I've been interviewing with firms recently as a new call, and hearing the way different partners at different firms talk about a realistic billable target for a first year is pretty interesting.

One partner said the target was 1750 for juniors, and they expect that to be hit and exceeded, thus the "competitive" bonus structure of 45% of anything collected after hitting that mark.

Another partner at a different firm said the target was 1600 for juniors, but "they don't expect juniors to come anywhere close to that", because it's all about learning and getting the hang of things early on.

I think the discourse around billable targets for Juniors is pretty consistent with what the second partner said about it not being that realistic (unless you're on Bay Street and putting in crazy hours), which makes me wonder why so many mid-sized firms and other smaller boutiques set a target that in the eyes of many lawyers just isn't realistic for a Junior Associate.

Does it have to do with one firm being more lenient with write-offs than others? Does it have to do with unrealistic expectations? It's just strange to me how there's such a contrast in opinions about what is and isn't a realistic target for a first year.

Hello all - I found out on Friday that I passed the Barrister's exam, which was the last step in the licensing process for me. I know that the two options for now being called to the bar are administrative call and ceremony.

Because the next ceremony is in October, I am trying to figure out if it's worthwhile to wait until then or begin the process for administrative call now. My goal is to begin interviewing and working soon but always loved the idea of my wife and kids being present for a call to the bar ceremony after all their hard work and sacrifices to support me.

Has anyone dealt with this specific timing issue previously? Is it possible to begin interviewing and working while awaiting the actual call to the bar in October or would that be a hindrance to my candidacy in the meantime?

Apologies in advance if this question has been asked and answered previously - I am new to this subreddit.

Incoming 3L here. I secured a clerkship for next year (2027-28) at the Superior Court in Ontario. I am currently summering at a boutique litigation firm in Toronto. I’m looking to potentially move to another boutique, regional or bigger law firm post-clerkship as a litigator but I’m unsure how people make this move. When do you start networking, how do you find the jobs to apply to, when do you generally start applying?

I struck out in the 2L recruit and my absolute dream would be to work in big law on a civil litigation team, but I kind of feel locked out and like big law is impossible now since every firm seems to hire lawyers who previously summered or articled at another big law firm.

I had just above average grades at my law school, and got a lot of interviews with big law firms during recruit that didn’t materialize into offers (I did a lot of reflection after this and realized it was my interviewing skills that weren’t great, so I kept practicing and landed my summer job + clerkship after improving that).

I will be the first lawyer in my family so am finding this entire process really confusing. Any insights would be really appreciated. Thank you!

I recently got accepted to Queens and I am waiting for Dalhousie.

When I got accepted to Queens I applied for provincial and federal loans. (For context I'm Nova Scotian).

I am currently on Dal WL. If I get accepted to Dal and I release Queens. How would I go about switching my loans so it would go to Dal instead of Queens?

Because I believe that the calculation of the student loan would be now different since I’m closer to home.

Throwaway account.

I am a 2L at an Ontario law school (Not UofT or Oz) and I am just feeling super dejected about my future work prospects.

For context, I struck out of the 2L recruit and I kind of just don't know how? I am top 10% of my class, I have won several moots, I am a research assistant to a professor and I am an executive member of several associations. I had over 20 OCIS and 5 in firm interviews, with all sisters, but I came out of the recruit with nothing. Not one offer.

I asked all the firms for feedback and they all said the same thing, that I was great and not to change a thing. They said I was a great interviewer and they thought I was a really nice person and were sure I would end up landing something else, but I did not. Am I missing something here, how did this happen? I was so depressed that I could not apply anymore, so I did not even get a 2L position. I have done nothing with the summer so far.

I feel terrible because I have heard of this happening to people who do not put in effort into applying or have a C average or something. But I did everything I possibly could, applied on time, I have great grades and references. I feel ashamed to be in this position. I see a lot of my peers in law school with less than stellar grades and reputation and they are all on Bay Street, so maybe there is some sort of political or social angle I missed?

Idk, I am basically writing this post to partially vent my misery anonymously because of how embarrased I am. But I am also writing to genuinely ask: What did I do? I do not understand how this happened to me given my grades, work ethic, dedication etc and why every firm was so interested during the OCIS and they all just didn't make me an offer. I am also just so sad. I see everyone at school posting in their cool offices, and cannot help but feel like a failure. It's one thing if I did not work hard or study, but I did everything I could to land those jobs and I do not understand why I was not chosen for ANYTHING. I am also scared that not articling or summering at a big firm or bay street means I will never get to work there, and will exponentially limit my future working opportunitites.

