Student Programme
Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre & Cornish offers a distinctive articling experience. Our focus is on justice in the workplace, which we pursue in a multitude of forums and jurisdictions. We are a union-side labour law firm, with additional expertise in a number of other related areas of the law.
Our practice reaches across a broad spectrum of employment and social justice contexts. In addition to our trade union clients, we also act for professional associations of all sizes, non-unionized employees, individuals and organizations. Among those we represent are teachers, nurses and other health professionals, postal workers, communications workers, university faculty and staff, machinists, retail sales workers, public service employees, airline workers, lawyers and engineers. Our clients include individuals and organizations seeking justice in the workplace and in other areas of law. We represent clients in both public and private sectors and provincial and federal jurisdictions.
In providing a broad range of services to our clients we work in a substantial number of areas of law including:
In addition to a traditional labour law practice, our articling students therefore gain experience in litigation and related legal work in a wide variety of practice areas and in a wide range of circumstances.
Our Lawyers
Our lawyers include the some of the top practitioners in labour, equity, human rights, professional discipline and Constitutional law (see
Our Overview: lawyer profiles can be found at
Our Directory
). Our size means that students will experience a wide range of accomplished practice styles.
Our Unique Workplace
The firm is located in a beautifully renovated warehouse at Bathurst and College in downtown Toronto. The space is airy and open, with exposed brick walls, hardwood floors, a rooftop garden, and windows which actually open. Toronto's Little Italy and Kensington Market are nearby. This workspace is part of the collegial working environment that articling students will experience.
The Structure of the Articling Programme
Students move through two rotations during their articles here. Our rotation system is not based on practice areas, but rather is designed to give students the opportunity to work with all of the lawyers at the firm, regardless of their area of practice.
We offer in-house education and training workshops to students throughout the articling period on a wide variety of topics, including both substantive law and practical issues related to the practice of law.
The articling programme is administered by a Student Committee consisting of three of the firm’s lawyers. The Committee has a number of important functions including:
- ensuring that the students’ work load is manageable
- ensuring that students are exposed to all of the firm’s lawyers and a broad
cross-section of the firm’s work
- administering informal and formal evaluations and monitoring progress
- coordinating education / training workshops
- providing on-going and accessible support for students throughout the articling year
- coordinating informal meetings of the articling students to discuss issues of interest or concern to them
- coordinating social events
Articling Student Duties
Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre & Cornish is committed to providing clients with results-based practical legal services, and the articling year provides students with a substantial grounding in this objective. Immediately upon starting articles, students are involved in client meetings and all aspects of case preparation including:
- direct client contact
- preparation of witnesses for hearings
- attendance at hearings with the lawyer who is conducting the case
- drafting correspondence, pleadings, and legal submissions
- performing research, frequently on novel points of law
- contact with opposing counsel
Students are frequently involved in a case from beginning to end and often become integrated into the case from top to bottom. Students do not merely shadow the lawyer on cases but take on their own responsibilities for file work. We are of the view that attending hearings with lawyers provides an important learning experience and direct exposure to lawyers’ styles and methods of practice. Students are encouraged to attend hearings where they have performed work on the matter and experience the satisfaction that comes with obtaining positive results. Occasionally opportunities arise for students to conduct parts of, or entire, hearings.
Performance Evaluations
Articling students are directly supervised in their work by the lawyer who has made the assignment and students can expect to receive feedback on their progress and the quality of their work from assigning lawyers.
We augment the direct feedback that students may receive from the lawyers with whom they are working at any given time with a formal system of performance evaluations. Students who have completed articles at the firm have repeatedly credited the formal evaluations for identifying their strong skills as well as areas in which they need further development. With the assistance of the Student Committee, students are able to direct their articling experience so that they get the most out of this singular period of supportive supervision.
Articling is challenging and, for many people, a new and sometimes intimidating experience. Articling students are given a less formal initial evaluation approximately two to three months into their articles. The purpose of this brief evaluation is to reassure students that they are on track with the development of their skills and to provide the early identification of areas in which students feel they require more support. The Committee can then bring the firm’s resources to the assistance of students.
