- About Us
- Accessibility
- Executive Leadership Team
- Board & Committees
- Key Initiatives
- 2024 Articling Survey
- Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives
- Indigenous Initiatives
- Innovation Sandbox
- Annual & Financial Reports
- Strategic Plan
- Affiliations
- Awards & Scholarships
- Contact Us
- Upcoming Events
- Media Room
- eBulletins
- Latest from the Law Society
- Home
- Who We Are
- Key Initiatives
- 2024 Articling Survey
The Law Society of Alberta, in conjunction with the law societies of British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, is seeking feedback on the types of training and mentoring articling students are receiving, issues related to discrimination or harassment and how prepared articling students feel to practice law in the 21st century.
In 2019, we conducted a similar survey with Saskatchewan and Manitoba and have now developed a revised version to capture additional information that may be relevant in 2024. Given the scope and impact of the information gathered in 2019, it is important to follow up and do comparative analysis to understand if progress has been made on any key issues and what challenges still need to be addressed. Through two distinct surveys—one targeting articling students and new lawyers, and the other tailored for principals, recruiters and mentors—we aim to identify parallel issues within the articling system from their unique perspectives.
Take the Surveys
Take the surveys at the links below:
The surveys take approximately 15–20 minutes to complete and your survey responses are anonymous and confidential. Please encourage as many articling students, lawyers, principals, mentors and recruiters to complete the survey as possible. The surveys will remain open until end of day Thursday, June 20, 2024.
At the end of the surveys, enter for a chance to win a free Legal Education Society of Alberta webinar or on-demand program of your choice (valued up to $95).
A third-party consultant will analyze the data for trends and improvements, ensuring findings are not linked to personal identities when presented publicly. A summary of the findings will be shared once finalized.
Ongoing Cross-Provincial Collaboration
The results of this online engagement will help the law societies to make more informed decisions around our programs and resources, especially as they relate to articling, lawyer competence, and equity, diversity and inclusion.
The 2024 survey is also part of a broader collaboration among the five law societies. The findings will facilitate cross-provincial comparisons, offering valuable insights into how we can collectively enhance the articling experience across our jurisdictions. Ultimately, we hope this will help us to enrich the articling experience and better prepare articling students for the practice of law in the future.
2019 Articling Survey
In 2019, the Law Society heard from 549 student and new lawyer respondents in Alberta (a 23 per cent response rate) and engaged a third-party research group to analyze the information collected. The 2019 survey results revealed three key findings in Alberta:
- Of the 549 (student and new lawyer) respondents in Alberta, 32 per cent reported experiencing discrimination and harassment, primarily based on gender or race/ethnicity, during recruitment or articling.
- There is inconsistency in the competencies learned during articling and in how prepared students feel for entry level practice.
- The quality of mentorship and feedback is a challenge for both students and principals / mentors.
To learn more about the survey findings, view the following materials:
- Articling Program Assessment Research Report
- Media Statement: Law Society of Alberta Responds to Issues in the Articling System
Frequently Asked Questions
Background & Purpose
We want to hear from students, new lawyers, principals, recruiters and mentors about their experiences so we can understand any current issues associated with the articling experience and the training of new lawyers generally.
A positive articling experience can provide new lawyers with a strong foundation for an ethical and competent legal career. A negative articling experience can lead to issues throughout the career of a lawyer.
We want to get a snapshot of the current state of articling by gathering feedback from as many current articling students and new lawyers as possible. We want to hear about the types of training and mentoring articling students are receiving, any issues related to discrimination or harassment and how prepared articling students feel to practice as 21st century lawyers.
We want to hear from principals, recruiters and mentors of articling students for many of the same reasons outlined above. Principals, recruiters and mentors offer a parallel perspective of the articling experience.
We want to hear from principals and mentors because they play a vital role in the success of a student’s articling process, setting the tone for the students’ learning experience and ultimately for the start of new legal careers.
We want to hear from recruiters because they hire articling students and often check-in with students throughout the articling process. They provide valuable insight into articling at the firm level.
The 2019 survey results revealed three key findings in Alberta:
- Of the 549 (student and new lawyer) respondents in Alberta, 32 per cent reported experiencing discrimination and harassment, primarily based on gender or race/ethnicity, during recruitment or articling.