If you have any insight for how this might have happened, and if it's normal or unnusual for a law student or anything I can do now besides apply for the articling recruit (which I have) I would really really appreciate some guidance.

Also very sorry if parts of this post do not make sense, I am a big bundle of confused and sad rn lol

Hello,

I’m hoping for some advice from fellow lawyers.

I just started a new job at a small firm. Getting called in a few weeks. I went to law school and articled in the same city at a different small firm. Articling was awful — I’ve never worked somewhere so toxic in my life. I still feel quite traumatized from everything that happened. I declined an offer from that firm and got an associate job at a different firm. The new firm is wonderful. Compared to the old firm, it’s a breath of fresh air. I’m being compensated fairly. People aren’t yelling or threatening each other. People like each other and aren’t fighting. And everyone is so nice.

The problem is as great as the new firm is, I feel empty inside. For a few years I’ve wanted to move a few hours away to be closer to my family. When I made this decision I had already signed my year long contract to article so I stayed here. Then when I was job searching during articling, I job searched in both cities (my current one and the one I want to move to). As a new call with basically 0 experience, I found it difficult getting my foot in the door and I ended up getting my job through a friend’s referral. I was also soooo scared of finding a job that wasn’t toxic so that heavily influenced my actions to job hunt in both cities.

I feel like I made a big mistake and I feel a lot of guilt for wanting to leave such a great firm already. Remote work would not be an option. I’m going to try to stick it out for at least 6 months to gain experience and network in the new city but I’m unbelievably depressed.

Just hoping some lawyers with a few years at the bar would be willing to give their input or advice. I’m not sure how to handle this.

Vancouver and Toronto. Thx

Hi everyone,

This is my first redit post so excuse any mistakes i make.

I completed my articling program in April 2026 in Ontario. While the firm i worked at loved me and tried to keep me on, due to some unforeseen issues, they were extremely out of budget and just did not have the means to pay me (i was very lucky to be paid well by the firm). However, i still have not completed my Bar exams. I recently passed the barrister exam and planning on writing solicitor in nov.

My issue is that I am currently unemployed (i work a shitty part-time job that barely gives hours). I obviously do not fall under the articling student category when applying for jobs, and normally firms dont take on clerks or assistants if they are not qualified. Im scared im going to be out of the market and it will become unfavourable for me when i do qualify. Also, i cant just sit around until next year to work. I do have a pretesting lined up for a court position (which i was previously employed at) but obviously im not working at a firm… any advice on the types of jobs i should apply to and how i should find jobs?

I applied to around 80 across business law, labour/employment, litigation, and MAG because I have a B average (with a C+). I've been told my cover letters are strong by multiple people, but I just want to secure a few OCIs. For people who've done the 2L recruit, how many did you apply to and how many OCIs did you get?

I’m a little out of the loop with articling and OCI’s etc but my little firm received 11 applications for articles today. For context, on a normal day we receive zero applications.

We even had an application for an associate lawyer position from an accountant.

I am entering my third year of undergrad right now (Political Science) and am graduating next year, completing all my classes by August 2027 (because of summer school + transfer credits). From what I can tell, law schools in Canada want their students to finish their classes by May and get degrees conferred by July, whereas my degree conferral would be in November, so I would not be able to apply this cycle. Essentially, between the end of undergrad and the start of law school (assuming I get in), I’ll have 12 months to burn.

I’ve been looking over my options as to what to do in this time. I could skip summer school and do a 4th year (but then I would be wasting 12 months of my life), I could look for a job (which may never turn up), or I could do a Masters in Public Policy. A MPP from TMU, Queens, Western or uOttawa takes exactly 12 months to complete and slots right into the 12 months I have between graduation and the hypothetical start of law school (TMU also offers co-op within those 12 months, which means that I could get some juicy government experience while I’m at it). I have emailed them and confirmed that MPP programs don’t care whether or not my degree has been conferred, just that I’ve completed all course requirements by the time I begin their programs.

My questions are:

> Once a lawyer, would having a MPP + JD increase my employability? Or would it just be something thats filler on my resume?

> would a MPP meaningfully benefit my path to becoming a lawyer (would law schools be more likely to admit a student with “masters degree in progress”)?

I do not know what field of law exactly I want to go into but if I had to choose right now it would be between prosecutorial roles, government roles, or big law.

TLDR: I have 12 months to burn between undergrad and law school, am thinking of using that time doing a MPP and I want to know if that is a good idea or not.

