FAQ | Articling and Summer Students

Our firm comprises about 70 lawyers, including research lawyers.

Founded over 100 years ago, Robinson Sheppard Shapiro is an independent mid-sized law firm offering legal services and strategic advice to a local, national, and international clientele comprised mainly of businesspeople, SMEs, insurers, public and private corporations and institutions, and individuals.

We offer services in:

• Business law
• Civil and commercial litigation
• Insurance law
• Labour and employment law
• Transportation law
• Family law
• Estates, wills and trusts
• Municipal law

Here’s a look at the tasks you may be entrusted with:

As summer students:

• Assisting our lawyers in the management of their files
• Drafting minutes, legal opinions and proceedings
• Performing legal research and assisting in the preparation of trials and transactions
• Preparing the documents for, and closing of, commercial transactions
• Preparing and participating in examinations as well as motions and trials
• Providing support during negotiations

As articling students:

• Appearing before courts and tribunals
• Appearing in court for various motions required for the proper execution of legal proceedings
• Preparing and conducting examinations and discovery (insurance law)
• Managing your own files under the supervision of a lawyer (insurance law)
• Attending client meetings

We’ve developed an immersive learning process where job rotation is encouraged but not mandatory.

At the end of the recruitment process, RSS offers articling positions to three or four candidates.

We appreciate varied experiences and attach significant importance to soft skills. As a matter of fact, our work culture promotes the development of independence, flexibility and critical thinking.

The selection process consists of two interviews. The first is a short meeting of around 20 minutes. The Recruitment Committee then selects the candidates who will be invited to a second meeting in a more informal setting.

Our firm offers competitive salaries and benefits equivalent to what similar sized firms offer.

In 2009, we set up the Robinson Sheppard Shapiro Foundation, whose main mission is to support local organizations helping those in need. Throughout the year, members of our firm organize and take part in various fundraising events aimed at helping people in difficult situations.

Although we’ve supported a diverse group of causes in recent years, we have a preference for those with an educational component, be it legal, financial or other. Recently, RSS announced a three-year commitment to support the Fondation des camps Odyssée to foster youth development.

We believe in offering a work environment where everybody can find their place. We value a culture of open doors, where all members of the firm, regardless of their title or tenure, are welcomed without judgment and with respect, confidentiality, and kindness when they need assistance for their physical or mental health.

Initiatives in this direction take various forms:

• Physical accessibility: We’re open to various accommodations that will allow a candidate to take part in the recruitment process. We’ll do everything necessary to allow individuals with disabilities to work comfortably. Access ramps, automatic doors, elevators and escalators facilitate access to our building and offices. We continue to improve our workspaces, and additional updates are coming in the near future.
• Technological accessibility: We understand the importance of the availability of technological tools. We’re open and flexible towards the improvement of our current infrastructure.

The health and well-being of our members are at the core of our priorities. We make no compromises and continue to set up initiatives in this direction:

• Awareness: we work to eliminate barriers by inviting our members to combat stereotypes and unconscious bias. Our Health and Psychological Well-Being at Work program has allowed numerous members to attend a conference on unconscious bias.
• A mental health program
• Virtual healthcare with a stress management component (Lumino Santé)
• Access to a mindfulness meditation app (Headspace)
• Setting up a common workplace to facilitate sharing ideas and concerns
• Ergonomic workstations
• A flexible remote working policy
• Various training sessions for our professionals, employees, and managers

Maintaining a diverse workplace has always been a priority for the firm.

RSS was originally created in response to law firms’ reluctance to hire Jewish lawyers at the time. Throughout its history, our firm has prioritized hiring the most motivated and competent candidates, regardless of their gender, ethnic background, religion, or any other criteria based on social-cultural affiliation, orientation, opinions or allegiances.

This open-mindedness paid off. Nowadays, few medium-sized law firms comparable to RSS can proudly claim that 55% of their decision-makers are women and that their members speak over 15 languages.

RSS au féminin is an inclusive initiative to facilitate support, and to help share knowledge and experience among the firm’s female professionals. The initial goal of this group was to make the whole firm aware of the realities and challenges that women face in the legal profession.

We’re proud to provide financial support and encouragement to students from several universities, helping them pursue their legal career with our prizes and scholarships. Here’s an overview of our commitments. We invite you to reach out to your university if you think that you qualify for one of these programs:

• The Université de Montréal’s Robinson Sheppard Shapiro scholarship. This $5,000 scholarship is awarded during the fall term to a student or group of students at the Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD level. The recipient must have distinguished themselves in a moot court competition or in high-level academic endeavors.
• The Université de Montréal’s Excellence Prize in Insurance Law. This $1,000 award is given to the student with the best results in the Bachelor’s degree insurance law class (DRT 3201). The prize is awarded to the student at Convocation, which usually takes place in June.
• McGill University’s Robinson Sheppard Shapiro’s Excellence Prize. This $1,000 prize is awarded by the law school’s scholarship committee to a student towards the BCL or J.D. degree for excellence in insurance law.
• Pierre-Basile-Migneault Moot Court Competition. The Concours de plaidoirie Pierre-Basile-Migneault is an advocacy competition between the six Canadian civil law faculties. The competition is based on a mock judgment rendered by a trial court in a civil law setting. The RSS Cup, as well as a $500 scholarship, are awarded to the competitor having presented the best oral argument.

For the past five years, RSS has hired all of its articling students. Click here to check out our students’ profiles.

At RSS, 25% of our lawyers have been practicing for five years or less.