The Law Society conducted two surveys to better understand any current issues associated with the articling experience and the training of new lawyers.
From May to June 2024, the Law Societies of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan once again surveyed articling students/new lawyers and principals/mentors/recruiters, this time joined by the Law Society of British Columbia and the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society. These surveys were a follow-up to the 2019 articling surveys to see if or how the articling system has changed, and what areas still need work.
The information gathered from the surveys, in addition to other information and data collected from various sources, continue to inform next steps in addressing ongoing issues in the articling system.
The 2024 survey results revealed two key findings:
- Half of respondents who completed articling feel prepared or very prepared for entry-level practice overall, and there has been a year-over-year improvement since 2022.
- Of those who responded, approximately one in three reported experiencing discrimination or harassment during recruitment and/or articling. This is comparable to the 2019 results.
Read the full report for more detailed findings.
In our role as regulator, the Law Society will continue to look at new ways that we can engage with firms/organizations, the legal profession and other members of the legal community to improve the articling experience.
Cross-Jurisdictional Results
An analysis of the data across the jurisdictions was completed to also produce a cross-jurisdictional report. This report offers valuable insights and identifies similar themes across the jurisdictions. This allows the provinces to seek opportunities for collaboration on next steps as we continue our work to enhance the articling experience and entry level practice.
When looking at the cross-jurisdictional report findings specific to Alberta, it is important to note that Alberta accounted for 36 per cent of the total sample of student/new lawyer respondents across the participating provinces. View the full report for more details.
Next Steps
The Law Society of Alberta’s Strategic Plan covers this work under two of its three strategic goals: Competence and Public Confidence.
For more information, read the FAQ below.
We encourage respondents and others to reach out if they are in uncertain or unsafe situations, or if they need resources or advice. The Office of the Equity Ombudsperson is available via email or phone at 587.391.6596, and our safe reporting process is detailed on our website.
Frequently Asked Questions
Purpose & Methodology
These surveys are a follow-up to the 2019 articling surveys to see if or how the articling system has changed, and what areas still need work. We are seeking to better understand any current issues associated with the articling experience and the training of new lawyers.
The information gathered from the surveys will be used by the law societies, in addition to other information and data collected over the years, to help determine next steps in addressing the issues identified. The Law Society of Alberta’s Strategic Plan covers this work under two of its three strategic goals: Competence and Public Confidence.
All Alberta lawyers, articling students, principals, recruiters and mentors who met the eligibility criteria were invited to participate in the surveys. This means the survey results represent a non-probability sample – participants self-selected to complete the survey if they met the eligibility criteria rather than being randomly selected from the entire population.
We chose this sampling method so everyone had equal opportunity to respond. These are difficult subjects to be open about, so we wanted to provide a confidential way for anyone to voice their concerns. Since we are dealing with a relatively small population to begin with, we also wanted to make the surveys available to everybody within the eligible subgroups. This approach provides us with the greatest insight into articling experiences.
In Alberta, the Law Society heard from 433 student and new lawyer respondents out of a total of 3,018 (a 14% response rate) and 344 principals, recruiters and non-principal mentors. A response rate for the principal, recruiter and mentor survey cannot be estimated as the role of mentor is not formally tracked by the Law Society.
In 2019, the survey was completed by 549 articling students and new lawyers in Alberta out of a total of 2,347, for a response rate of 23%. While the 2024 response rate is smaller, research best practices confirm that the data is still a diverse/representative sample and statistically relevant for decision making. The 2024 sample showed a more balanced gender composition and a greater diversity in terms of representation from equity-deserving groups and internationally trained lawyers, as compared to 2019.
Are the survey results representative of the entire Alberta legal profession and articling students?
Like all online surveys that use this type of sampling, response bias and non-response bias are factors to consider when interpreting results. Those who self-selected to participate may have stronger opinions on the subject matter than those who did not.
This means that the results are not representative of the entire Alberta legal profession or articling students. However, the data still provides valuable feedback about the state of the articling experience for the respondents.
Behind every survey response, there is a real individual to consider.
Even though this data cannot necessarily be applied to the entire legal profession, it provides insight into the experiences of those who continue to face challenges—challenges that we would not otherwise know about. These examples provide important context to guide future work in these areas.
We engaged the same third-party consultant as in 2019, Dr. Svitlana Winters, for support in survey development, as well as survey analysis and reporting. Survey responses were anonymous and confidential. Dr. Winters analyzed the data for themes and areas for improvement, ensuring findings are not linked to personal identities in the reporting.
Dr. Winters is a research professional with over a decade of experience in the field and she has been a consultant for the Law Society of Alberta since 2019. She holds the Certified Analytics and Insights Professional (CAIP) designation, the only certification in Canada endorsed by both the Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC) and ESOMAR, the global authority in data analytics, research and insights.
Currently, Dr. Winters works full-time as a Senior Insights Manager on the Quantitative Research team at a global research and technology company.
Next Steps
Our upcoming projects include the following:
- Launched the Practice Fundamentals Program for new lawyers. New course content will be developed each year to support new lawyers early in their careers.
- Developing more resources and supports specifically for international trained lawyers and lawyers with disabilities.
- Undergoing a comprehensive review of the Articling Placement Program to enhance the program and make sure that it is serving its purpose effectively. An internal working group is working on ways to better the matching and placement processes.
- Begin exploring alternatives to articling in the coming years. Our current Strategic Plan lists an objective to “Collaborate with stakeholders to explore enhancements to current articling processes and alternatives to articling for those seeking admission to the Law Society that ensure compliance with entry-level competency for enrolment in the Law Society.”
The information gathered from the surveys, in addition to other information and data collected over the years, will inform next steps in addressing the issues identified.
We are not relying solely on this data for decision-making, but it does provide valuable insight into immediate and long-term needs. We receive information on these issues from various sources, including complaint submissions, reports to the Equity Ombudsperson, Practice Advisor inquiries, and the Articling Placement Program to name a few.