Downtown Calgary in Autumn

Calgary

Confident smiling young business woman standing in office

Calgary Summer Program

The Calgary office of Lawson Lundell offers a summer program for students who have completed their first year of law school at a Canadian law school. Our summer program is an important part of our recruiting process, and every year we anticipate that our 1L summer students will return to article with us after they finish law school.

Our summer students enjoy a self-directed summer experience, where they are encouraged to explore our various practice groups and seek out work that interests them. We do not rotate summer students through different practice areas. With a flexible summer program and robust mentorship program, our students can start to develop areas of interest and professional relationships that will provide a solid foundation for when they return for articling. The goal is for our summer students to have a meaningful work experience and to leave feeling like part of the Lawson Lundell team.

Our summer student cohort typically includes 4 or 5 students.

Law students in reception area

Calgary Articling Program

Articling at our Calgary office offers students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a wide range of files. Unlike traditional rotation programs, our students are encouraged to seek out work in all practice areas, providing them with comprehensive training while also allowing them to specialize in specific areas of interest.

To enhance the articling experience, we conduct bi-weekly student round tables where various topics, including workflow, capacity, goal setting, challenges, and more, are discussed. These regular check-in meetings are a unique and defining feature of our student program, and they have garnered highly positive feedback. By creating a safe space for students to openly share their joys and challenges, as well as strategies for success, these meetings prove invaluable in shaping their articling year.

Our Calgary students attend and complete the professional legal education program required by the Law Society of Alberta. That program, known as the Practice Readiness Education Program (PREP) is administered by the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education (CPLED). We pay the full Bar Admission tuition and materials fees as well as full salary during the course. For convenience and efficiency, it is our preferences that students are enrolled in the accelerated PREP program.

Our articling students for 2024-2025 are:

Salary & Benefits

Our students are compensated at a competitive level in the downtown Calgary legal market. The firm pays your CPLED an associated Law Society of Alberta fees, as well as your salary while attending PREP. Our articled students receive extended health benefits, and our summer students who return to article with us receive a third year tuition bonus.

Lawson Lundell Calgary office boardroom
Downtown Calgary Framed By Fall Foliage At Sunrise

Memberships and Social Events

At Lawson Lundell, we strive to foster active participation in the local legal community among our students. In order to support this goal, we cover the annual membership fees for both the Canadian Bar Association and the Calgary Bar Association. Additionally, we also pay for membership fees for various Canadian Bar Association subsections, which provide valuable opportunities for professional growth through lunch seminars and networking events.

Join Our Student Program

We accept applications for 1L summer student positions as part of the Law Society of Alberta process. 

We request that all applications should be submitted via the viLaw Portal based on the timelines set for Calgary firms.  Please include the following in your application: cover letter, resume, copies of official undergraduate and law school transcripts, as well as a GPA calculation. Upper year course lists and reference letters are optional. We do not require a writing sample. 

We do not participate in the Calgary 2L or articling recruit.

Law student

Our Recruitment Committee

Our Recruitment Committee is dedicated to recruiting excellent students and to ensuring that the student experience at Lawson Lundell is a positive and engaging. We meet regularly throughout the year to discuss issues that involve students and to maintain our ties with the law school community.

All recruitment committee members are happy to speak with students by phone or by email. Often we are able to set up a coffee meeting or a firm tour for interested students. We can also arrange for a student to speak with a lawyer or student in a practice area of interest to the student.

Currently, our Recruitment Committee consists of the following members: