U of T Law students lead the pack
This year’s recruit saw a reduction in the number of participating employers with only 66 employers as compared to 77 in the prior year.
As was the case in past years, U of T Law had the highest number of students employed, both in absolute terms and as a proportion of their class size.
Most of the large full service Bay Street firms did not significantly change the size of their summer classes, with the notable exceptions being Torys LLP who hired an additional five students (19 in 2022, 24 in 2023) and Stikeman Elliott LLP who hired six fewer students (30 in 2022, 24 in 2023).
Among the firms that responded to our survey, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP hired the highest number of students (33), followed by Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (28) and McCarthy Tétrault LLP (27). Torys hired the highest number of U of T students (10). In past years, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP has led in both hiring categories—however, by the time of publication, they had not provided their data.
Similar to last year, Ultra Vires (UV) collected two new data points: the number of on-campus interviews (OCIs) and in-firm interviews employers conducted. In addition, UV asked the number of applications each employer received. 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:
- 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.
- Firms also tend to interview more candidates than positions available in anticipation that some students will decline their offers.
- 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 Law School, 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.
- Some of the OCI and in-firm numbers in the table are approximations (as indicated by the symbol “~”).
Notes:
- At the time of publication, there was a 68% response rate from the firms.
- The total net number of students hired in the recruit was 369 (the total number of hires minus the returning 1Ls).
- In calculating the percentage of 2Ls hired per school, we used the approximate class sizes of Ontario law schools from the Ontario Law School Application Service. We acknowledge there may be variations of this data provided by the Law School Admission Council, which was used for out-of-Ontario schools.
Editor’s Note: At the time of publication, some major employers who participated in the survey in past years had not yet provided their data, which may skew comparative results. We will update our online spreadsheet at ultravires.ca 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. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