There is a formal performance evaluation during each of the two rotations. Written evaluations are obtained from the lawyers with whom students have worked and the students then meet individually with the Student Committee to discuss the results. Once again students are provided with a valuable assessment of their areas of strength. Areas where students need more work are identified, as are areas of practice where students simply have not been sufficiently exposed. The Committee then works with students to ensure that, by the completion of their term, they have achieved a well-rounded experience and have also been exposed to work that interests them.
Firm Resources
Our firm has some of the top practitioners in their field in the country. Students are encouraged to discuss assignments with any lawyer who may have experience or expertise with the matter at hand. We work in a very collegial environment and students typically find lawyers accessible and available. We maintain a library of reporter series, journals, and current educational publications that usually enable students to complete assignments on-site. The University of Toronto’s law library and the Great Hall library at Osgoode Hall are close and accessible when off-site resources are required. In addition each student has a computer with direct access to Quick Law, Lexis-Nexis, the internet and external e-mail. Our local area network, with its office applications, assists in scheduling and internal communications.
The firm has a group of lawyers specializing in research and written advocacy which provides the firm, including the articling students, with access to unparalleled research expertise. The presence of a top quality research department within the firm means that students are assured of access to research expertise resulting in a more positive working experience and honing of their own research skills.
The lawyers in the firm's research group work closely with the students as mentors. The research lawyers conduct seminars on general research methods, and provide regular one-on-one guidance and instruction to students on research and litigation support assignments.
The firm has an excellent group of support staff as well as two full-time law clerks who are also available to provide support for articling students.
Remuneration
Our student compensation package is very competitive with similarly situated firms. While articling at the firm students are covered by a collective agreement with the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Tuition for the LSUC Licensing Process is paid subject to a cap and enrollment during the period of employment. In addition, students are part of an excellent benefits package.
Hire Back
Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre & Cornish is committed, where possible, to growth from within. It is the nature of a firm of our size and degree of specialization that employment opportunities with the firm cannot be guaranteed. A significant number of our more than thirty lawyers articled with the firm.
In addition to our solid record of growth from within, the firm has extensive connections in the community in which it practices. A review of current location of lawyers who articled with the firm in recent years reveals that they have obtained interesting and challenging employment, often with assistance from the firm. Examples include employment:
- at other law firms with practices similar to ours
- as in-house counsel to trade unions or professional organizations some of which are clients of the firm
- as counsel at the Human Rights Commission
- with university law faculties
- in policy positions with government or institutions
- with international NGOs -
This Year's Articling Students
2010 - 2011 ARTICLING STUDENT BIOGRAPHIES
Danielle Bisnar obtained her J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School. While at Osgoode, she was a student in the Workers’ Rights Division at Parkdale Community Legal Services, coordinated the SPINLAW Conference on law and social justice in 2009 and 2010, and volunteered at the Workers’ Action Centre. She was a recipient of the Harley D. Hallett Entrance Scholarship and was awarded prizes in Ethical Lawyering and Feminist Legal Theory. Danielle’s interest in labour, employment, human rights, and constitutional law stems from her past experiences as a member of a bargaining team and ongoing community work with Filipino migrant workers and their families. Danielle holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in English literature from UBC and Dalhousie University and a M.A. in Social and Political Thought from York University.
Brendan McCutchen received his J.D. from the University of Toronto and his B.A. (Honours) in philosophy from Queen’s University. Throughout law school, Brendan was a caseworker at Advocates for Injured Workers, a student legal clinic specializing in workers’ compensation claims. He frequently represented clients at appeal hearings. Brendan also worked for a local law office which represents workers from the building trades in their workers’ compensation claims. In addition, through the faculty of law’s public interest research fellowship program, Brendan prepared a report on occupational health and safety-based reprisals for the Ontario Federation of Labour. The report was based, in part, on extensive interviews with union health and safety representatives. In his last year of law school, Brendan organized a workers’ rights film program for his fellow law students. Brendan loves to travel, and can often be seen at Toronto’s various used bookstores.
