Looking for advice from family lawyers who started their own practice. Where did you get your first clients? How did you market for your services? How did you build competency if you started solo from the beginning? What is the best way to find mentors? I have applied for several mentorship programs but have not been matched with the right fit yet.
Hi everyone,
I’m currently a 3L at an Ontario law school and am still looking for a 2027–2028 articling position. I have hands-on litigation experience from my previous summer. I’m also particularly interested in tax law, although I’m open to exploring other practice areas. I’m mainly hoping to hear from people who found articling positions outside the formal recruit. What strategies worked for you? Were there particular job boards, networking approaches, or types of firms or organizations that you found helpful?
The search has been challenging, so I would really appreciate any advice. If you happen to know of a firm or organization that may still be hiring, I would also be grateful for a DM.
Thank you!
I’m barely in my second year of call at a small boutique firm. Occasionally we’ll do some contract work for clients - usually software license agreements, but sometimes other things as well.
A significant portion of the work we do is billed on a flat fee basis. Work billed on an hourly basis is usually quoted by my boss. This time I was asked to provide a quote based on a preliminary review of the draft documents.
I quoted the client an amount based on similar work we did for another client, the fact that the documents were internally inconsistent and would need closer review, how long I figured it would take me to revise the documents after review, added a couple hours because we’ve had clients complain about exceeding estimates in the past, and the fact that things still take me longer than they probably should.
I feel like it was a realistic estimate, though, out of an abundance of caution, admittedly on the higher end of what I figured it might cost.
Client immediately said it was too much and that they’d pass on us doing the work.
I know my boss won’t be that upset about it and will probably tell the client we’ll do it for less, but i still feel like I shit the bed a bit and lost a client.
How am I supposed to provide cost estimates when I’m still so junior, especially for work I don’t do on a regular basis?
I am considering pursuing the Ontario Bar but I live in Alberta. I have three very young kids. I have completed the national committee of accreditation exams and am hoping I get a full exemption from articling due to my international practice experience in 2015 to 2020.
I'm trying to understand what I'd need to do in terms of travel.
In other words, can I basically complete all licensing requirements from Alberta? Sounds like I may have to travel to write the exams but I'd love your opinions.
Edit: for reasons I won't go into here - I do NOT want to qualify in Alberta and transfer to Ontario later. I want to qualify in ON.
Has anyone completed part time articling in Ontario while working a full time job, for example around 3 hours each weekday evening plus a full day on the weekend, and had the LSO accept those hours toward the articling requirement?