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Student Program

Whitelaw Twining

We work in a team-oriented environment that is focused on providing support and mentorship at all levels. We are incredibly proud of our commitment to our practice and the quality of our work, but we are also proud of our ability to maintain a large firm practice with the close relationships and informal atmosphere of a smaller firm.

In light of our firm’s growth and continual diversification of practice areas, we are looking for hard working and academically strong students who we can envision joining our team of talented associates, once they are called to the bar.

At Whitelaw Twining, we have a long standing tradition of our summer students continuing on to completing articles with us, and further continuing on to have successful and long-term careers at the firm as Associates. Our articling program, which consists of summer articles followed by regular articles, is geared towards continuing that tradition.

As such, we set up our students for success by providing each student with both a Principal and a Mentor, and by structuring the student program so that it consists of a variety of rotations. This ensures that our students have the opportunity to gain experience in more than one area of litigation. As a result, students are provided with well-rounded, high quality and interesting articles, including a significant amount of hands on and practical learning experiences.

Whitelaw Twining hires students in its Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto offices. Want to meet with our lawyers or students?  E-mail us with a brief introduction at [email protected] and we will be happy to connect you with one of our team members.

Our Practice Areas

When it comes to litigation, we don’t do one-size-fits-all—we are industry leaders in 27 areas of law. We have a deep understanding of what makes each sector unique, allowing us to specialize our services and achieve the best results possible. For a closer look at our different practice areas, visit our expertise page.

Tours & Events

Whitelaw Twining participates in various events and tours throughout the year to give prospective summer and articling students the opportunity to meet with our team members, visit our offices, and learn more about us. While we mainly participate in events at local law schools in BC and Alberta, we hire students from law schools all across Canada. The events that we participate in are university career fairs, firm hops, and On Campus Interviews (OCIs). We participate in these events through the following universities:

  • University of British Columbia
  • University of Victoria
  • Thompson Rivers University
  • University of Alberta
  • University of Calgary
  • And more

Details of these events are made available through your law school.

Additionally, our team is always happy to host students on an informal basis to allow you to learn more about the firm by meeting and speaking with our Directors, Associates, and Students. Please feel free to contact [email protected] to set up a firm tour and/or meeting with one of our team members.

Summer Articles

Regular Articles

The Principal & the Mentor

At Whitelaw Twining, we provide students with a two tiered mentorship program. Each student is paired with both a Principal and a Mentor. This set up ensures that students are able to foster relationships with partners and associates alike.

Your Principal will be a Partner, and will oversee your progress at the firm, to ensure that Law Society’s requirements are being met.

Your Mentor will be an Associate, and your regular point of contact throughout articles. Your Mentor is there to field your questions, and provide a friendly and helpful resource for you throughout your articles. Your Mentor will also regularly check in with you to ensure that your experience at the firm is a positive one, and that you have an interesting and manageable workload, and are receiving challenging opportunities.

Student Program Rotations

All students in our Vancouver office will participate in rotations.  Due to the smaller size of our Calgary and Toronto offices, we do not offer a formal rotation program. The purpose of the rotations is to provide students with exposure to Whitelaw Twining’s key practice areas. It is important to us that you receive a variety of good quality work throughout your articles. The rotation system also allows you to work with a greater cross section of associates and partners, and ensures that you get to know everyone at the firm.

The Rotations

There are five rotations. Articled students will complete four of the five rotations (approximately 2.5 months each), and summer students will complete two rotations (approximately 6 weeks per rotation). Students’ preferences will be taken into consideration when rotations are assigned. The rotations consist of the following:

  • Bodily Injury
  • Professional Liability/Regulatory
  • Property & Recovery
  • Commercial
  • Construction

Students who are interested in practice areas that are not formally part of the rotation program are encouraged to discuss this with their Principal and Mentor.

Orientation & Training

Whitelaw Twining provides students with an orientation program for both summer and regular articles. Besides legal and systems training, there is a social aspect to the orientation program allowing students to get to know each other and their Principals and Mentors and providing an opportunity for students to meet as many people as possible at the firm. Broadly, the orientation program will consist of the following:

A welcome to the firm with a tour and introductions
  • Systems Training
  • Human Resources
  • IT Training
  • Accounting & Timekeeping Training
  • Library training
Professional Development Seminars
Social
  • Welcome Activities: welcome lunch for student group, mentor lunches and a special Friday welcome gathering in the Firm’s Bistro.
  • Lawyers Dinners, Associates BBQ and other social gatherings
  • Summer Party, Student Party, Associate Party and others
  • Firm-wide sports teams and activities (e.g. Softball, Hooplaw, Dodgeball, Exercise Classes).

Our summer and regular articled students receive structured Professional Development Seminars on various practice related issues.

The Nitty Gritty

Salary

We offer competitive salaries to ensure we maintain our position as a leader within the market.

Law Society Fees

Whitelaw Twining will pay for all fees related to applications for temporary and/or regular articles, including payment of LSAP and PLTC fees.

BC – Law Society Admission Program Enrollment Fee and Professional Legal Training Course Enrollment Fee

AB – Accelerated PREP and Tuition Fees

ON – Articling Program Tuition, Lawyer Application Fee and the Barrister and Solicitor Licensing Exam and Materials

Benefits

Benefits are extended to Articling Students only (due to the short summer articling period, benefits are not extended to Summer Students). Benefits provided to our Articling students include:

  • Extended health benefits which includes vision care, dental, and travel out-of-country coverage
  • Life insurance
  • Long-term disability coverage

Vacation Time

Articling Students receive up to 10 days of vacation over the term of their articles, which may be taken as work permits.

Work With Us

WT conducts recruitment of both summer and regular articling students in accordance with the guidelines set by the applicable Law Societies and Bar Associations.

Applications should be addressed to Danna Marks, Director, Associate & Student Programs.  Applications are accepted by email ([email protected]) and through vilawportal.com.  Applications through vilawportal.com are preferred.  Applications must include your cover letter, resume and copies of official transcripts for all legal and undergraduate studies. You may include copies of reference letters with your application; however, this is not required.

Applying for Summer Articles

We anticipate hiring four to six 2L 2025 Summer Articling students in Vancouver, two 2L 2024 Summer Articling students in Calgary two 2L 2024 Summer Articling students in Toronto. Whitelaw Twining adheres to the Vancouver Bar Association Recruitment Guidelines and the Calgary Firm Summer 2024 Summer 2L Recruitment Protocol.

Applying for Regular Articles

We have completed all of our hiring for the 2025/2026 articling period in both our Vancouver and Calgary offices. We are hiring 1 articling student for the 2025/2026 term in our Toronto office. Please check back in 2025 for updates on our hiring status for 2026-2027.

Join Us

We’re always looking for like-minded students to join our team. Please email your resume to: