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When Heenan Blaikie announced that it would close late last week, law students who thought theur legal careers were secure received a crippling blow. According to the Montreal Gazette, the law firm has been attempting to get its articling students placed in other firms.
“This will make competition for those first-year lawyer positions very fierce,” said an unnamed lawyer.
It has yet to be announced what caused the firm to close its doors, but rumors have been flying that it was caused by bickering within the partner ranks.
The top six law firms in Montreal have been contacted by Heenan Blaikie about their articling students. Blaikie has asked those firms to consider bringing on their students, of which there are five articling now and 10 to 14 more scheduled to being in June.
“We reached out to the big law firms and we believe the legal community is coming together over this,” said Karen Rogers, a partner at Heenan. Rogers is in charge of recruiting students. “It’s our duty as partners to help.”
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Rogers noted that she is optimistic the students will be picked up by other law firms. She described the students as “excellent and any firm would be lucky to have them.”
Four of the five students at the firm right now have been articling for just one month while the fifth has been there for several months. Rogers told the Montreal Gazette that she called the other firms in the city herself to talk about the students working at Heenan Blaikie.
Universities in Montreal are also working to help their students with the news of Heenan Blaikie closing.
“The faculty of law is monitoring the situation closely as it develops,” Aisha Topsakal said. Topsakal is the assistant dean of student life at McGill University. “In addition to the support Heenan Blaikie is providing to its students in various offices, our career development office is in touch with McGill students and recent alumni to offer consultations and other services.”