- There is inconsistency in the competencies learned during articling and in how prepared students feel for entry level practice.
- The quality of mentorship and feedback is a challenge for both students and principals / mentors.
These key findings drove a significant amount of the strategy and work for the Law Society over the past five years, particularly in the areas of lawyer competence and equity, diversity and inclusion. Given the scope and impact of the information gathered in 2019, it is important to follow up and do comparative analysis to understand if progress has been made on any key issues and what challenges still need to be addressed.
Over the past five years, the Law Society has undertaken various projects and initiatives to address issues of discrimination and harassment as well as to improve lawyer competence and training in articling and the legal profession.
Below are a few examples of the work we have undertaken:
- Launched the Respectful Workplace Policy, Employer Guide and Safe Reporting Process.
- Invited lawyers and students to share their stories where racial discrimination or stereotyping impacted their legal career through the “My Experience” Project.
- Worked with well-known legal analyst, Jordan Furlong, on a report of recommendations for lawyer licensing and competence in Alberta.
- Provided Indigenous Cultural Competency Education to the profession and staff.
- Developed and implemented mandatory training for principals.
- Redesigned and launched a new continuing professional development program and tool.
This version of the survey is similar to the 2019 articling survey to allow for accurate comparative analysis, but the questions have been slightly revised to capture additional information that may be relevant in 2024.
It will be beneficial to understand if the same themes are present in other jurisdictions as each law society analyzes their own survey data. We can compare information collected and collaborate on possible steps forward.
The survey is part of a broader collaboration among the five law societies. The findings will facilitate cross-provincial comparisons, offering valuable insights into how we can collectively enhance the articling experience to meet our shared objectives.
Logistics
The surveys will launch on Thursday, May 9, 2024, and remain open until Thursday, June 20, 2024.
Topics covered include training adequacy, mentor relationships, preparedness for early practice, positive aspects, challenges and experiences of harassment and discrimination, as defined by the respondent. We’ll also ask for basic demographic and legal training details.
In our role as regulator, we receive reports, both formally and informally, of discrimination and harassment issues in the profession. We also know that discrimination and harassment issues often go unreported for fear of reprisal or the future impact on careers.
Of the 549 (student and new lawyer) respondents in Alberta in our 2019 articling survey, 32 per cent reported experiencing discrimination and harassment, primarily based on gender or race/ethnicity, during recruitment or articling.
We want a better understanding of the issues around harassment and discrimination in our respective provinces to support further efforts by local law societies and by the Federation.
Participation in the surveys is limited to current articling students and new lawyers (who articled in the last five years) as well as to principals, recruiters and those who self-identified as mentors. While we believe other members of the profession have valuable insight, we want to capture the most recent information about the articling experience.
Sometimes, someone other than the principal acts as a mentor to an articling student and would have the greatest insight into the articling experience. If you spend a significant portion of your time providing guidance to articling students or new lawyers, we’d like to hear from you.
Survey responses are anonymous and confidential. A third-party consultant will analyze the data for trends and improvements, ensuring findings are not linked to personal identities when presented publicly. Following the data analysis, we are committed to sharing anonymized summary findings in a report to the profession from each participating law society.
This survey is administered through the Law Society of Alberta’s SurveyMonkey account. All collection, use and disclosure of information by the Law Society will be carried out in accordance with its Privacy Policy. Your use of the SurveyMonkey platform is subject to its Terms of Use and Privacy Notice. We will download all responses collected in connection with our surveys from SurveyMonkey and request the deletion of responses by SurveyMonkey as soon as is reasonably practicable.
We have hired the same third-party consultant as in 2019 to help develop the surveys, to analyze the information collected and to draft the results reports for each province. A summary of the report will also be shared publicly once finalized.
For Alberta, this survey serves as a follow-up to see if or how the articling system’s landscape has changed since 2019 and what areas still need work. The results will help the law societies make more informed decisions around our programs and resources, especially as they relate to articling, lawyer competence, and equity, diversity and inclusion.
More Information
Contact Feedback if you have any further questions about the articling survey.