Student
Program

Set Your Career in Motion

Brazeau Seller Law is the ideal place to further your education as a law student and launch your career as a legal professional.

Our summer clerkship and student articling programs are an integral part of our recruitment program. Recognizing that students are our single best source for future associates and partners, we strive to give recruits a rewarding and valuable learning experience. We know that your success as a lawyer—and our success as a firm—starts with a shared commitment to excellence.

Recruitment Tips and Tools

When preparing your application package for Brazeau Seller Law, please be sure to include a cover letter, resume, your undergraduate and law school transcripts, and a list of your third-year courses. Although not required, you may also include letters of reference.

Interviews
For the summer student recruitment process, we will typically meet with 18–25 students for the first round of interviews, and then conduct second interviews with our top choices. If you reside outside of Ottawa, we will do our best to accommodate your travel schedule. We can also conduct interviews via video conference. If you have been selected for an interview,  we will contact you to schedule the meeting.

Call Day
The day on which law firms in a recruitment area can make offers of summer or articling positions is referred to as “call day.”

During the interview weeks, our recruitment team will be meeting regularly to discuss students we think might be the best fit for our team, but you should also be thinking about which firm would be the best fit for you. When making that determination, you should consider the practice areas that interest you, the firm’s location, and the overall experience you are seeking as a summer and/or articling student. We recommend that you list in order of preference the firms that you have interviewed and have this list close by on call day.

Most firms in Ottawa have agreed among themselves that offers for summer student positions will not be made before 8:00 a.m. on call day. These Ottawa employers have also agreed to leave offers made between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. open until noon on the same day. Offers made after 10:00 a.m. will be open for two hours.

Please see the Draft Ottawa Recruitment Agreement here.

If you receive an offer on call day that is not from your first-choice firm, we recommend that you thank the employer for the offer, confirm how long the offer will remain open, and indicate that you will get back to them. Then call the contact person at your first-choice firm. If it appears that you will not receive an offer from that firm, go to your second choice and repeat this process. After working your way through your list, you should reach a decision regarding the original offer that was made to you.

Call day can be stressful for students and employers. When everyone helps move the process along, you and your fellow students may be saved a great deal of anxiety and stress.

Ottawa Law Student Recruitment Ethics Protocol

Brazeau Seller Law adheres to the recruitment ethics protocol established by the Ottawa-area law student employers. Under this protocol, law firms do not:

  • Advise students prior to the call day start time of 8:00 a.m. that they intend to make the student an offer (or use similar language)
  • Ask students to advise as to the position of the firm or any other firm on the student’s priority list (or make a similar request)
  • Advise students that their chances of hire are increased if they indicate that the firm is first or near the top of their priority list (or use similar language)

If we refuse your request for access, or refuse a request to correct information, we will send a letter to you outlining why your request has been denied.

Recruitment Schedule and Positions

The recruitment process for second-year summer students occurs early in the new year. For 2023, the dates are as follows:

  • Application deadline: 5:00 p.m. ET on January 19, 2023
  • Period during which employers may contact students to schedule interviews for interview week: January 25 – February 10, 2023
  • OCI period: January 30 – February 9, 2023
  • Interview period: February 13 – February 22, 2023 (no interviews or recruitment activities from the afternoon of Thursday, February 16 to Sunday, February 19, 2023. No interviews on Family Day, Monday February 20, 2023))
  • Call day for offers of 2023 summer student positions: February 24, 2023 beginning at 8:00am (ET)

Dates for the 2024 recruitment schedule will be posted as they become available.

Contact Information

For student recruitment inquiries, please contact:

David Reid, Partner

613-907-8147

Human Resources Manager

613-237-4000 x 237

To speak with one of our current students, please contact David Reid above.