This isn’t a sit-back-and-observe opportunity.
When you work with us, you receive first-hand experience and encouragement to pursue areas that interest you. Bishop & McKenzie students meet with clients, amassing responsibility and experience until they can handle legal problems on their own.
It’s a particular point of pride that our students often remark how their work here is both more advanced and more practical than what their classmates receive at other firms.
At Bishop & McKenzie, we look to hire students who are dedicated to their work and are keen to expand on what they are learning about in law school. We look for individuals who exhibit a high level of excellence, diligence, respect, and effort. Ultimately, we look for students who we see with potential as a long-term part of our firm.
Students will be assigned a mentor lawyer for the duration of their summer employment, who will serve to offer ongoing support and ensure workflow. Summer students can expect to receive a wide variety of work from all areas of practice at Bishop & McKenzie. Some of these tasks may include attending client meetings, observing questionings, drafting court documents, and conducting research. We look forward to reviewing your application and are eager to learn more about you! Applications can be submitted by January 29, 2024 to Rachelle Alyward at ralyward@bmllp.ca or using vilawportal.
Applications should include cover letter, resume, post-secondary transcripts, midterm marks (if available) and potential references.
We would like to thank all applicants: however only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
There is no formal rotation over the summer. Instead, students tackle a variety of work and assignments from all areas of our practice. This is a great way to see what articling for the firm is like. We invite our students to attend legal proceedings and client meetings. When you’re a summer student at Bishop & McKenzie, you’ll gain valuable experience in advocacy and client relations.
At the end of your summer experience at Bishop & McKenzie, we’ll provide you with a formal evaluation. However, throughout your time here, you’ll receive ongoing feedback from the lawyers mentoring you.
What are your future goals? How will you get there? Bishop & McKenzie summer students work under an assigned mentor and meet throughout the term to discuss their paths to success.
As part of experiencing the firm atmosphere, we invite our summer students to our firm’s formal and informal functions. Summer students also assist the articling students in planning our Summer Party, a family friendly event for staff and lawyers.
Bishop & McKenzie summer students receive a compensation package competitive with other mid-sized Edmonton firms.
Here are the questions we most frequently receive regarding articling at Bishop & McKenzie. If you have a question that you don’t see answered on this page, please get in touch.
We usually hire two students each year.
We provide:
We hire two students and expect that both students will remain with the firm as associates. Our retention rate for students is very high.
Our policy is to allow our students to manage their own time for CPLED, and to give it as much time and attention as they need. Having a set CPLED day can cause problems if the student is busy on that day. We think our students should manage their CPLED assignments as they would any other file and take the time that they need to complete their assignments. The firm takes our student’s CPLED studies seriously and wants to give our students all the support they need to complete their assignments.
We will often invite strong candidates for at least a second meeting of some sort. This second meeting can take the form of a second informal interview with different members of our firm, a luncheon or dinner with a group of candidates or a reception at our offices. We strive to tailor our second interview process to suit the strong candidate’s availability. The second meeting is in a more relaxed, social atmosphere.
While we expect our students to keep track of their time (as this is an important skill to learn) we do not have billable hour expectations for our students.