Frequently Asked Questions
How is the articling year structured?
As an articling student at Reynolds Mirth, you can expect a varied and thorough articling experience.
Instead of adopting a formal rotation, we empower our students to participate in how their year is designed, with the support and guidance of senior lawyers and principals who ensure every student receives the variety and depth necessary for a rich articling year. This means that students are not seconded to a particular practice group, but rather available to all of our groups. Our view is that broad experience in various practice areas creates better lawyers in the long term. Encouraging our students to learn many areas of law to find out what suits them best as they grow into lawyers is just one example of how we invest in our students and associates.
What does Reynolds Mirth look for in an application?
When reviewing applications, we love to see well-rounded, whole people. Law students who care as much about academics as they do about the practical, service-based business of law. We also love to learn about how people give back to their communities, and we love hearing about your life outside law school!
How does the firm approach mentorship?
We are lucky at Reynolds Mirth to have a tremendous depth of knowledge. We have textbook authors, sessional instructors, and practitioners with years of experience in courtrooms and closing large deals.
In our experience, mentorship works best when it is built on a genuine relationship. Instead of formally pairing senior and junior lawyers after the articling year, we foster organic relationship-building as much as possible. Every student is assigned a principal during articling and that relationship often continues after the student is called to the bar.
As a result, we have a legacy of strong mentorship, and many senior lawyers who see their role as a mentor to be central to their career.
Does the firm hire back its articling students?
Historically, the firm has had a very high hire-back rate.
What are the billable requirements for articling students and junior associates?
Although students track their time to become comfortable with the process, we have no minimum billable hour target during your articling year. Our goal for our students’ articling year is to empower them to learn about the practice and the business of law, to grow as practitioners, and to provide them with the foundational knowledge for a long and successful legal career.
Once students are called to the bar, they receive hours credits for file-related learning and training for a period of three years. This helps our junior lawyers to grow into their legal practices, spend time observing matters, and acclimate to the demands of billable time.
What is the path to partnership at Reynolds Mirth?
At Reynolds Mirth, we view each articling student as a potential future partner. Associate lawyers are typically considered for partnership five to seven years into their practice. Associate lawyers are reviewed annually to ensure continued progress and development.
We are also in the process of designing a fulsome associate development program, which we’ll launch fully in 2024.
How does the firm support its lawyers as whole people?
We are interested in ensuring that our lawyers have long, successful, and fulfilling careers in the law. And we know that we play an important role in making this possible.
For example, we understand that changing phases and stages of life require different approaches, and we offer adaptable options and flexibility in those times. We know that young lawyers are in a busy phase of life, often growing their career and family simultaneously. We support our lawyers through all of these exciting milestones!
We also know the value of fostering academic interest and excellence. Some members of our firm have taken education leaves to pursue graduate studies, while many others have maintained long-standing teaching engagements at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law and at MacEwan University.
And, importantly, we ensure our lawyers have what they need, whether it’s a specialized tool to accommodate a physical impairment, or whether it’s a resource, space or time to support spiritual beliefs and practices.
Why do Reynolds Mirth lawyers choose to stay at the firm?
We encourage you to reach out to our lawyers, and in particular, our current group of associates, to learn more about why they chose Reynolds Mirth, and why they choose to stay.