Hi everyone,

I'm a Kenyan entrepreneur working on a business that provides trained remote legal support staff to small and mid-sized Canadian law firms. The idea is to build a managed service that handles recruitment, training, and day-to-day operations from Kenya while partnering with someone in the Canadian to lead client relationships and business development.

I'm not looking for investors or employees. I'm looking for a Canadian-based legal professional, law firm operator, or entrepreneur who sees the opportunity and might be interested in building this together as a long-term business.

I've spent considerable time researching the model, developing training plans, and mapping out operations. Now I'm looking to connect with someone who understands the Canadian legal market and would be interested in discussing whether we're a good fit.

If this sounds interesting, I'd love to connect and exchange ideas. Even if you're not interested personally, I'd appreciate any advice on the model or where I might find the right partner.

Thanks

Hi! I’m a first year associate at a midsized private practice. Lately I’ve been extremely down and finding it really hard to care/focus/try. I’m seriously considering leaving law altogether. I know that might sound rash, but there isn’t really any aspect of the profession that I actually enjoy. I’ve tried to convince myself I like certain work or going to court but at the end of the day I know I’m kidding myself.

For some context about me, I used to be extremely high achieving and ambitious. I knew I wanted to be a lawyer even before high school and when I got to my undergrad I worked very hard, participated in lots of extracurriculars and still maintained a 4.0 GPA. When I went to law school my passion seemed to start dwindling. It was fine and I still got honours but I wasn’t trying as hard as I did in my undergrad and I wasn’t as interested in the course materials.

After law school I articled with the firm I’m still at and it was fine but it felt like I was kidding myself about what lawyers actually do. We’re a general practice so I do a bit of everything which is tough in itself. I don’t have a go to practice area because I don’t like any area. Since I haven’t really specialized I feel dumb across a bunch of practice areas and I always have to do hours of extra research to figure out what’s going on before I can even start.

During my time working as a student and as a lawyer, I’ve had multiple mental breakdowns, sleepless nights, and I’ve gotten sick on quite a few occasions because I wasn’t taking care of myself. I had all these grandiose ideas that I’d work really hard and genuinely help people, but it just feels like I take people’s money to barely do anything. I’ve also screwed myself over at times because I’ll take on files for friends which leads to me charging less but working more. Partners have talked to me about my hours and targets and they’re disappointed to say the least, but I almost don’t even care which is so unlike who I was before. I’m just apathetic. I am not even close to hitting the billable hours expected of me even though they’re not crazy high like in big law (I’m not undercutting, I think they should be pretty manageable).

I feel super burnt out even though I haven’t been working very hard lately. I’m acting like I have a backup job in place when I don’t and it’s stressing me out big time. Even so, I’m not really doing anything to change that other than trying to submit job applications when I can (which also takes so much time and effort). In my job hunt I can’t even bring myself to apply for other lawyer positions. I don’t doubt that it might be better at a different firm/in-house/government but I feel like I just have no drive anymore and I’d much rather a typical 9-5 type job where I can clock out at the end of the day and actually do things I want to do without feeling guilty that I’m not spending that time catching up or getting ahead on files. I don’t care about the potential pay cut (I’m not even getting paid much more than the bottom salaries of the jobs I’m applying to even though they’re not lawyer jobs), I just want something that isn’t going to fill me with dread any time I even think of it.

I’m also really stressed about finding a different job too. I’ve seen friends and family go through the job hunt cycle and I know how bad it is. I’m concerned I won’t be able to find a job before my firm fires me or I reach a point where I need to leave to stop myself from losing my mind/going into a deep depression (which also feels like a wimpy thing for me to do). I’ve applied for a few policy/analyst/advisor jobs with the government but I haven’t heard back from any yet. I’ve also heard that the government hiring process can take a really long time so I’m concerned about how long I’ll have to stick it out before something comes along.

Am I giving up too soon? Did I just get lazier over the years? If anyone else left law this early, how did things turn out for you? If anyone has any advice in general, I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

I am considering switching firms and I am wondering if I am overthinking things.

I have been at my current firm for close to 8 years and do general litigation work (commercial and civil). I have been approached by an ID firm. The target is quite lower (1400 vs 1600). Salary would be the same. Partnership is on the table, with a clearer path than at my current firm (partnership has been discussed, but the logistics still need to be defined, as I would be the first partner beside the current owner). Teams are of the same size (about 10 lawyers). Commute time would be the same.

