Leaders are born made

Summer program in Ottawa

Our team 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.  

Careers - website - Canada - inpage - Ottawa

Office details

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
Office details 

 

Practice areas

The Gowling WLG Ottawa Summer Program generally focuses on one of our three major practice areas:

  • Advocacy
  • Business Law
  • Intellectual Property

In Business Law, our practice includes:

  • Commercial and corporate law
  • Public and private financings
  • Financial institutions law
  • Real estate and secured lending
  • Tax and estate planning
  • Municipal law
  • Aboriginal law

In Litigation, our practice consists of: 

  • Litigation and administrative law
  • Professional liability
  • Commercial litigation
  • Employment and labour law
  • Insurance and defence law
  • Aboriginal law

And finally, our Intellectual Property practice covers areas such as:

  • Pharmaceutical litigation
  • Biotechnology
  • Genetic engineering
  • Food production

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


Application process

Gowling WLG's Ottawa office hires a number of summer law students who will have completed the second year of law school for the May-to-August period for the Advocacy Department, the Intellectual Property Department and Business Law Department. We also hire summer law students with a strong science or engineering background, who will have completed the first year of law school for the Intellectual Property Department. We prefer to hire students who plan to remain in Ottawa for their articling year and to practise here following their call to the Bar.

For our summer law student program, Gowling WLG Ottawa conducts interviews in concert with a group representing most of the Ottawa summer law student employers. The Ottawa cooperative summer law student recruitment process is self-regulated by the Ottawa student employers rather than by the Law Society of Ontario.

Your application package must include your cover letter, a copy of your résumé, your undergraduate and law school transcripts, and a list of the upper year courses for which you plan to register. 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.


Interviews

You will find in this Interview details document the information pertaining to in-firm interviews and call day.

Professional development

Gowling WLG Ottawa provides a rewarding and educational summer work experience. We actively develop our students through educational programs that provide insight, evaluation and hands-on experience with various areas of the law. Our comprehensive seminar program spans a wide variety of practice areas, and our constructive mentoring programs provide students with opportunities to work with – and learn from – our diverse and experienced professionals. Our students are also encouraged to define their own development, and to seek out and experience the work in which they are most interested.

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Compensation & benefits

Our commitment to our students includes a competitive salary,  plus vacation pay. Our student salaries are among the highest in the Ottawa market.

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Social programs

Gowling WLG offers a great opportunity for students to challenge their minds and test their abilities in a friendly atmosphere. During the summer months, we host a number of social events in which our summer students are encouraged to join. For example, our students attend our summer party in June and our golf tournament in late August, and enjoy student-specific events and informal get-togethers as they arise.

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Student directory

2024

Cornell Law School

Naryan Shukle

McGill University

Aingaran Satkunarajah

Osgoode Hall

Chong Tan

Queen's University

Stephanie Clancy
Jordan Rivera
Derek Wu

Toronto Metropolitan University

Jillian Crich

University of Ottawa

Olashile Adeyoyin
Tyler Allan
Duncan Baird
Vanessa D’Ambrosio
Lauren Hass
Rayan Ibrahim
Vashini Jaunky
Emily Keeping
Emma Murray
Kalie Rhéaume
Amy Williams

University of Toronto

Michael Barbour

University of Windsor

Isabella Papalia