Cheryl Boyd, 2008 First Year Summer Student (University of Western Ontario)“Over the course of the summer, I received high quality and interesting work. I was able to do everything from researching, preparing memoranda, drafting statements of claim and facta, amending agreements, being on conference calls with clients, and attending court with lawyers. The most rewarding experience I had was being able to see the impact of my hard work when I attended court with a lawyer on a matter for which I completed the research and drafted the factum. This was a great learning experience. As well, my experience was enhanced by the fact that we don’t have a rotation system in the summer, exposing me to all of the firm’s practice areas. This enabled me to learn and adapt to the various types of law. It also gave me the opportunity to receive and seek out work from many of the partners and associates in the firm. Altogether, the work that I completed this summer was truly a rewarding experience.” Stephanie Brown, 2008 Second Year Summer Student (Osgoode Hall)“I had an extremely varied work experience at A&B this past summer. I started off completing mainly municipal law assignments which included research for upcoming publications, attendance at the Ontario Municipal Board for a major hearing and completing file specific research memoranda. Halfway through the summer, I started to take on litigation files which involved attending examination for discoveries, drafting an affidavit of documents, completing legal research memoranda and attending client meetings. For the Corporate/Commercial Group, I drafted a number of legal documents and completed due diligence reviews for three corporations. All in all, I feel that I experienced a bit of every practice group, learned a lot and had fun throughout! I look forward to returning for my articling year.” Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, 2008 Second Year Summer Student (Queen’s University)“Without a set rotation, there is some freedom of choice, and you can certainly choose to seek out work in any particular area of interest, although work often comes from lawyers near a particular student’s office. Without having an area of interest coming in, I really enjoyed being able to experience the different areas of law and different projects within each of those areas. To give a sense of some of the projects I worked on, I attended Ontario Municipal Board hearings, drafted letters, helped to draft a factum and costs submissions (and attended the motion), and wrote an article and a number of memos on different points of law. When you are at school, your work is often graded and then promptly recycled. Conversely, at Aird & Berlis, lawyers trusted and relied upon my work and actually put it to use in their clients’ matters, which I found particularly rewarding.” David Himmel, 2008 Second Year Summer Student (Queen’s University)“As a summer student at A&B, I got to work on some choice projects from a veritable smorgasbord of practice areas, including corporate finance, municipal, insolvency, real estate, commercial litigation and many more. Thankfully, I never received any assignments from the coffee brewing division, nor from the dry cleaning pick up practice group. The tasks involved in each assignment varied quite a bit from one to the next, which allowed me to try my hand at drafting memos and facta, researching points of law, compiling and commissioning affidavits, assisting with a closing, compiling and organizing record books, completing due diligence summaries and many more unique activities. I also had the opportunity to attend and assist at provincial court, a shareholder’s meeting, a creditor’s meeting and a seminar on litigating human rights issues. I even got the chance to adjourn a matter for a client at provincial court all by myself – a thrilling experience, and the highlight of my summer, that I probably wouldn’t have had summering at another firm. On the whole, summering at A&B allowed me to increase the depth of my experience in a few areas of law that really appealed to me, without forcing me to decrease the breadth of my legal interests.” Alyssa Keon, 2008 First Year Summer Student (University of Windsor)“My work this summer was focused in my areas of interest which were financial services and real estate. There is no “typical day” at A&B. Each day is a new experience. I had the opportunity to work with many different lawyers, taking on a variety of tasks. Some of those tasks included conducting research, writing memos, writing an article, attending client meetings, attending a discovery, conducting due diligence and working on closings. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to work and learn from lawyers who are leaders in their fields. I found it valuable to be able to accept work from the variety of groups at A&B rather than being in rotations. You are able to seek out work that interests you and figure out the direction you want to take. Everyone at A&B, from the most senior partners to the most junior associates, is very helpful and understands what it is like to be a student. Most importantly, you have the other students for support and that makes for a great work environment.” Aaron Korman, 2007 & 2008 Summer Student (Queen’s University)“With no set rotation, a typical day at A&B depends a lot on each student's own interests, initiative and availability. For a student like me, with widely varied interests, this was the ideal way to experience work in a range of legal fields. In only three short months, I had the chance to work with lawyers in nearly all of the firm’s practice groups. I was lucky to see them in action – meeting with clients, examining at tribunals and discoveries and arguing in court. The work was often challenging: sometimes more academic, other times more practical, but always rewarding. With the help of my mentors, assigning lawyers, support staff and the other students, I can honestly say I learned something new every day working at A&B.” Nick Koutsoukis, 2007 & 2008 Summer Student (Osgoode Hall)“Because there is no rotation schedule in the summer, I was able to jump right in and really learn, from the inside out, what each practice area was all about. For example, within the Corporate Finance Group, I worked side-by-side with senior partners on a private financing: From the initial inception of the corporation, all the way to the funding of the second round. I also assisted with due diligence and regulatory filings for both private and public corporations and in the creation of a prospectus for a client's IPO. In the Corporate/Commercial Group, I assisted a partner in providing arbitrage advice to a large American hedge fund. Rounding out my corporate experience, I was also able to dabble in competition, transportation and banking matters. Additionally, I worked with the Litigation Group attending discovery sessions and providing research specific to those files. Don't worry though; you definitely won't be flying blind. The support you will receive is immense, starting from your fellow summer students all the way up to senior partners and everyone in between.” Jonathan Laski, 2008 Second Year Summer Student (University of Ottawa)“I really enjoyed the balance of the daily workload at A&B. I found myself spending most days with a good regimen of file-specific and timely billable work, combined with more general and theoretical memo-based research assignments. Then, just when I was ready for something urgent and time-sensitive to come along, the student group would get a work request from a lawyer or group of lawyers and one or more of us would get the chance to experience the high-pressure legal environment, often in advance of a trial, mediation or closing.” Karen Levin, 2008 First Year Summer Student (University of Ottawa)“My summer at Aird & Berlis has provided me with the opportunity to explore many different practice areas. I was fortunate to participate in a corporate closing that involved many lawyers and allowed me to not only work closely with the Corporate Finance Group, but to also work with lawyers in tax, real estate, and intellectual property. I enjoyed working in litigation, where I drafted a mediation brief and was able to attend the mediation process, with both the mediator and client in the room. I was also able to pursue an interest in privacy and technology law, which led me to research numerous privacy conflicts as well as legal ambiguities relating to the Internet. The variety of work at Aird & Berlis makes each day new and exciting, and I am very much looking forward to returning next summer and continuing to explore my interest in law!”
