Leaders are born made

Practice areas

Our articling student program consists of rotations in:

• Advocacy
• Business Law
• Intellectual Property

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.

With a broad clientele of national and multinational organizations, Gowling WLG provides students with exposure to a wide variety of industries.

Application process

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.

In-firm interview

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

"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.

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