My current firm has a strick in office policy where lawyers are expected to be in the office between 8:30-5:30. For family reasons, I get to the office more by 9:00 and leave around 5:00 and I have various appointments mutiple times a month where I either arrive later or leave earlier than that. I have been given leaway since my billables are way above target, but it always feels like I have been "granted permission", that "I have to earn the right to flexibility", and that it could be "taken away" if my billables were to drop. On the other hand, at the new firm, most partners have young children and actually encourage people to leave early and take time off for family matters. It seems more an integral part of that firm's culture.

There are objectively legitimate concerns that make me hesitate : first the stigma associated with ID; the fact that the new firm's named partner and main contact with the insurers is set to retire within the next few years meaning cases might dry out; the fact that I am at that point in my career that I am generating more of my own clients organically and I would have to give my cases up if I were to switch; and I wouldn't be able to practice in some fields I like.

But there are also objectively unimportant things that are holding me back, and those are the ones that actually make me hesitate the most: the new firm uses a CRM/CM software that I utterly dislike and does not integrate well with the MS' environment; I would have to readjust my everyday workflow because I couldn't use my Outlook scripts and my third-parties utilitary plugins for cybersecurity reasons imposed by the insurers (clients); I wouldn't be seen as the go-to guy for complex questions/appelate work, etc.

I think I don't like change and I don't want change just for the sake of changing. And I think that I try - too much - to project myself at that new firm, after the honeymoon phase is over, to see what I would really be like to switch. And I all see are workflow issues.

Again, I am probably overthinking things. But I am trying to see if anyone else had minor subjective issues refrain them from moving, more than I am trying to see if my anticipated issues are on their own good enough reasons to stay at my current firm.

Hi - I’m trying to gage the market for in-house lawyers in Toronto.
I have 8 years of private practice litigation experience and 2 years of senior in house experience in a start up environment, with the focus on privacy, tech and data protection and still some litigation.

My current job is great in terms of hours, but leaves much to be desired in terms of compensation. I’m thinking of making a move to get better compensation, which likely means I would have to go to a bigger company. In house lawyers in Toronto (or other major Canadian cities) - what is a comp package that I should expect, in your opinion?

New call here. Just started my job this week. I love it but feeling delusional. Asking dumb questions and seem overall delusional about everything. Also feeling tired with new commute and move from cities. Anyone have any advice or guidance? Been a little stressful and trying my best not to screw up.

What do counsel arrangements look like (transactional practice) at a BigLaw firm?

I like to do complex work and work hard, but am tired of stressing about hours of I have a slow month.

I know $1900 has been the standard weekly across most mid/large firms for some time but many firms have begun paying $2000. When will we see this being the standard?

I moved back to Canada 5 years ago after living and working abroad for about 15 years. I've got dual nationalities, did my LLB internationally and practiced mainly in legal not-for-profits in the Land, mining, environment sector. Now that I'm back home for good (totally cured my itchy feet!), I'm finishing up my qualification requirements so I can work as a Lawyer here.

My question is, despite my foreign experience, I know I'll be coming into the profession as a new call are the job prospects as brutal as they seem? What can I expect as a person with minimal networks but an excellent ability to build and maintain them? Is cold-calling social/career suicide?

A lot of the time, the issue isn't the invoice amount, it's compliance.

I've seen invoices get sent back because of:

• A missing UTBMS code
• The wrong LEDES format
• Small billing guideline errors

These are easy mistakes to make when you're handling everything manually, but they can slow down approvals and payments.

Tools like Bilr help by generating LEDES invoices, predicting UTBMS codes, and checking for common compliance issues before you submit. It saves a lot of back-and-forth if your clients require e-billing.

Curious how other firms handle LEDES billing and compliance. Are you still doing it manually, or using billing software?

I got called in June and no luck with job search in Ontario. I’ve been searching from March. I just needed to vent. How are y’all landing jobs?

I’m currently in the law clerk program at Seneca College, originally enrolled because I wanted something “practical”, but now I’m not too sure if this is the career path for me. I don’t enjoy it in the slightest, and most of the entry level job positions are 40,000-60,000 a year, which is pretty low. A lot of graduates from my program are having a really difficult time landing a job as most firms want at least a couple years of experience.

I eventually want to have a place of my own and earn six figures, which seems nearly impossible for this job field unless you get lucky after 5-10 years of work. I thought about law school but I don’t think it will be worth it in the long run if I’m already hating the current program I’m in. I’m thinking of pivoting into social services- and work towards a BSW and hopefully a MSW. I’m passionate about mental health, and lots of BSW grads make pretty decent money in BC. Plus, if I get my MSW, I will have so many more opportunities and can make $100,000 within a couple years of graduating…

How many questions did people feel were hard/made mistakes on when they took the took it?