Information for employers

Common Law students can pursue Student-Proposed Internships (SPI) during their studies at the University of Ottawa. These internships provide students with the opportunity to gain practical experience and exposes them to a variety of practice areas and work environments. They are an excellent learning opportunity that will allow students to gain three academic units by completing 115 hours of unpaid law-related work. These internships can be completed during any term (see Conditions and Hours).

During their internships, students are required to complete the Mental Health and Wellness in the Legal Profession program created by the Canadian Bar Association. This program is a national self-learning program designed to provide Canadian lawyers, judges and law students education, supports and resources to assist them in understanding mental health and addiction issues. The program can be found here : Canadian Bar Association - Mental Health and Wellness in the legal Profession.

Where can law students undertake a Student-Proposed Internship (SPI)? *

Students can undertake internships with the following:

• Sole Practitioner
• Small, medium, or large-sized firm
• Community Legal Clinic
• Department or branch of the municipal, provincial or **federal government
  (**federal government internships are no longer being offered due to the Treasury Board policy. Unfortunately, this also extends to SPI with the federal government).
• Non-Governmental Organization, a Not-for-Profit Organization or an organization working in the public interest, in either a domestic or international context
• Canadian Embassies abroad
• Legal Department of a bank
• Legal Department of a private company (or In-house Counsel)
• Agency of the United Nations

*This list provides examples and is not exhaustive.

What kind of work can a law student do? *

• Students can undertake the following tasks during an internship:
• Legal research: case law and legislation (become familiar with search engines such as LexisNexis Quicklaw and CanLII).
• Legal writing, such as drafting letters, affidavits, short articles, memoranda and research papers, compiling information to create a guidebook, gathering information on specific topics for lawyers.
• Assist lawyers in preparing a client for a hearing.
• Assist lawyers with client intake and at times interview clients.
• General interaction with lawyers and clients.
• Attend proceedings conducted by lawyers in court or in a mediation (attend a hearing, a labour arbitration hearing, a case conference, etc.).
• Learn about procedural matters such as filing documents.
• Fill out forms (any paperwork pertaining to client files).
• Demonstrate knowledge of lawyers’ professional responsibilities and further develop such knowledge.
• Take part in the small firm or sole practitioner's daily operations to gain greater knowledge of its particularities.
• Attend workshops offered by the firm or to the lawyers of the firm.

* This is not an exhaustive list; however, it offers a good idea of what a Student-Proposed Internship can look like.

All employers that post internship opportunities with the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section agree to provide a work environment that is free of discrimination in compliance with all provincial and federal Human Rights Legislation, and provincial law society professional standards, codes of conduct, recruitment procedures and University of Ottawa Policies 67a and 67b.

To avoid possible conflict of interest, internships cannot be undertaken under the supervision of a student’s past, present or future employer or volunteer supervisor. In cases related to future employment or volunteer experiences, this only applies if it is known at the time the internship proposal is submitted that the student will be employed in the future.  This is not intended to discourage an offer of employment once the internship has been completed.

For the students to receive the three academic units for their experiences, they must complete 115 hours of unpaid law-related work. Employers that wish to participate in this program must have sufficient work to allow the students to meet this requirement.

Please note that internship conditions vary, and the hours must be completed during a specific term:

Fall Term: September through early-December.  Students typically complete their internship hours by interning 1, 1.5 or 2 days a week throughout the term.

January Term: Condensed term for three weeks in January.  Students typically complete their internship hours by interning full time for 3 to 4 weeks during the month of January. Internships can be undertaken abroad.

Winter Term: February through mid-April.  This term is also condensed and runs for two and a half months.  Students typically complete their internship hours by interning 1.5 to 2 days per week throughout the term.

Summer Term: May to end of August, part time during the whole summer or condensed full time. Can be completed as early as the summer after their first academic year. Units applied in the following fall or winter term. Internships can be undertaken abroad.

Supervisor Requirements

The Employer Supervisor is either a practicing lawyer or someone who has received legal training (holds a J.D. or an LL.B.) and who works at the organization or the firm and will be responsible for supervising the student’s work. The Employer Supervisor must have a minimum of 3 years of law-related work experience after graduating law school or 2 years’ experience as a lawyer after their call to the bar. If the supervisor is a licensed lawyer, they must be a member in good standing of a law society and not have been subject to any disciplinary measures.

Other conditions:

• The supervisor can be responsible for a maximum of 2 students per academic term.
• The work cannot be remunerated.
• The work assigned to the student must be law related.
• The supervisor must consistently be accessible to students and regularly available to review students’ legal work as well as to provide guidance and answer the student’s questions.

