What Students do at Polley Faith
At Polley Faith, we are committed to developing our students into quality advocates capable of handling any type of case. Our students are exposed to a broad variety of practice areas, including commercial litigation, securities regulation, criminal and quasi-criminal law and various administrative hearings before tribunals and regulatory bodies. Summer students play an essential role on files, from researching legal issues to drafting pleadings and preparing for examinations, hearings and court attendances or trials.
Our students are also exposed to a variety of hands-on client facing experiences, from taking part in client interviews, communicating with clients regularly to obtain information and documents, and preparing clients for examinations for discoveries. They will also have the opportunity to appear on their own, where permitted, before the Ontario Court of Justice, various administrative tribunals and Small Claims Court. At Polley Faith, we aim to get students “on their feet” as soon as possible.
Student Program
Our summer student program begins with a formal orientation program, where students learn the basics of civil litigation, legal writing and legal research. We have a formal mentorship program under which each student is matched with an associate mentor who will act as a resource to the student throughout the summer/articling year, meet with the student regularly to review and discuss any issues with which the student requires help, and monitor the student’s workflow. We also support our students in establishing relationships with external mentors and legal organizations. At Polley Faith, there is no formal work assignment system; work is assigned on an individualized basis, to ensure each student has the opportunity to work on a variety of files with a variety of lawyers and clients. Polley Faith does its best to involve students in areas in which they express an interest, while ensuring that students have a broad range of experiences in different areas of law.
Students are integrated into the Polley Faith network through a variety of firm events, from escape rooms to Jays’ games to trivia. In addition, all of the firm’s lawyers and students get together for presentations on practice tips, lawyers often ask students to lunch, and impromptu after-work get-togethers are common.
How to Apply
Our selection process for summer students is guided by this key principle: we are looking for future litigation stars. You must be an ambitious, passionate advocate-in-training, willing to take risks and dive in head-first. You demonstrate professionalism, sound judgment and a positive attitude, and have high academic standards and a proven track record of success in the face of adversity.
We are committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in the hiring process and at Polley Faith more generally. We recognize that we need to do more work to build an equitable and inclusive hiring process and workplace; we are proud to be moving in that direction with concrete action, including changing our approach to On-Campus Interviews to reduce unconscious bias in hiring and bolstering supports for students and lawyers from equity-seeking groups. We continue to prioritise recruiting, supporting, and retaining diverse candidates.
We are participating in the 2022 Summer Student Recruitment process. We will accept applications via the ViLawPortal and will follow the Law Society’s procedures. Please address applications to:
Mark Polley
Polley Faith LLP
1401-80 Richmond St. W
Toronto ON
M5H 2A4
