A Buyer Breaches Contract – Now What?
Entering into a contract for goods or services often comes with the risk of the other party not fulfilling their obligations, leading to a stressful dilemma. What happens when they do not uphold [...]
Congratulations to our articling student Sabrina Heaman on completing her first trial in Small Claims Court! Sabrina conducted the entire trial herself, including openings, examination-in-chief, cross-examination, and closing submissions. The case involved claims of breach of contract and defences based on the expiry of a limitation period. She successfully argued on our client’s behalf resulting in an award of judgement plus costs. We were happy to have been able to give Sabrina the opportunity to gain valuable advocacy experience during her articling term.
Our students are a key component to the long-term growth strategy of our firm. We consider each student as a potential future associate of Brown Beattie O’Donovan. With that in mind, we pay particular attention to ensuring our students receive a positive and meaningful experience which lays the groundwork for a future career in the law.
Our student program is intended to facilitate our students’ opportunities to gain exposure to new areas of law, pursue their interests, and work with all the members of our firm. We find that our students receive a well-balanced workload from all of our lawyers and practice groups throughout their summer and articling terms.
A positive approach to maintaining well-being is a cornerstone of the student experience at Brown Beattie O’Donovan. We work with our summer and articling students to help them build the skills to manage the intersection of career and personal life. We emphasize the importance of integrating your career into your life – not the other way around.
During the articling term, we work with our students to help them identify the areas of law in which they have an interest. Through substantive work and one-on-one mentoring, we aim to provide our students with the opportunity to make an informed choice about the practice area in which they want to begin their careers as lawyers.
Application Process
BBO considers applications for second-year summer student employment and articling positions. Our summer student candidates must be enrolled in their second year at a Canadian law school in order to be considered.
Our team is looking for individuals who are intelligent and self-confident, who are willing and able to work hard to achieve their goals. We look for experience that indicates candidates can maintain a work/life balance and demonstrate responsibility and leadership skills.
Brown Beattie O’Donovan, like other firms in London and area, conducts summer student and articling interviews in accordance with guidelines established by the Law Society of Ontario. Applications should include a cover letter, resume, and law school and undergraduate transcripts. Applications may be submitted through the viLaw Portal or to students@bbo.on.ca.
Please note that we have filled our articling positions for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 terms.
Student Committee
Student Committee Contact Information
Jeremy A. Forrest – Partner and Articling Principal – jforrest@bbo.on.ca
Allison M. Nesbitt – Associate – anesbitt@bbo.on.ca
Ciara L. Pittam – Associate – cpittam@bbo.on.ca
Joseph A. Van Asseldonk – Partner – jvanasseldonk@bbo.on.ca
Summer Students
We hire two second-year law school summer students each year for a term generally beginning in early May and continuing to mid-August. Our summer recruitment follows the LSO-mandated process. Applications are typically received in mid-January and interviews take place in early February. Your law school recruitment office will have further information on the details of each years’ recruit.
Our summer students for 2023 are paid a weekly salary of $845 and we provide them with free underground parking at our office location in downtown London. Summer students do not receive benefits and are not entitled to vacation days however they do receive vacation pay equivalent to 4% of their total compensation.
2023 Summer Students
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Hurst, Marissa Summer Student -
Di Loreto, Erika Summer Student
Marissa Hurst
Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University
University of Western Ontario, B.A. Hons.
Erika Di Loreto
University of Windsor Faculty of Law / University of Detroit Mercy School of Law
Carleton University, M.A.
Kings University College, B.A. Hons.
Erika and Marissa will be joining the firm to complete their articles during the 2024-2025 term.
Articling Students
We hire two articling students for a 10-month term beginning in July and continuing to the end of April. Typically, we expect to fill our articling positions from our pool of summer students, however in those instances where we offer an articling position to students who have not summered with us, we follow the LSO-mandated process. Please check with your law school recruitment office for more information on that process and whether an articling position is available.
- Our 2023-2024 articling students receive the following:
- a weekly salary of $1,057;
- medical and dental benefits;
- 15 paid days to write the Bar Exams;
- 10 paid non-working days during the articling term in accordance with the LSO requirements;
- free underground parking at our office location in downtown London;
- reimbursement of the Barrister and Solicitor exam materials and fees; and,
- reimbursement of the LSO articling and application fees.
- Articling students who are hired back in a litigation practice area also receive reimbursement of the cost of their robes.
2023-2024 Articling Students
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