How to Succeed at Articling
(or “How to Not Collapse Before You’re Called to the Bar”)
Author: Anna Cooper
The CDO in coordination with HWSAC organized a panel called “The Articling Process: What Can I Ask For?” Deborah Glatter, Director of Professional Development and Student Programs at Cassels Brock, and Doron Gold, a full-time Staff Clinician at Homewood Human Solutions (the provider of the Ontario legal profession’s new Member Assistance Program), came and answered our toughest questions with a surprising level of candor. What follows is a summary of the critical advice they had to share with us, replete with substantial additions from yours truly.
INSTALLMENT 3
Once Articling Begins
If you are struggling on the job, follow these rules:
Rule Number 1: Do the Basics
You know those things that you have heard about a million times? The building blocks of health and wellness? DO THEM. Eat healthy. Sleep enough. Exercise daily.
Also, do things that make you happy. Doron Gold said “do things that feed your soul” but I was worried you would all write me off as a touchy feely granola hippie if I just said that. The point is this: health is not just about reducing stressors it is also about increasing resiliency. Engaging in activities that bring you a deep sense of meaning and satisfaction is restorative; it makes you more resilient.
Rule Number 2: Get a Sense of Your Firm
While there are some generalities about the treatment articling students receive from different types of employers, there are no rules. Young lawyers have been known to receive unexpectedly empathetic and accommodating treatment on Bay Street and have suffered constructive dismissal after opening up about their needs to government employers.
You need to use your eyes, ears and intuitions to get a sense of the environment you are in. What you should do when you are struggling largely depends on who you are surrounded by. There are no hard and fast rules. Besides these Rules of course… these Rules are flawless.
Rule Number 3: Do Not Isolate
“A lawyer or law student left alone with their own brain is a dangerous person… they will spin out these stories of doom.” ~ Doron Gold
In other words:
You + Your Brain + Lots of Thinking and Alone Time ≠ Greatest Problem Solving Team Ever.
If you are struggling you need to talk to someone, sooner rather than later. Who? See Rule 5.
Rule Number 4: Do Not Wait For Crisis
Doron said that the vast majority of the calls he has gotten over the years he has worked at Homewood are from people standing on the precipice. He would really like that to change.
People resist seeking help for all kinds of reasons, not least of which are denial, and self-judgment. In an ideal universe we would all just accept that we are flawed human beings who will have struggles and need help time to time.
When you have stopped sleeping, are having panic attacks, fear you’re about to be fired, and are on the verge of losing your spouse, it is a lot harder for anyone to get you back on track.
Stay tuned for the rest of the rules in Installment IV!
Meeting of the Minds 