The Articling Agreement sets out the terms of the principal and student relationship.
The principal supervises and mentors their student throughout the articling term, even when the student works with other lawyers in the principal’s firm or organization. The principal is responsible for the conduct of the student, and for ensuring that the student obtains supervised experience in the practice of law and professional conduct.
The student is accountable to the Law Society and must become familiar with the professional and administrative obligations in the Law Society Rules and the Code of Professional Conduct for BC. In relation to their principal, they must:
- diligently and loyally provide their services to the principal and their firm or organization as reasonably directed;
- observe all office rules and policies; and
- strictly safeguard all privileged or confidential client information.
Supervision and mentoring
Students and principals should meet regularly to discuss the student’s current work assignments and workload, with constructive coaching on performance and progress throughout the articling term. Principals should also make time to discuss the student’s development as a lawyer and be available for advice and questions as needed.
Regular student and principal contact is just as important when the student is also being supervised by other lawyers. It allows the principal to help manage the quality, mix, and quantity of the student’s workload and ensure that the student is receiving adequate support and coaching in their work.
Students and principals must prepare joint mid-term and final reports to the Law Society: see Reporting Requirements.
Skills and practice experience
Students and principals must ensure that the student obtains training and experience in the areas set out in the Articling Agreement’s checklist: Ethics, Practice Management, Lawyering Skills, and Practice Area Experience.
Ethics
Students need to be able to demonstrate ethical and appropriate behaviour in all professional matters. Principals and students should discuss lawyers’ duties and ethical issues generally and as they arise in day-to-day practice. These include:
- Protecting client confidentiality
- Identifying potential conflicts of interest and taking action to avoid them
- A lawyers’ responsibility not to practise in fields in which either they have not become or maintained competent, and to refer clients in a particular field to another lawyer
- The obligation to report breaches of the Law Society Rules or Code of Professional Conduct for BC by a lawyer, and respond to Law Society inquiries promptly and fully
- The principal’s obligation to advise a student if the student is engaging in conduct that is unprofessional or unsuitable for a lawyer, and to report it to the Law Society in extreme cases
Students and principals should also understand and discuss Rule 2-60 with respect to the legal services that students can provide. While students may generally provide the same legal services as lawyers, there are important obligations and exceptions.
- The client should always be informed that the student is handling a matter, except for very routine or basic tasks.
- The principal (or other supervising lawyer) is responsible for ensuring that the student is competent, supervised to the extent necessary and properly prepared to handle a matter. For court appearances, this means providing a thorough briefing on the case and the etiquette of the presiding body. It also means attending with the student until completely satisfied that they are able to appear alone.
- Students may not appear in certain courts and tribunals or types of proceedings.
- Students may not give or accept undertakings unless their principal or another supervising lawyer also gives or accepts the undertaking.
Practice management
Principals should support students to gain experience in:
- day-to-day legal office practice, including timekeeping, billing processes, trust and accounting processes, reminder systems, records management, and online security;
- building and maintaining professional relationships with team members, colleagues, and other members of the legal profession; and
- acting professionally with clients, including clear and responsive communication.
Lawyering skills
Principals are responsible for ensuring that students obtain supervised experience in seven (7) skills described in the Articling Skills and Practice Checklist:
- Research
- Writing
- Drafting
- Advocacy
- Negotiation/Mediation
- Interviewing
- Problem-solving
To ensure that that these lawyering skills are properly developed, principals should avoid assigning:
- out-of-scope tasks (runner, registry clerk, event organizer) more than an average of four hours per week; and
- excessive amounts of one type of work, such as legal research and opinion writing, without providing experience in other areas.
Practice area experience
While students must obtain supervised experience in only one of the practice areas described in Part 4 of the Articling Agreement’s checklist, the Benchers strongly recommend supervised experience in at least three of the practice areas.
Obtaining supervised experience across practice areas may mean making arrangements: (a) with another lawyer in the principal’s firm or organization; or (b) for a secondment or assignment to another lawyer’s practice: see Setting up the articling term.
More information
If you have questions about student and principal obligations or are seeking confidential advice about an issue arising in the articling relationship, contact the Credentials and Licensing Department at CredentialsLicensing@lsbc.org.