Supervisor Guidelines

The Benefits of being an Employer Supervisor can range from personal satisfaction from enriching the students’ experience, to giving back to the University through development of students as leaders. It can also enhance the Employer Supervisor’s existing leadership skills, expose them to new and different thinking styles, knowledge, and perspectives all while receiving assistance and help equivalent to 115 hours of law-related work from a uOttawa Law student. In turn, the Faculty hopes that all participating Employer Supervisors can adhere to the Internship conditions listed above and the Supervisor Guidelines listed below.  

Career Guidance

As someone who has already established a legal career, the student can learn from your experience and your career path.  You may be asked some of the following questions: What skills and qualities are needed to succeed as a lawyer?  How can I best prepare for a career in law?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of having your own practice? The student will also benefit from the possible professional contacts this partnership can offer.

Role Model

Students can learn from your valuable insights on bar admissions, articling and life as a working professional. You may share any valuable advice from lessons learned along the way.

Source of Information

Provide information regarding courses relevant to an area of practice and the job market to students who are unfamiliar with some or all aspects of the legal profession.

Constructive Feedback 

Your insights and your feedback as a practitioner will provide students with a perspective not normally obtained in the classroom.

Student Goals 

Students will have set at least three goals that they will work toward achieving while completing their internship. Assign work and guide them along the way to reaching these goals. 

It is the student's responsibility to familiarize themselves with the internal application procedures to have the internship evaluated and approved to make sure it meets the pedagogical threshold as well as the student and employer supervisor requirements. Students must submit their application in accordance with the specified deadlines. Note that the deadlines for some terms are fixed well in advance of the commencement of the term. Therefore, employers that wish to advertise an internship for units should make sure to allow enough time to advertise the internship position, receive student applications and complete selections as well as to provide time for the successful student to apply internally to the Faculty. In their applications, students will have multiple forms to complete and submit to the Faculty. Of those forms, the Employer Supervisor will review and sign the Internship Proposal Form as well as the Internship Agreement Form.

Internship Proposal Form

The Internship proposal form - 2023 (PDF, 278.01 KB) must be type written and filled out in full by the student with the input of the supervisor. The student and the Employer Supervisor must sign this form.

A detailed description including examples must be included in all relevant “Tasks and Activities” and “Skills to be Developed” sections.  If the student does not provide enough substantive detail in their proposal, they will be required to submit a new proposal form including additional details approved by the Employer Supervisor.

As an example, tasks and activities limited to legal research, writing case summaries do not justify granting academic units, and the internship proposal will not be approved. The student must specify how they will be utilizing this research to contribute to work with the organization or firm.

Agreement for the Student Internship Program

The Faculty of law in collaboration with the University of Ottawa Risk Management office has prepared anAgreement for the Student Internship Program form 2024. The Agreement addresses topics such as the responsibilities of the University, the responsibilities of the employer/organization, the changes to the WSIB regime and insurance. All students participating in internships are required to have their Employer Supervisor sign, date and return the Agreement before they commence an internship.

A request to complete an internship remotely will be assessed on a case-by-case basis

It is the students’ responsibility to familiarize themselves with the internship final submissions and the deadlines. The detailed submission instructions are in the students’ Course Syllabus. Of those final submissions, the Employer Supervisor will review and sign the timesheet filled out by the student. The Employer Supervisor will also fill out the Supervisor Evaluation Form and discuss its content with the student. The student will be responsible to submit all documents.

If you would like to advertise a position for a Student-Proposed Internship (SPI), please fill out the Job Posting Form. We will make the information available to our students.

The selected student must submit their application to the Faculty in accordance with the specified deadlines. Note that the deadlines for some terms are fixed well in advance of the commencement of term. Therefore, employers that wish to advertise an internship for units should make sure to allow sufficient time to advertise the internship position, receive student applications and complete selections as well as to provide time for the successful student to apply internally to the Faculty.

For any questions, please contact Anna Jeffery and/or Josée Desmarais at the Career and Professional Development Centre.

Important Internship Posting Policies 

All employers that post internship for unit opportunities with the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section agree to provide a work environment that is free of discrimination in compliance with all provincial and federal Human Rights Legislation, and provincial law society professional standards, codes of conduct, recruitment procedures and University of Ottawa Policies 67a and67b.The supervisor must consistently be accessible to students and regularly available to review students’ legal work as well as to provide guidance and answer the student’s questions. We reserve the right in our sole discretion to restrict, remove or refuse to post any internship posting without notice that we feel is inappropriate for our students. We will not post any internship opportunity where a nonlawyer is seeking a student to perform legal research or engage in any activities that could potentially be construed as providing legal advice.