For over 10 consecutive years, Baker McKenzie has been named as the world’s strongest law firm brand by Acritas, underlining our dedication to being the best. We view our people as our greatest asset and strive to foster an inclusive culture that recognizes and amplifies diverse perspectives and the voices of diverse individuals, with the opportunity to grow, be engaged, feel valued, and fully contribute. We know the value of our talent in sustaining our success and so we're committed to offering the platform to nurture this talent, beginning with our student programs.
Why Baker McKenzie?
Baker McKenzie has been global since its inception. For over six decades, we have organized, governed and managed our Firm to cultivate the global mindset, awareness of distinct business cultures, collaborative nature and practical knowledge required to navigate complexity across issues, practices and borders with ease.
We offer clients both the uncompromising commitment to excellence expected of a top firm and a distinctive way of thinking, working and behaving as a passionately global and genuinely collaborative firm. We seamlessly combine the nuanced local insights of more than 4,100 locally qualified lawyers in 77 offices in 46 countries.
Established in 1962 and with over 200 lawyers and business professionals, the Toronto office acts for many of the most sophisticated multinationals based in Canada and around the world. We offer first-class domestic and cross-border legal advice on a range of business issues with an emphasis on collaboration across our practice groups:
- Employment and Compensation
- Intellectual Property Tech
- International Commercial
- Litigation and Government Enforcement
- Tax
- Transactional
Summer Associate Program
Our 14-week summer associate program is designed to introduce law students to the practice of law at the Firm with the aim of helping students build a strong foundation to succeed in their articles and beyond.
Students start their summer by attending the North American Regional Summer Associates’ Meeting, a two-day meeting hosted by a different office within the region each year. The meeting provides summer associates throughout North America with in-depth legal training alongside the opportunity to establish working relationships (and hopefully, friendships) with members of their Baker McKenzie Class.
The summer associate program is non-rotational, which provides our students with the flexibility to explore their practice areas of interest and carve their own path. Because we strive to offer a realistic professional experience, we place great importance on providing our summer associates with real, substantive work. Students should expect to play an integral role on files while working on a wide range of legal assignments alongside associates and partners.
Summer associates also participate in the Summer Associate Pro Bono Project, an initiative that brings students, associates and partners from across the region together to focus on a different social justice challenge each year.
"In my search for a place to begin my legal career, I was seeking a firm where I could be exposed to international legal issues, be involved in pro-bono initiatives, and work with colleagues who are approachable and nice. Baker McKenzie checked off all of these boxes and surpassed my expectations. Most, if not all, of the files I was involved with had an international element, be it the location of the client to legal issues spanning multiple jurisdictions. With respect to pro-bono work, I had the invaluable opportunity to contribute to initiatives including the protection of the rights of survivors of human trafficking, assisting organizations seeking charitable status, and preparing resources to address modern slavery risks in global supply chains."
— Megan Paterson (University of Western Ontario | Summer Associate, 2016)
Current Associate in IP Tech, Baker McKenzie Toronto
"Working with and learning from the community of friendly, smart, and driven attorneys in the Toronto office of Baker McKenzie, I was involved on numerous substantial legal matters, including multi-jurisdictional legal assessments, complex transactions and sophisticated legal research and writing assignments. In addition, the Firm was supportive when I sought to contribute to other initiatives related to the practice of law, such as drafting pitches and proposals, writing legal articles and publications, and attending client events and conferences. All of these experiences helped me feel confident in my abilities and experiences when I joined the bar and continued with the Firm as an associate."
— Jonathan Tam (University of Toronto | Summer Associate, 2012)
Current Partner in International Commercial, Baker McKenzie San Francisco
Articling Program
Our articling program aims to provide students with the greatest exposure to the practice of law and to what makes Baker McKenzie unique. Featuring three rotations in different practice areas, articling students receive well-rounded articles and develop the broad based skills set to become successful associates.
Each rotation is approximately 3.5 months in duration and a formal review process takes place at the end of each rotation to provide students with the necessary feedback to support their career development.
Each articling student is paired with a junior and senior mentor, who together are responsible for assisting students in managing their workload and for ensuring that students receive interesting and challenging work, as well as a balanced articling experience. Students are also encouraged to seek informal mentors and sponsors within the office and the Baker McKenzie network.
We actively promote a culture of learning within the Firm and articling students should expect to expand their knowledge and expertise throughout their articles. In addition to a formal training series and orientation at the beginning of their articles, students have access to leading learning, knowledge management and personal development resources.
