Our Student Program

Top 10 reasons we're #wildlydifferent

• We’re good at what we do.

  We are the only mid-size firm in Canada that competes consistently and effectively with the national full-service firms in our chosen practice areas.

• We offer coveted opportunities.

  We have big firm work and salaries in a collegial firm environment.

• We invest in your professional development.

  We do not have billable hour targets. We strive to create a supportive and cooperative environment where our professionals focus on skill development and willingly share their knowledge, expertise and time.

• We embrace a hybrid work model.

  Well before the pandemic, we adopted an agile working environment so that we could work remotely up to one day per week. We now work remotely up to two days per week, which fosters the collaborative nature of the practice of law while recognizing the new realities of the world of work.

• We have a Hireback Loan Program.

  We offer a $12,000 interest-free loan to those students who will join us as first year lawyers to help bridge the gap until their start date.

• We share success and growth.

  We have an Equity Participation Program, which allows our lawyers to share financially in the growth of certain clients.

• We’re here to support you.

  We offer competitive pregnancy and parental leave benefits, including 26 weeks top-up of EI maternity and parental leave benefits which applies to all parents.

• We offer sabbaticals for partners.

  Our partners are able to take a four-month sabbatical leave after five years of partnership.

• Our office is different — in a good way.

  We have our own building on Bay Street, Wildeboer DelleIce Place. Our office has its own gym and we have a pool table in our lobby.

• We know how to work and play.

  We have more fun! Our team likes to do things together — from sports to holiday socials and happy hours.

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Student FAQ

• How many students do you typically hire?

  We usually hire 5-7 second year summer law students through the annual Toronto second year summer law student recruitment process. We do not participate in the annual Toronto articling recruitment process unless we have a specific need for one or more additional students. We are not participating in the 2024-2025 Toronto articling recruitment process.

• What is the timeline for submission of application materials for summer and articling student positions?

  We follow the Law Society of Ontario’s Toronto recruitment procedures for second year summer law student and articling student positions. We accept applications through the online viLaw Portal from students attending all law schools. For the 2024 summer recruitment process, we will attend the virtual “On- Campus” Interviews (OCI’s) at each of Osgoode, Ottawa, Queen’s, TMU, UofT, Western and Windsor and will also participate in the ITLNCA Networks OCI’s.

• What do you look for in student candidates?

  While there is no single set of characteristics that will lead to a long and prosperous career at WD, successful candidates have historically exhibited, among other things, outstanding academic achievement, a strong work ethic, a willingness to take on responsibility, a commitment to life-long learning and the ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team.

   

  We have a comprehensive set of competencies—traits, qualities and skills—and evaluative criteria that we use to assess applicants for our summer and articling student positions. The core competencies we value and which our lawyers possess include intellectual ability and curiosity, self-directedness, strong interpersonal skills, drive and a strong work ethic, and a client service orientation. An entrepreneurial spirit is also essential for success at our firm. Additionally, because WD is a specialized firm focused on business law, a crucial criterion for our firm is a genuine and demonstrated interest in business law and working at WD.

   

  There are a multitude of ways to demonstrate the criteria that we are looking for. It is important for candidates to emphasize the skills and experiences they would bring to WD that align with our criteria.

• Do you have a rotation system?

  While we do not have a formal rotation system for summer students or articling students, over the course of the summer and articling term, we expect students to work with all lawyers of the firm and gain exposure to our core practice areas as well as different lawyer practice styles.

• How is work assigned and workflow monitored?

  Generally, our lawyers will email all of our students as a group to request assistance with a particular matter. Our students will determine among themselves who is in the best position to assist based on how busy they are, if they have not previously worked with the requesting lawyer(s) and if the work involved is something new for them, and then the appropriate student will communicate to the requesting lawyer(s) that they will assist. Given that we have 5 to 7 students in each cohort, we find this system works for us to achieve the objectives of ensuring that our students are being exposed to a variety of work, are working with different members of the firm, and that work is being evenly distributed.

   

  Members of our Student Committee hold weekly meetings with our students as a group to hear what everyone is currently working on and ensure that the objectives described above are being met.

• What type of work do students typically do?

  Student work includes, among other things, conducting due diligence, drafting legal documents and preparing for and running closings of transactions.

   

  While students may be asked to perform a particular task, we encourage our students to become fully engaged in a file at an early stage. We give students an opportunity to work on many different parts of a file and to have client interaction. We view our student program as the first step in a long career at WD and encourage students to learn and understand all aspects of a file, not only a particular assignment they have been given. We value initiative.

   

  We have no pre-conceived notions of what a student can or cannot do. Every student or lawyer will have to do something for the first time at some point in their career. We try to ensure students get a wide range of experience and take on as much responsibility as they are willing and able to handle.

• What type of ongoing education do you provide to students and lawyers?

  Twice a month, we gather at lunch hour for “Wildlaw U” lecture-based sessions and “Lunch & Learn” roundtable discussions or business development skills training through “Wildlaw Academy.” From time to time, we bring in external speakers to present on topics of interest and specific areas of law that are outside of, or complementary to, our core practice areas. We also offer access to external Continuing Professional Development programs. That said, there is no substitute for “learning-by-doing.”

• What sort of mentorship and feedback will I get?

  We strive to provide mentorship to all of our students in a meaningful and individualized manner, including by pairing each student with a mentor. We give students immediate feedback on an informal and consistent basis, and we encourage students to seek feedback from our lawyers on any tasks performed. Members of our Student Committee regularly provide summer students and articling students with formal reviews during their terms.

• What are your hireback rates?

  We do not hire students just to do a job or fill a desk. We hire students who we expect to have a long and successful career at WD. Accordingly, although we do not guarantee hireback rates, they have historically been high. We have traditionally offered articling terms to all of our summer students before the application deadline for the annual Toronto articling recruitment process. We usually offer associate positions to most, if not all, of our articling students, depending on a variety of factors including performance, practice group needs and market conditions and subject to any opt-outs.

• What compensation and benefits do students receive?

  Our student salary is currently $1,900 per week, which is competitive with the student salaries at the large national law firms in Toronto. For articling students, the firm covers the cost of the lawyer licensing process with the Law Society of Ontario. Articling students are also eligible to participate in the firm’s group benefits plan, entitled to two week’s paid vacation over the 10-month articling term and have access to the firm’s on-site gym.

Wilde.. what? How we say our name: