Information about

Articling and Summer Student Programs

Written by Avi Slodovnick

November 11, 2002

INTRODUCTION

This section is intended to provide information about Solmon Rothbart Goodman's LLP (“SRG”) articling and summer student programs, as well as to highlight some of the features of our firm that, in our view, distinguish our firm from others so that prospective students can make an informed decision about where they wish to work

PHILOSOPHY AND METHODOLOGY

Our firm takes seriously its responsibility towards training the students we hire. We consider it an obligation to provide our students with exposure to, and training in, as many steps in the litigation process as circumstances allow. A single partner of the firm monitors all work assigned to each student to ensure that the student's workload is not too heavy, not too light, and sufficiently varied to avoid undue repetition of tasks. Students are invited and encouraged to join lawyers whenever and wherever the student's work is utilized. For example, a student who does research on a particular legal point, will be asked to join the lawyer at the motion or hearing to see how the legal argument plays out in court. The student who prepares a chronology and document brief will be invited to join the lawyer at the examination for discovery or cross-examination to see how fact-finding and evidence gathering is accomplished. Similarly, a student who prepares a motion record or mediation brief will be urged to attend the motion or mediation, as the case may be. Our experience is that a student who sees how his/her work product is utilized in actual proceedings better understands the purpose and objectives of the work and does a much better job of it the next time. We are proud to say that our students fulfil a wide range of functions and tasks, all of which serve to educate the student around the litigation process and practise of law.

We believe that students who have completed their articles with our firm have obtained as good a litigation exposure as is available for a student at any Toronto firm. Depending upon the initiative shown and skill level exhibited by the student, students having completed the articling program at our firm are able to function as litigation lawyers upon completion of their articles.

DESCRIPTION OF OUR PRACTICE

At this time, our firm practises commercial litigation and appellate advocacy almost exclusively. Typical cases that we handle include real estate disputes, corporate disputes (including shareholder disputes), partnership disputes, commercial landlord and tenant disputes, banking and mortgage litigation, professional negligence cases, employment litigation, and various other commercial-related cases.

Our offices are located at 18 King Street East, Suite 1600, Toronto, Ontario, a short distance from the cluster of court houses in the Queen/University corridor, and just above the King subway station.

NATURE OF WORK

The nature of our firm's practise lends itself to an educational, challenging and a meaningful student experience. The firm grew out of a practice begun by Melvyn L. Solmon who began by acting for clients who were in financial difficulty and being pursued by large and resourceful institutions, such as the banks. Quickly he gained a reputation for innovative and practical solutions. As such, the firm's practice has always emphasized banking and mortgage litigation, acting for borrowers, guarantors and mortgagors. As well, the firm has developed an expertise in bankruptcy/insolvency related matters.

The firm has now evolved and developed and the client base now consists of a wide cross-section clients of varying level of resources, both institutional and individual. The firm's practice is focused on commercial litigation where the student will receive experience in commercial landlord tenant matters, a variety of shareholder and partnership dispute, employment litigation, contract litigation, real estate litigation, class actions, some estate litigation and other disputes including ones that are routinely on the Commercial List in Toronto.

There is no limit to the type of work done – if it is commercial litigation, SRG is there.

For years, as a result of that reputation, our firm's practise emphasized banking and mortgage litigation (where we acted in the main for borrowers and guarantors) and bankruptcy/insolvency related matters. These types of cases are as professionally challenging as any. When a bank lends money to a customer, the customer is obligated to sign a slew of one-sided documents, all of which favour the bank. When litigation arises, the task of the borrower/guarantor's lawyer is to develop a credible legal strategy that overcomes the force created by those documents. Such a strategy is, by definition, creative and requires that the lawyer summon all of his/her legal acumen. He/she must know the substantive law, as well as probe indepthly the underlying facts of the case. Such cases have their frightening aspects too. Frequently, the borrower/guarantor's lawyer is the last line of defence protecting the client from economic devastation. In other words, if the defence is unsuccessful, the client can lose his/her home. This inevitably has direct consequences for the client's spouse and children.

Though our firm has evolved and developed and our client base now consists of a wide cross section of clients of varying levels of resources, there remains a significant component of our practise that serves individuals. Consequently, virtually no case that we handle is isolated from its human consequences. That makes our work not only professionally challenging, but also meaningful and relevant at all times.

HOW WE DO OUR WORK

Though we work hard, the atmosphere in our firm is warm and welcoming. Everyone is friendly and especially approachable. It comes naturally to the members of our firm to be collegial with each other so that files are worked on in collaboration with one another. This is a tremendous strength of our firm. Some firms try to adopt mentoring models, but such models do not work effectively unless the personalities of the lawyers at the firm are conducive to a collegial approach. At our firm, there is no need for a formal model because it comes naturally to the people here. The result is that, when working on a file, each lawyer/student benefits from the perspective of a colleague. In litigation, one always ultimately gets the perspective of another legal practitioner. The only question is when, not whether. Will it be, for the first time, when the judge presiding at the hearing looks down at you from the bench and asks a question that completely blindsides you because you have not considered it? By then, it may be too late to marshal the evidence or jurisprudence needed to address the judge's concern. The inability to address adequately a question posed by a judge can often mean the difference between success and failure. Collaboration from an early stage in the file helps you anticipate all issues and questions, serve your client better, and appear as a more effective advocate before judges and adversaries.

Accordingly, the nature of our work is challenging, the atmosphere is friendly and the methodology is collaborative. This reduces anxiety and makes the work experience a positive one.

HIRE-BACK RATIOS

Typically, our firm hires one or two articling students and one summer student per session. In the last ten years (from 1992 to 2002), we have offered hire-back positions to 9 of 16 articling students. Our goal is to have summer students return as articling students.