FAQ on "Bay St Firms"

[easttowest]

6 minutes ago, Animal Soup said:

I may be mistaken - but I'm under the impression that you are allowed to accept a 1L job offer (i.e., at Dentons), but you can be candid with them that you don't want to accept a return in 2L. So you are just going back into the candidate pool in 2L - but now you have a summer job on your resume from 1L. I think firms are pretty receptive to 1L summer work, but I could be wrong. You would, for sure though, have to explain in 2L OCI why you are not returning back to Dentons...but that could be because you didn't enjoy the practice group or work, or idk what

Ohh I just misunderstood. I thought by 1L offer you meant the offer to return for 2L that would be given at the end of the 1L summer. My mistake.

[Rashabon]

I remember a guy from my year (fairly likable but the stereotype of a guy who spent all his time in the library but not really doing all that much it seems) who got hired at FMC, pre-Dentons, come talk to me at our law ball about my job and tell me point blank he was going to go into the 2L recruit because he wanted a better firm like mine. I didn't know what to say at the time since I hadn't worked there yet.

He ended up going to Davies and then to the US.

[easttowest]

22 minutes ago, Rashabon said:

He ended up going to Davies and then to the US.

Back when that meant something! (presumably)

[disgruntledpelican]

1 hour ago, Rashabon said:

I remember a guy from my year (fairly likable but the stereotype of a guy who spent all his time in the library but not really doing all that much it seems) who got hired at FMC, pre-Dentons, come talk to me at our law ball about my job and tell me point blank he was going to go into the 2L recruit because he wanted a better firm like mine. I didn't know what to say at the time since I hadn't worked there yet.

He ended up going to Davies and then to the US.

Lol is it sad I know exactly who you’re talking about? I also recall said individual posted on the former ls.ca about this and it was sufficiently easy to figure out who it was. 

[lawstudent2]

Anyone have any insight on the regional firms in terms of quality of work, work environment, etc (Minden Gross, Torkin Manes, Blaney McMurtry, WeirFoulds, etc)??

[QueensGrad]

Wanted to jump in and add that the 2022 Legal 500 Canada guide was just released - giving us all another source for firm comparisons by practice group!

 

https://www.legal500.com/canada/

[easttowest]

16 hours ago, QueensGrad said:

Wanted to jump in and add that the 2022 Legal 500 Canada guide was just released - giving us all another source for firm comparisons by practice group!

 

https://www.legal500.com/canada/

I disagree with these rankings (can you imagine why?)!

[easttowest]

19 hours ago, easttowest said:

I disagree with these rankings (can you imagine why?)!

The Globe has a list too, apparently: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/rob-magazine/article-best-lawyers-in-canada-our-complete-listings/

Didn’t know they made one.

[lawislovelawislife]

Does anyone have any insight on the DLA Toronto office? More specifically, what is the culture like, how are students treated, types of opportunities that the firm can/cant offer..anything helps! 

[QueensGrad]

On 11/17/2021 at 7:17 AM, easttowest said:

The Globe has a list too, apparently: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/rob-magazine/article-best-lawyers-in-canada-our-complete-listings/

Didn’t know they made one.

This one is pretty useless tbh. It is more of a list of major firms by practice area. 

[easttowest]

27 minutes ago, QueensGrad said:

This one is pretty useless tbh. It is more of a list of major firms by practice area. 

They say they did a survey if you read the methodology.

[QueensGrad]

44 minutes ago, easttowest said:

They say they did a survey if you read the methodology.

I read the methodology, thanks. I stand by what I said. 

[BlockedQuebecois]

I think it's quite useful for identifying smaller firms that punch above their weight class within their area of expertise – TYR and TGF are both strong litigation firms that students wouldn't usually think of. 

Even if you think it's just a list of firms by practice area, it's helpful for students with a niche interest like environmental law or energy & natural resources. 

Edited November 18, 2021 by BlockedQuebecois

[herewegoagain]

On 6/9/2021 at 9:40 AM, Kashi said:

I don't know much about cybersecurity but I thought that an encrypted VPN w/ a remote desktop would be quite secure, no? How is that any different from using a firm laptop connected to your home wifi?

Having worked at one of the biglaw firms listed here, we absolutely were able to remote connect with our own personal laptops. Then we were given laptops from the firm…but we still could remotely connect from our personal laptops.

Edited January 27, 2022 by herewegoagain

[Jaggers]

We used to be able to do that, but can't anymore. I'm sure it's possible to make it secure, it just means you have double the work to operationalize, standardize and support .