Throughout their articles, students should expect to experience the practice of law first-hand and the nature of complex cross-border legal issues, while assisting clients and working with lawyers from around the world. Students will see increasing responsibility as they develop their skills set in the key performance areas of legal and industry knowledge and expertise, client and work management, business development and inclusive leadership.
"Lawyers and staff at Baker McKenzie want students to succeed and to feel that they belong. Many invested in my development, whether that was through teaching complex concepts, assigning challenging work, ensuring I was meaningfully involved in files, giving feedback and providing career advice. Having worked directly with associates and partners, I benefited by learning from lawyers with different styles and at various stages of their careers. I was paired with formal mentors whose guidance was critical to helping me thrive as a student. In addition, the willingness of lawyers and staff to offer informal mentorship contributed to a formative articling experience at Baker McKenzie."
— Oluwaseun Senbore (University of Ottawa | Summer Associate, 2020)
Current Associate in Tax, Baker McKenzie Toronto
"As a truly global law firm, Baker McKenzie stands out in terms of the international opportunities available to students. I was able to tackle engaging issues in a range of practice areas and often found myself in contact with colleagues from around the world. Articling at Baker has helped me to cultivate a more global-mindset grounded in an appreciation of the complexities of multijurisdictional disputes and transactions. I was also able to take on a number of pro bono files covering subjects such as youth homelessness, victim advocacy, refugee and immigration law, and supply chain concerns arising in the international labour rights context."
— Ben Sakamoto (Queen’s University | Summer Associate, 2016)
Associate in Litigation, Baker McKenzie Toronto
Compensation
Summer associates and articling students receive a compensation package that is competitive with large national law firms.
Articling students also receive: extended health benefits (Ontario residents only), a health and wellness subsidy and 10 days of paid vacation. We also offer articling students 14 paid study days to prepare and write the Barrister and Solicitor Bar Exams and the payment of LSO Barrister and Solicitor Licensing Examination fees and materials.
Application Process
For our summer associate program, please submit your completed application through the viLawPortal and address your application to: The Student Committee. Your application should include a cover letter, a complete résumé, and copies of all official transcripts of law school, undergraduate and graduate grades (as applicable). Letters of reference or statements of support can be included but are entirely optional.
All of our recruitment procedures are conducted in accordance with LSO guidelines. Please refer to the LSO website for guidance on deadlines: http://www.lso.ca/. We generally hire our articling students from our summer associate class and do not regularly participate in the articling student recruitment process. If you have any questions about our recruitment process, our student programs or the Firm, please contact Eleni Skederidis, Recruitment Manager at eleni.skederidis@bakermckenzie.com and +1 (416) 865 6947.
Meet Our Current Students
Summer Associates 2024
| Name | Law School | Contact Information |
| Rana Aly |
McGill University |
Rana.Aly@bakermckenzie.com |
| Tiana Gleason | University of Western Ontario | Tiana.Gleason@bakermckenzie.com |
| Melina Kurk |
University of Ottawa |
Melina.Kurk@bakermckenzie.com |
| Daniel McKeown |
University of Windsor |
Daniel.McKeown@bakermckenzie.com |
| Ezra Thevarasalingam |
Queen's University |
Ezra.Thevarasalingam@bakermckenzie.com |
Articling Students 2024-2025
| Name | Law School | Contact Information |
| Amy Bing | University of Ottawa | Amy.Bing@bakermckenzie.com |
| Daniel Dai | Dalhousie Law School | Daniel.Dai@bakermckenzie.com |
| Spencer Harrison | University of Ottawa | Spencer.Harrison@bakermckenzie.com |
| Andie Hoang | McGill University |
Andie.Hoang@bakermckenzie.com |
| Thanusa Sounthararajah | University of Ottawa | Thanusa.Sounthararajah@bakermckenzie.com |
| Keyonna Trojcak | Western University | Keyonna.Trojcak@bakermckenzie.com |
Meet Our Student Committee
| Name | Practice Area | Contact Information |
| Jennifer Bernardo | Employment & Compensation |
Jennifer.Bernardo@bakermckenzie.com |
| Justine Johnston | International Commercial |
Justine.Johnston@bakermckenzie.com |
| Mike Rubinger | IP Tech |
Mike.Rubinger@bakermckenzie.com |
| Haran Viswanathan | Transactional | Haran.Viswanathan@bakermckenzie.com |