions, so those stu- dents will go wherever articling positions are open." The law society is studying the shortage of articling jobs. Its " he says. "There are a lot s because there are more it now. However, students must still has been monitoring articling issues for several years. In the report, the task force describes a profession in which lawyers once got their training on the job but primarily look to uni- versity-based education to get that rising enrolment at law schools has been a factor. As well, an increase in interna- tionally trained graduates and economics have played a role in how many positions are available and how many people can't find one. The law society notes it do the on-the-job training by articling after law school. "What has become increas- ingly apparent over the last decade in particular, however, is that the supply of articling placements is not keeping pace with demand. Although the number of lawyers in the pro- fession and the number of can- didates seeking to be licensed have risen steadily over the last 10 years, the number of articling positions has remained largely static," the report noted. It continued: "The need to address articling placement issues has provided an oppor- tunity to also consider whether the articling system is meet- ing the law society' objectives." Horner' s regulatory well under the current system. It got an articling student as well as a lawyer who stayed. s firm, however, did LT PAGE 13 RELIABLE TAX EXPERTISE FOR LAWYERS NEW EDITION THE LAWYER'S GUIDE TO INCOME TAX AND GST/HST – 2012 EDITION DAVID M. SHERMAN, B.A., LL.B., LL.M. Know the best way to handle the tax aspects of your clients' affairs with The Lawyer's Guide to Income Tax and GST/HST – 2012 Edition. This user-friendly guide covers all the core issues that non-tax lawyers need to address in their practices. 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