Articling program in Ottawa
Our Ottawa office is the largest firm in the nation's capital region and provides legal services in both official languages. No law firm is better prepared to serve the Eastern Ontario market. We provide law students with exceptional opportunities to work with our national and international clients across a number of industries and practice areas.
160 Elgin, Suite 2600
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1P 1C3
Please note this office is an English work environment, where all applications must be in English.
Recruitment contact
Our articling student program consists of rotations in:
We design our rotation program to encourage student exposure to the practice areas of the firm, provide contact with a wide cross-section of lawyers and agents, and offer the flexibility necessary to meet individual interests. Students interested in a general rotation program will spend approximately four to five months in Advocacy, and two to three months in each of Business Law and Intellectual Property. Successful applicants seeking an extended rotation in IP or other specialty may devote at least six months to their area of choice.
In Business Law you will be exposed to most, but perhaps not all, areas of business law, which includes:
In advocacy, you will gain experience in most areas of our litigation practice, such as:
And finally, our Intellectual Property practice covers areas such as:
With a broad clientele of national and multinational organizations, Gowling WLG provides students with exposure to a wide variety of industries.
For our articling student program, Gowling WLG Ottawa conducts interviews in concert with a group representing most of the Ottawa articling student employers.
Your application package must include your cover letter, a copy of your résumé, your undergraduate and law school transcripts. Gowling WLG participates in the Canadian Directory of Legal Employers, and you may view our profile at NALP Canada. Please note that our preferred method for submission of applications is through the VI Portal. Details on how to submit through the VI portal are available from your law school's Career Development Office. Additional questions with regards to our application process may be directed to Danica Steadman, Manager of Student Programs.
Gowling WLG Ottawa is an equal opportunity employer. That said, our firm is dedicated to providing equitable opportunities for employment and advancement, and to creating a more inclusive workplace for all our people, as we believe that diverse professional and administrative teams make better decisions. Applicants who are Indigenous, racialized BIPOC, members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and persons with a disability are encouraged to self-identify.
Because of the large number of strong student applications that we receive from across Canada, we conduct a very large number of interviews over a relatively short recruitment period. A first interview with us will last approximately 30 minutes. Students that successfully pass the first interview stage will be granted a second interview later in the recruitment period. The second interview will be followed by a tour of our office with one of our current articling students. During the tour, the student will have an opportunity to meet with a number of current students and lawyers with the Firm.
"Call day" is the colloquial term for the day on which the law firms in the Ottawa recruitment area are allowed to make offers of articling positions. Ottawa firms participating in the articling recruitment process are not permitted to offer a position, or even communicate an intention to offer a position until Call day at 8:00 a.m. Offers remain open until noon or allow two hours, whichever comes later, for students to advise of their acceptance or decline response. Students should advise the firm(s) as soon as they are able to make a decision so that any declined position can then be offered to another student.
Gowling WLG provides a rewarding and educational experience. We actively develop our articling students through educational programs that provide insight, evaluation and experience with various areas of the law. Student seminars, conducted by members of the firm and the Ottawa legal community, run throughout the articling year. Students are also included in the firm's continuing education program for lawyers and are invited to attend in-house seminars.
Our commitment to our students includes a competitive salary, including a signing bonus. When they begin their articling program, students receive generous medical and dental benefits, participate in the firm's fitness plan, and receive two weeks of paid vacation. In addition, we pay the Licensing Process tuition fee and the student fee for membership in the Canadian Bar Association and the County of Carleton Law Association for each of our articling students.
Cornell Law School
Naryan Shukle
McGill University
Samira Tabrizian
Queen's University
Stephanie Clancy
Jordan Rivera
Derek Wu
Toronto Metropolitan University
Jill Crich
University of Calgary
Shanzay Amjad
University of Ottawa
Shile Adeyoyin
Vanessa D’Ambrosio
Lauren Hass
Vashini Jaunky
Emily Keeping
Emma Murray
Kalie Rhéaume
Amy Williams
University of Windsor
Isabella Papalia
McGill University
Edward Khidirov
Alycia Noë
University of Ottawa
Shane Cosman
Michael Giesbrecht
Arielle Girard
Anmoldeep Kaur
Vanessa Matta
Shehnoor Nasir
Valérie Pilote
Queen's University
Briana Donnelly
Levon Mouradian
Toronto Metropolitan University
Rowan Brzezinski
Osgoode Hall
Serena Nath
University of Manitoba
Syed Ullah
Booker Zhang
University of Windsor
Nicole Balthazar
Dalhousie University
Priya Szymanski
Social programs
Gowling WLG offers a great opportunity for students to challenge their minds and test their abilities in a friendly atmosphere. We host a number of social events in which our articling students are encouraged to join. For example, our summer party in June and our golf tournament in August, and enjoy student-specific events and informal get-togethers as they arise. Also, to help foster a well-balanced articling term, students are invited to participate in our wellness program, which includes series on managing stress, physical fitness and healthy eating.