Sharon Naipaul received her J.D. from the University of Western Ontario. Before law school, Sharon spent some time in business and the charity sector, working with street youth. She has long been interested in labour and employment issues, particularly where international labour norms and standards intersect with trade. In her first year she was awarded the Robert White International Labour Law Internship through Western Law, funded by the Canadian Auto Workers Union, which allowed her to spend four months with the International Labour Organization in their Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Department. She also assisted in drafting the Rules of Procedure and Evidence for last year’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Sharon is very involved in issues of equity and diversity and was Diversity Committee Chair at Western from 2008-2010. She was also the President of the Labour Law Society for the 2009-2010 academic year which included assisting in the organization of the 2009 Labour Law Conference at Western. Sharon also spent her last year involved with Western’s Community Legal Services Clinic, and as a research assistant for David Lepofsky’s Courts Disability Accessibility Education Project, which she continues to work on. She was also the recipient of the Labour Law Achievement Award at Western Law’s 2010 Graduation. Outside of the law, Sharon is an avid reader of classic and modern fiction and literature, is interested and involved in Japanese language and culture, enjoys volunteering and a wide range of sports and recreation.
Benjamin Rossiter graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2010 and holds a B.A. in Political Studies from Trent University. While at Osgoode, he spent a year providing legal advice and representation as a student in the Workers* Rights division of Parkdale Community Legal Services. He was also employed as a labour law research assistant, and was the recipient of several academic prizes and scholarships, including the Harry R. Rose Criminal Law Prize and the Frederick Zemans Prize in Poverty Law. Prior to entering law school, Benjamin held positions as a legislative assistant at both the House of Commons and Queen*s Park, and spent several years as a municipal employee and union member working at a harm reduction shelter for homeless men. Outside of his professional and academic life, Benjamin is a passionate music fan, loves to travel, and enjoys playing and watching basketball.
The Application Process
Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre & Cornish is looking for students who show a strong interest in union-side labour and social justice practice issues. Our current practice is to hire four articling students per year. Although not essential to a successful articling application, most students who are offered articles with the firm have shown a demonstrated interest in our areas of practice and have highlighted that demonstrated interest in their application material. Applications should include a résumé, the names of two to three references and/or reference letters, as well as information on how we can contact these references during late July and August, and should include transcripts from law school, undergraduate and graduate school (if applicable). We place considerable weight on applicants’ performance in personal interviews.
We follow the Law Society’s procedures governing articling recruitment by firms located in Toronto, which may be obtained from the Law Society of Upper Canada website at http://www.lsuc.on.ca. Applications for the 2011-2012 Articling Term must be received by Friday, July 9, 2010. The firm will contact applicants to schedule interviews no earlier than 8:00 a.m. on Friday, July 23, 2010. Interviews will be held during the week of August 9, 2010.
Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre & Cornish is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from women, members of racial minorities, aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, and persons of any sexual orientation.
Applications should be sent to:
The Student Committee
Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre & Cornish LLP
474 Bathurst Street, Suite 300
Toronto ON M5T 2S6
Questions about the Articling Programme or the application process may be directed to
Patricia D'Heureux.
Summer Student Programme
The firm has a summer student programme. We hire students who have completed the second year of law school to conduct research and litigation support work that is similar to the work done by our articling students.
Applications for summer student positions will be accepted until January 31st, 2011. We will be conducting our interviews and making hiring decisions in mid-February 2011.
Application packages should be directed to:
The Student Committee
Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre & Cornish LLP
474 Bathurst Street, Suite 300
Toronto ON M5T 2S6
Application packages should include a covering letter, resume, undergraduate, graduate (if applicable) and law school transcripts, as well as reference letters and/or contacts for at least two references along with information about how we can contact your references in early February. If applications are submitted before your fall 2010 grades are available, please forward an updated transcript to us in January 2011 so that your application will be complete.
Any questions about the summer programme and the application process should be directed to
Patricia D'Heureux
.