Mentoring and Work Experience

We don't treat our summer program as an abridged version of articling. Instead, we offer you the opportunity to see first-hand what being a lawyer at Goodmans is like, within practice areas of your choice.

Each student works directly with one or two lawyers who act as mentors throughout the summer. The firm’s goal is to give you a view of the firm and the experience you need to succeed.  We are very flexible in tailoring your summer experience to meet your needs.  Our Director of Student Programs and your mentor will help you structure your ideal summer experience.  In some cases, you may choose to ‘job shadow’ your mentor – joining them in their office to listen to phone calls and talk about ongoing correspondence on files,  attending client meetings and court proceedings, review and comment on developing documents and contribute ideas generally.  In other cases, you may ask your mentor to help source (both from them and other lawyers) a variety of assignments and experiences so that you can get accustomed to juggling multiple activities and working with a range of lawyers.  At the end of the summer, you'll come away with a solid understanding of the practical application of law in our real-world environment and a great sense of what it is like to practice law at Goodmans.

The Summer Experience

We know the key to a happy, successful and gratifying work life is a supportive, friendly environment.  We also know that great, long lasting relationships develop when people have a chance to get acquainted outside of the office in a relaxed setting. Over the course of the summer, our students get to know each other very well and create strong bonds as a group.  We take full advantage of the warm weather with a variety of activities ranging from a city-wide Scavenger Hunt, taking in a Blue Jays game, a Cottage Day for all of our students to our summer-end BBQ.  We invite lawyers from all over the firm, including your mentors to these events, giving everyone a chance to form solid working relationships and personal friendships.

Visit GoodmansClips on YouTube to hear more from our summer students about their experiences at the firm.