Our summer program is intended to serve as an introduction to the practice of law. Most of our summer students have little, if any, previous experience in a law firm, and our summer program is designed as the first step in the transition from the academic study of law to the practice of law.

Our summer students are treated as articling students in virtually all respects. Summer students receive the same range of work as our articling students, but do not participate in a formal rotation; we encourage our summer students to use the flexibility of the program to explore specific areas of interest – to see whether a particular type of law is as interesting in practice as in the classroom. Summer students are, of course, encouraged to participate in the firm's various social activities.

Each summer student has the benefit of a supervising lawyer who provides guidance and feedback to the student over the course of the summer.

During the summer, we present a series of seminars, coordinated by our Professional Development team and tailored specifically for our summer students, to discuss practice-related topics such as conflicts of interest, the business of law, professional civility and courtesy, risk management, and effective client communication. Our students are also encouraged to attend other firm-wide in-house professional development seminars.

We hope that our summer students will return to law school with a fundamental understanding of the practice of law that will serve as a solid foundation for their articling experience.

Compensation and Benefits

Summer students' salaries and benefits are competitive with those of other major Edmonton firms, and are reviewed regularly. We offer a $6,000 tuition bonus to our summer students upon signing on as articling students with us.

Offices and Administrative Support

Our summer students are provided with their own offices. All of the firm's administrative resources are available to our summer students as required.

Hireback Ratios

In recent years, virtually all of our summer students have returned to article with the firm.

Applications

The Edmonton office of DLA Piper (Canada) LLP invites first year law students to apply for First Year Summer Student positions by way of the ‎viRecruit Law Portal‎.

Students wishing to apply for our First Year Summer Student positions should include in the application package ‎their cover letter, résumé, undergraduate and current law school transcripts and a list of intended second ‎and third year courses.  Reference letters may be included, however, please do not include writing ‎samples‎.

Please address your cover letter to the attention of Nicole Fedorovsky, Manager of Associate & Student Programs.

In our Edmonton office, we typically hire at least two and, in most cases, three articling students each year.  

Students spend half of their articling year on the solicitors’ side of our practice, and the other half with our litigators. We introduce our articling students to as many practice areas as possible. In each area, senior practitioners offer guidance, advice, and direction.

While with our solicitors, our articling students gain experience in a wide range of commercial transactions and corporate matters and have the opportunity to develop their drafting skills by documenting various transactions, including purchases and sales of businesses and of residential and commercial real estate.

While with our litigators, our articling students learn the art of oral and written advocacy and are introduced to strategic considerations relating to the litigation process. Students become involved in the gamut of the litigation process, from briefing the law, to drafting pleadings, to assisting in the conduct of examinations for discovery and trial. Our students also gain valuable experience by appearing in court on contested and non-contested motions, and conducting trials in provincial court.

Resources

All of our firm’s administrative resources are available to our articling students as necessary.

Our firm law library is administered by a professional law librarian and experienced library professionals, who assist our students and lawyers across Canada. Online research is, of course, available and all of our students are trained in using and searching computer databases, including Lexis Advance and WestlawNext.

Professional Development

The professional development of our students is a priority. Our Professional Development team coordinates a series of seminars for our articling students designed to reinforce the training provided in our summer student seminars, and to provide instruction and guidance on other practice-related topics. We drill down on topics previously covered in our summer student seminars, such as conflicts of interest, the business of law, professional civility and courtesy, risk management, and effective client communication, and discuss additional topics such as advocacy, solicitors’ opinions, commercial closings, and drafting pleadings. Our students are also encouraged to attend other firm-wide professional development seminars and presentations.

Evaluation and Feedback

We feel that providing effective, constructive feedback to our articling students is essential. We obtain formal evaluation feedback from the lawyers for whom our students have worked, and we share the relevant feedback with each student. We also encourage our lawyers to provide informal feedback to our students about their work product and performance.

Compensation and Benefits

Our articling students’ salaries and benefits are competitive with those of other major Edmonton firms, and are reviewed regularly. The firm compensates for time spent in practical training courses or in studying for the bar exams, and related fees.

Hireback Ratios

The hireback ratio in our Edmonton office has been strong. Most of our recent articling students have been offered, and have accepted, positions as associates with the firm.

Applications

The Student Recruitment and Development Committee is responsible for hiring articled students. The hiring criteria used by the Committee are varied and flexible. While strong academic achievement is obviously important, our primary emphasis is on hiring candidates who are personable and who demonstrate, through their résumés and interviews, initiative, effective communication skills, leadership, involvement in law-related and community activities, and team spirit.

We have hired all of our articled students for 2025-2026, and are not considering further applications at this time.