The Articling Experience at McCuaig Desrochers LLP
The Articling Experience at McCuaig Desrochers LLP
At McCuaig Desrochers LLP, the recruitment and training of articling students is a high priority. Our goal is to hire ambitious students who want to become successful, resilient lawyers and business owners.
Type of Work & Articling Experience
McCuaig Desrochers LLP is a mid-sized, full-service law firm. Our practice areas are wide-ranging, from business law and construction to family law, wills and estates, immigration, and employment law. Please refer to our website for more detail on our specific practice areas.
Students at McCuaig do not follow a specific rotation but, rather, receive assignments from all partners at the firm, coordinated and closely guided by their principal. McCuaig views investing in our articling students as investing in both the student and our firm’s future. Consequently, we do not set billable hours targets for students during their articling year, but we expect students to take full advantage of this opportunity by focusing on their legal education and exposing themselves to a wide variety of practice areas.
In addition to the normal duties of a student-at-law, students at McCuaig are also expected to work directly with clients, manage components of files and even make chambers applications (under supervision), to help build their confidence and competence in advance of their call to the bar. As mediation and arbitration are increasingly central to dispute resolution on litigation files, McCuaig also strives to expose students to the panoply of dispute resolution options.
McCuaig offers a competitive benefits package, and our internal policies are aimed at supporting our students and associates through various stages of their working life. Feel free to reach out to one of our current associates to speak with them about their experience.
PREP Course
PREP assignments always come first. The Student and their Principal will work together to make ensure work does not get in the way of completing PREP.
Continuing Education
Professional development and education never ends. At McCuaig, we have a formal mentorship program which matches all associates, following their admission to the bar, with partners suited to assist them with their professional development and practice management. In their first few years following call, associates will continue their legal education while engaging in general practice, with the aim of over time determining which practice areas are the best fit for them.
McCuaig offers universal membership in the Canadian Bar Association and encourages associates to participate in multiple CBA sections and seminars every year. Associates have yearly budgets for various other continuing legal education courses such as webinars, LESA seminars, and conferences.
Candidate Qualifications
McCuaig Desrochers LLP is deeply rooted in the Edmonton community. We are looking for students who either already have, or are willing to develop, strong ties to our community, as well as Northern and Central Alberta. We continue to foster support for and involvement with our diverse local community and we aim to provide our clients with informed and inclusive services.
We are looking for colleagues who are educated, hard-working, dedicated, and resilient. A strong academic record is important, including at the undergraduate and/or graduate level. Each year we find that those candidates chosen for interviews usually have an above-average academic standing in law school, but we also value other achievements, interests, and overall amiability.
Experiences outside of formal education are also important to us, as we look to hire well rounded candidates. For example, ability in another language or another discipline is an asset, but not a requirement. We have several practitioners with an extensive Franco-Canadian practice and one lawyer who provides services in German. We would be honoured to assist (and learn from) students or associates who wish to increase their visibility as lawyers to, and ability to help members of their own cultural, ethnic, religious, social or other communities or causes.
Court Students Welcome
Many of our past partners and associates have articled with the various levels of Alberta Courts. We encourage applications from those who have elected this option and will tailor our articling program accordingly.
The Application Process
All articling applications must contain the following:
- Copies of University transcripts, including undergraduate, graduate (if any), and Law School grades available at time of application (updated to the end of the most recent semester);
- A curriculum vitae showing academic career, employment experience, other activity such as travel, unpaid volunteer work or community service;
- A listing of significant achievements, awards, and special skills such as languages or professional designations;
- A description of any roots or connection to any community, and in particular the broad Edmonton community, noting any particular connection to business, cultural or social organizations;
- Reference letters are strongly preferred, and contacts are helpful. Please provide contact information for your references, and a note of their relationship to you if not providing a letter; and
- One or more telephone numbers and an e-mail address where we may contact you.
Candidates can apply through the viLawPortal from May 12, 2025 to May 20, 2025.
Candidates can also apply by email any time up to and including May 20, 2025 by submitting their applications to Megan Dawson, at mdawson@mccuaig.com
All candidates are asked to submit their application as a single PDF document, and not to email an assortment of separate attachments.
Please ensure you have provided your complete application by the deadline date. We cannot guarantee we will review any applications that are received after this date.
Please note that McCuaig Desrochers LLP does not hire summer students. We would encourage interested law students to apply to our articling program as outlined above. For applicants in 2025 looking to apply for 2026 articling commencement, our deadline for accepting articling applications will be May 20, 2025.
We subscribe to the Law Society’s guidelines for the recruitment process. We carefully screen each application we receive and regret that we cannot grant personal interviews to all applicants.
| Application deadline for 2025 Articling Program: | Interview Dates: | Contact: |
| May 20, 2025 (viLawPortal applicants – May 12 – May 20, 2025) | June 2 – 6, 2025 | Megan L. Dawson |
