At a glance
We take great care to offer our articling and summer students a chance to choose their own paths, work on challenging files, and support clients in today’s exciting emerging industries. Whether you know exactly what you want your legal future to look like, or haven’t quite decided yet, our team of leading lawyers and agents will provide you with the experience and mentorship support you need to launch a rewarding and impactful career.
Choose your own path
Through our summer and articling programs, students are hired into a specific practice group (e.g., trademarks, patent prosecution, litigation). While all work is hands on, it will look a little different depending on which practice group you’re working for.
For instance:
- Patent prosecution students regularly meet with inventors and work with our associates and partners from the very start to put together the first drafts of patent applications.
- Trademark students conduct investigations to identify infringing and counterfeit products and put together trademark applications to help protect client brands.
- Privacy students work regularly with colleagues in Europe, the United States, and everywhere that data flows.
- Litigation students work on materials for and attend discoveries, motions, trials, and appeals.
- All of our students meet and work directly with our clients.
Every student receives work assignments from various lawyers and agents throughout the firm—and they’re encouraged to work for a wide range of practice groups.
This is beneficial for a few reasons. For one, it gives our students a taste of a broad range of areas in IP law, allowing them to make informed career choices. Second, it lets our students connect with many of Canada’s top IP practitioners—and gain an opportunity to learn from lawyers and agents in each of our three Ontario offices and our office in Quebec.
Join us and do real work for real clients
At Bereskin & Parr, you have an opportunity to work with many of the world’s largest companies and brands, as well as incubators, start-ups, and first-time inventors. Additionally, because intellectual property law is nation-based but organized globally, you may have the opportunity to work with law firms and IP attorneys from around the world.
Our main practice areas include:
- Patent Prosecution
- Trademarks
- Litigation
- Copyright
- Regulatory/Privacy Law
Our 80 lawyers and agents work at the forefront of both law and technology in longstanding and emerging fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Cannabis, and FinTech—and many are recognized across the globe as leading practitioners in their specialized fields.
A team of lifelong partners
To succeed in our area of law, it’s important that we not only hire people who love to gain new expertise, but we also provide these individuals with new learning experiences. Because of this, career development and training are deeply embedded in our corporate culture.
From their first day on the job, students are offered both formal and informal training and mentorship.
Additionally, every professional at our office is offered a vast array of internal learning opportunities—through luncheon seminars, practice group meetings, and monthly firm meetings—and is encouraged to attend external continuing legal education sessions.
Become part of our international practice
Intellectual property law is nation-based but organized globally. We work with law firms and IP attorneys around the world to implement brand, patent, and commercialization strategies for emerging technology and companies.
Our privacy practitioners specialize in cross-border data transfer matters. Students involved on these files can expect to work regularly with colleagues in Europe, the US and everywhere else data flows.
Compensation and Benefits
The compensation and benefits we offer are competitive with other Bay Street law firms—and we have no billable hour targets for our summer or articling students. Even our associates’ billable hours targets are lower than other Bay Street firms because we believe a work-life balance is important for our professionals.