Geoffrey Marr, 2007 & 2008 Summer Student (University of Windsor)"One of the reasons why this past summer at Aird & Berlis was so enjoyable was that there was never a "typical day." I had the opportunity to work with various partners and associates from a variety of practice groups. Some highlights included attending a closing of an asset purchase sale, working on a lending agreement which involved subsidiaries all around the world, working closely with a lawyer at the India Calling 2008 conference, and writing an article that was published in The Transportation Lawyer. Overall, all of the lawyers I worked with provided me with a great deal of responsibility and trust and were always willing to take time out of their busy schedules to provide guidance and support."Marni Pernica, 2008 Second Year Summer Student (University of Windsor)“My best description of my summer at Aird and Berlis is “unpredictable.” Some days were longer, some days were shorter. Some days were busy, while others were quieter. My work ranged from drafting research memos and executing last wills and testaments to participating in a corporate closing, from helping with a subscription agreement or working on a zoning by-law, to drafting several articles for publication. With no set rotation, the flexibility of the summer program allowed me, a person with no particular area of interest, the ability to work in several different areas of law at once. For me, this is one of the most appealing features of the A&B summer program.” Andrea Skinner, 2007 & 2008 Summer Student (University of Ottawa)“Throughout the summer, I had the opportunity to work in several departments with a number of different lawyers. I had exposure to issues involving a variety of types of law, including labour and employment, municipal, corporate/commercial, corporate finance, intellectual property and litigation, and I enjoyed the supervision of junior lawyers and senior partners. I attended motions before the Federal Court and hearings in front of the Ontario Municipal Board and Ontario Highway Transport Board. I prepared research memos, composed draft correspondence to clients, drafted a memorandum of understanding, assembled document books, attended at discoveries and took part in client meetings. I was able to work independently and, at other times, I was able to work closely with lawyers who supported my active participation, including my contributions of alternative solutions to particular legal issues.” Sarah Subhan, 2008 Second Year Summer Student (University of Windsor)“I took advantage of the flexible summer program at Aird & Berlis and worked on different kinds of assignments from various practice areas. Working as a summer student could sometimes be very unpredictable. There were days when I thought I would be very busy and I ended up finishing my assignments ahead of their deadlines. There were also days that I thought would be slower and I found myself busy before I had the chance to seek out work from other lawyers. On the busy days, I learned to work efficiently under pressure and got a true sense of what practicing law is all about. Some of my assignments included executing documents, preparing record books, organizing documents for a closing, completing corporate finance documents for a private placement and assisting in the drafting of opinions. Often the lawyer would send my work directly to the client, which was very rewarding. On the slower days, I had the benefit of building relationships with other lawyers and working on longer term projects such as writing articles. No matter what the day held, I knew that I was working with a strong team of people who encourage learning and always get the job done right.” Mark van Zandvoort, 2008 Second Year Summer Student (University of Ottawa)“One of the truly great aspects of summering with A&B is that, on many days, you arrive at the office not knowing what kind of work to expect. The flexible summer program at A&B means that you are consistently receiving a variety of projects from associates and partners from the various practice groups. Among the tasks which I completed throughout the summer were: Preparing research memoranda, drafting bailment agreements, examining issues in preparation of a mediation and completing due diligence summaries. While many of the tasks are completed within the firm, at A&B you can also receive many unique external opportunities. Observing discoveries, attending status hearings, sitting in on settlement discussions and commissioning affidavits for clients were just some of the many exciting out-of-office experiences which I enjoyed throughout my summer. Never drafted a bailment agreement before? Not to worry: At A&B, the associates and partners realize that the students are being confronted with tasks in which they often have no prior experience, and are more than willing to answer questions or provide guidance along the way! In reflecting upon my summer with A&B, there is no doubt that I learned much from my experiences, developed positive relationships with colleagues and received a warm welcome as a new member of the firm!”