Any advice on LPP?

[iwillgetajob]

Hello everyone, I didn't receive any calls yesterday at 5. I think LPP is the only way I can get licensed. However, it seems LPP has been associated with stigma. I was just wondering if there are any previous LPP participants who are willing to share your experiences. 

[goosie]

1 hour ago, iwillgetajob said:

Hello everyone, I didn't receive any calls yesterday at 5. I think LPP is the only way I can get licensed. However, it seems LPP has been associated with stigma. I was just wondering if there are any previous LPP participants who are willing to share your experiences. 

I can't speak to the LPP experience, however I will say that a few of my friends were unsuccessful in the formal articling recruit and landed positions during the school year. It's certainly mentally tough to have to keep writing applications and doing interviews while balancing your schoolwork, but don't count yourself entirely out of articling yet. That being said, it's always a good thing to look at all of your options, including the LPP.

[PulpFiction]

1 hour ago, iwillgetajob said:

Hello everyone, I didn't receive any calls yesterday at 5. I think LPP is the only way I can get licensed. However, it seems LPP has been associated with stigma. I was just wondering if there are any previous LPP participants who are willing to share your experiences. 

There will be small/medium sized firms hiring throughout the year and after you graduate, I wouldn't give up so easily just yet.

In terms of the stigma associated with the LPP: from my experience as someone looking in from the outside, when I see someone has completed their articles through the LPP, I assume they weren't able to get an articling position the traditional way. Most people don't turn to the LPP as a first choice. On LinkedIn, I see a lot of people are in the LPP a couple years after their graduation from law school, which does signal to me some underlying issue which resulted in them not obtaining articles. I do think it was probably due to poor interviewing skills or some other deficiency in their application, but I don't spend too much time thinking about it. I also keep in mind that I don't know the life circumstances of all people and what led them to the LPP, so I try not to jump to conclusions. I don't do any hiring, though, so someone who is involved in that capacity may be able to provide insight on the stigma issue. 

What I have noticed is that a lot of the LPP positions are in-house with large, well known companies. I've seen people do their 4-6 month placement as articling students and stay on as in-house counsel. That's not a bad deal at all. Personally, I'd want to get training at a firm first, but it's not all doom and gloom if you end up going the LPP route. The handful of people I know that have gone the LPP route and were Canadian law grads, had no issues securing employment. I think you stand out in the sea of foreign trained students in the program and employers will be more willing to take a chance on you. 

Edited August 12, 2022 by PulpFiction

[TobyFlenderson]

There are lots of places that continue to hire articling students well into the school year and following summer. You don’t have to apply to the LPP until June (I think) and there will be lots of positions to apply for between now and then, especially if you’re flexible about geographic area/what area of law you want to article in.

It’s definitely too early to give in to doom and gloom, though.

[happydude]

I am a 2017 call. I actually only know one individual personally who did the LPP. He was not hired into an associate position with his LPP employer, but did go on to land an associate gig shortly after, at a fine firm in a smaller city center. And no, he did not have any connections etc. to get the job for him. Everyone's mileage may vary, of course. And I have no personal experience to offer regarding whether or not the LPP is a good experience. But, anecdotally, it seems like it can work out for some people at least. Even if it might not be fun. And although I suspect that there probably is a stigma in the marketplace, I am also not convinced that the LPP is a death sentence, like some people suggest.