Are you a current articling student, new lawyer (under five years of call), principal, firm recruiter, or mentor of articling students?
The Law Society of Alberta, in conjunction with the law societies of British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, is seeking feedback on the types of training and mentoring articling students are receiving, issues related to discrimination or harassment and how prepared articling students feel to practice law in the 21st century.
In 2019, the Law Society of Alberta conducted a similar survey with Saskatchewan and Manitoba and have now developed a revised version to capture additional information that may be relevant in 2024. Given the scope and impact of the information gathered in 2019, it is important to follow up and do comparative analysis to understand if progress has been made on any key issues and what challenges still need to be addressed. Through two distinct surveys—one targeting articling students and new lawyers, and the other tailored for principals, recruiters, and mentors—we aim to identify parallel issues within the articling system from their unique perspectives.
Take the Surveys
Take the surveys at the links below:
The surveys take approximately 15–20 minutes to complete and your survey responses are anonymous and confidential. Please encourage as many articling students, lawyers, principals, mentors, and recruiters to complete the survey as possible. The surveys will remain open until Thursday, June 20, 2024.
At the end of the surveys, enter for a chance to win a ticket to the Canadian Bar Association (Nova Scotia Branch) Bench & Bar Reception and Dinner to be held in Halifax on June 20, 2024.
A third-party consultant will analyze the data for trends and improvements, ensuring findings are not linked to personal identities when presented publicly. A summary of the findings will be shared once finalized.
Ongoing Cross-Provincial Collaboration
The results of this online engagement will help the law societies to make more informed decisions around our programs and resources, especially as they relate to articling, lawyer competence, and equity, diversity, and inclusion.
The 2024 survey is also part of a broader collaboration among the five law societies. The findings will facilitate cross-provincial comparisons, offering valuable insights into how we can collectively enhance the articling experience across our jurisdictions. Ultimately, we hope this will help us to enrich the articling experience and better prepare articling students for the practice of law in the future. For more information on the articling survey, read our FAQ below, or contact survey@nsbs.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
2024 Articling Survey
The Law Societies of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan along with the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society are launching two surveys to gather feedback from articling students and new lawyers (under five years of call) as well as from principals, recruiters and those who mentor articling students or new lawyers. The information gathered will help the law societies to make more informed decisions around our programs and resources, especially as they relate to articling, lawyer competence, and equity, diversity, and inclusion.
- Why do you want to hear from articling students and new lawyers about their articling experiences?
We want to hear from students, new lawyers, principals, recruiters, and mentors about their experiences so we can understand any current issues associated with the articling experience and the training of new lawyers generally.
A positive articling experience can provide new lawyers with a strong foundation for an ethical and competent legal career. A negative articling experience can lead to issues throughout the career of a lawyer.
We want to get a snapshot of the current state of articling by gathering feedback from as many current articling students and new lawyers as possible. We want to hear about the types of training and mentoring articling students are receiving, any issues related to discrimination or harassment and how prepared articling students feel to practice as 21st century lawyers. - Why do you want to hear from principals, recruiters, and mentors about their experiences with students?
We want to hear from principals, recruiters, and mentors of articling students for many of the same reasons outlined above. Principals, recruiters, and mentors offer a parallel perspective of the articling experience.
We want to hear from principals and mentors because they play a vital role in the success of a student’s articling process, setting the tone for the students’ learning experience and ultimately for the start of new legal careers.
We want to hear from recruiters because they hire articling students and often check-in with students throughout the articling process. They provide valuable insight into articling at the firm level. - Why is the same survey being used for the law societies of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and the Nova Scotia Barrister’s Society?
It will be beneficial to understand if the same themes are present in other jurisdictions as each law society analyzes their own survey data. We can compare information collected and collaborate on possible steps forward.
The survey is part of a broader collaboration among the five law societies. The findings will facilitate cross-provincial comparisons, offering valuable insights into how we can collectively enhance the articling experience to meet our shared objectives. - When are the surveys being launched?
The surveys will launch on Thursday, May 9, 2024, and remain open until Thursday, June 20, 2024. - What kinds of questions will be asked in the survey?
Topics covered include training adequacy, mentor relationships, preparedness for early practice, positive aspects, challenges and experiences of harassment and discrimination, as defined by the respondent. We’ll also ask for basic demographic and legal training details. - Why are questions about harassment and discrimination being asked in the survey?
In our role as regulator, we receive reports, both formally and informally, of discrimination and harassment issues in the profession. We also know that discrimination and harassment issues often go unreported for fear of reprisal or the future impact on careers.
We want a better understanding of the issues around harassment and discrimination in our respective provinces to support further efforts by local law societies and by the Federation. - Why can’t I participate in the survey if I’ve been called to the bar over five years ago and/or haven’t supervised/mentored a law student for over five years?
Participation in the surveys is limited to current articling students and new lawyers (who articled in the last five years) as well as to principals, recruiters, and those who self-identified as mentors. While we believe other members of the profession have valuable insight, we want to capture the most recent information about the articling experience. - How do I qualify as a mentor of articling students?
Sometimes, someone other than the principal acts as a mentor to an articling student and would have the greatest insight into the articling experience. If you spend a significant portion of your time providing guidance to articling students or new lawyers, we’d like to hear from you. - Will my responses be anonymous, confidential, and secure?
Survey responses are anonymous and confidential. A third-party consultant will analyze the data for trends and improvements, ensuring findings are not linked to personal identities when presented publicly. Following the data analysis, we are committed to sharing anonymized summary findings in a report to the profession from each participating law society.
This survey is administered through the Law Society of Alberta’s SurveyMonkey account. All collection, use and disclosure of information by the Law Society will be carried out in accordance with its Privacy Policy. Your use of the SurveyMonkey platform is subject to its Terms of Use and Privacy Notice. We will download all responses collected in connection with our surveys from SurveyMonkey and request the deletion of responses by SurveyMonkey as soon as is reasonably practicable. - What will you do with the information collected from these surveys?
We have hired the same third-party consultant as in 2019 to help develop the surveys, to analyze the information collected and to draft the results reports for each province. A summary of the report will also be shared publicly once finalized.
The results will help the law societies make more informed decisions around our programs and resources, especially as they relate to articling, lawyer competence, and equity, diversity, and inclusion. - Who can I contact if I have any further questions?
Contact survey@nsbs.org if you have any further questions about the articling survey.