Toronto Summer 2022 2L Recruit Numbers

Hussein E. E. Fawzy

Upward trend in student hiring, U of T and Osgoode continue to lead the pack, and Lincoln Alexander secures five percent of total positions

Demand for students continues to rise despite the ongoing pandemic. The 2022 annual Toronto recruit saw a five percent increase in the total number of students hired. This uptick in hiring is consistent with the upward trend seen in recent years. The number of students hired rose by 3 percent from 2018 (433 total students) to 2019 (444 total students) and by 8 percent from 2019 to 2020 (478 total students). 

This year was also the 2L recruit debut of Lincoln Alexander School of Law (Ryerson). Lincoln Alexander students made up five percent of the total students hired and 18 percent of the 2L Lincoln Alexander class secured positions during this recruit cycle. 

On par with the increase in hiring, several full service Bay Street firms recruited a notably larger summer class this year compared to 2021. With 42 students in its 2022 summer class, Blakes hired an additional 10 students. Cassels followed with an eight student increase (24 vs 16 students). BLG and McCarthys hired seven more students each (30 vs 23 students and 32 vs 25 students, respectively) while Goodmans hired five more (15 vs 10 students). 

The strong relationship between U of T Law and Blakes continues from previous years with Blakes hiring a whopping 16 of our 2Ls students. Osler comes in second with 10 U of T hires. 

This year, UV added two new data points: the number of OCI and in-firm interviews employers conducted. In an effort towards more transparency and informed decision-making, we hope this additional information will provide students with a clearer picture on how the recruit process works. 

While this data can be used to provide meaningful insights, it can also be misconstrued in ways that can elevate anxiety. We have outlined some of the limitations of this data and variables not accounted for in the table, to avoid misleading conclusions:

  1. It is common for employers to offer more OCIs and in-firms relative to final offers because employers are aware that students interview with many prospective employers. 
  2. Firms also tend to interview more candidates than positions available in anticipation that some students will decline their offers. 
  3. The number of students interviewed varies by law school. The table includes the total number of OCI and in-firm interviews conducted for the entire recruit process. While the total number of OCIs a firm conducts may give the impression of high competition, a student’s chance of converting their application to an OCI is also dependent on the number of students a firm decides to interview at their particular school. For example, OCIs run for two days at U of T and Osgoode Hall, as opposed to other schools. The variance in the number of OCIs conducted at each school may impact the chances of students proceeding into the in-firm stage as well. 
  4. Some of the OCI and in-firm numbers in the table are approximations.  

We also note that, in calculating the percent of 2Ls hired per school, we took the approximate class sizes of Ontario law schools from OLSAS. We acknowledge there may be variations of this data provided by LSAC, which we used for out-of-Ontario schools.

Editor’s Note: We will update our online spreadsheet to reflect any further information provided from employers after the time of publication.

This spreadsheet has been updated to include responses from the following firms: 

  1. Hunter Liberatore Law
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