Hiring 102

By Pascale Daigneault

After several years of successfully training both law students as well as articling students, I found myself in the unique position of having my latest employee decide to give up on the practice of law 11 days into her training! As if this was not bad enough, her replacement on his second day left to see his physician and never returned.... It was shallow consolation that I was not even in the office on these fateful days. Contrary to what one may think after reading of these “defections,” our office is not a dungeon run with whips and chains (and the staff that has remained are very nice).

Where did we go wrong? We thought we had in place a fairly intensive interview process. These events however forced us to step back and re-evaluate our hiring procedure, as well as our staffing goals.

Here are a few of the conclusions made:

Ascertain the qualities you need in a student. While ideally one wants a fully rounded person that can deal with paper or people equally well, everyone has a leaning or strength in one area over the other. Decide what role the student needs to play in your practice both from the short (and long term if that is a possibility). Then find out if your student strengths match to your needs.

Ascertain your student’s interests in the firm’s areas of practice. Students' transcripts (particularly for those in their last year) reveal much information as to their areas of legal interest. Unless you have a general practice that allows you to accommodate any of your prospective students’ attention. It is unlikely that a student who did not exhibit an interest in a certain topic in law school, will do so in practicing law.

There is such a thing as wishful hiring. Our firm practices in a small community and it has not always been easy for our students to integrate into our community. This can be more difficult for those who are single, without nearby family support or of a cultural background not well represented in our community. As a result, while we have kept in touch with most of our students, many falling in that category, have returned to bigger centers after their articles, despite enjoying the work, as they wanted to return to their communities, or larger centers where it would be easier to find a mate. A win-win situation from a work perspective but not a personal one is simply not adequate.

Do not hire simply based on an interview. Some people do well in an interview process. But like public speaking, that is a skill that can be learned and practiced. Other more important aptitudes need to be assessed. After all, everyone can be subject to an “off” day. Do get transcripts, talk to references, inquire from them about their individual strengths and weaknesses. Google potential candidates, and if you have a Facebook account, you can check to see what kind of presence they have on line. Remember that one can search not only by name but also by email address.

Assign a sample research project. To be fair to the prospective student, this should not be a long project. Something that could be done within an hour or two is more than sufficient. This is an excellent way to ascertain the student’s writing and research skills. The candidate who provides you with a memorandum that does not contain a single reference to statutes or case law will not be your best researcher. Likewise if the written project only uses American or British references, while omitting the obvious provincial and Canadian ones.

Be specific as to your expectations. There is a fine line between laying out your expectations clearly and scaring your student as to his abilities to meet those expectations. For some students, the prospect of articling can be terrifying. At the end of the day, remember that the relationship is basically one where you are there to teach, and they to learn, which requires everyone to be on communicating on same wavelength.

Pascale Daigneault is managing partner at Fleck & Daigneault, a personal injury and wills and estates law firm, in Sarnia, Ontario.

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