U of T Law reclaims the top spot with the number of summer positions secured
This year, Ultra Vires reached out to 108 employers who participated in the Toronto Summer 2025 2L Recruit. This number is significantly higher than the previous two years, with 66 and 71 employers reported for Summer 2023 and 2024, respectively. However, the increase may be attributed to the fact that this year, UV compiled its employer list from a combination of postings on viLawPortal and other external sources.
U of T Law reclaimed its title as the school with the highest number of students and proportion of its class hired. At least 103 U of T Law students secured a summer position through the official 2L Recruit, making up 48.1% of its class. Osgoode Hall Law School came in second with at least 98 students, or 33.8% of its class, securing employment.
There were some changes in the summer class sizes of large full-service Bay Street firms compared to the previous year. Blake, Cassels & Graydon, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, and Stikeman Elliott LLP each hired an additional three students (40, 20, and 23 in the 2024 recruit, and 43, 23, and 26 in the 2025 recruit, respectively). In addition, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP’s summer class increased by six students (21 in 2024, 27 in 2025). By contrast, Bennett Jones LLP and Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP hired four and five fewer students, respectively (Bennett Jones hired 23 in 2024, and 19 in 2025; Cassels hired 23 in 2024, and 18 in 2025).
Amongst the firms that responded to our survey, Blakes hired the highest number of students (43). BLG came in second, hiring 27 students, and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, and Stikeman shared third place, hiring 26 students each. Blakes also hired the highest number of U of T Law students, with 13 students (11 JDs and two JD/MBA) securing employment at the firm. This result is comparable to previous years where Blakes also led in both categories.
Carrying on the tradition of previous years, UV asked for the number of applications each employer received, as well as the number of on-campus interviews (OCIs) and in-firm interviews each employer conducted. UV believes that while this data can provide meaningful insights, it can also be misconstrued in ways that heighten 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 Law 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 “~”).
- Just because a firm did not hire anyone from a given school does not mean that the firm did not extend an offer to students from that school. Students who received offers may have declined that firm’s offer over another offer.
Notes:
- There was a 56.5% response rate from firms at the time of publication.
- The net total number of students hired in this recruit was 401 (the total number of hires minus returning 1L summer students).
- In calculating the percentage of 2Ls hired per school, we used the class sizes indicated on Ontario law school’s websites. We acknowledge there may be variations of this data as some schools only indicated average class sizes rather than year-specific numbers.
Editor’s Note: At the time of publication, some 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 by employers after the time of publication.
