Is law school a losing game in Canada? Who knows?
I imagine that many Canadian law students and law grads will be reading yesterday's New York Times article “Is Law School a Losing Game?” with some concern. While the job situation for new grads is definitely worse in the US, we've got a problem in Canada as well - at least in Ontario. Just how much of a problem? Who knows?
I tried to get a hold on the number of law graduates who couldn't find articling positions in Ontario a few years ago when the Law Society of Upper Canada was considering what to do with the articling requirement in Ontario (the options were: abolish it, keep it but tell students that there was no guarantee of articles, develop an alternative stream for those who can’t find articles, or consider other options).
Unfortunately I simply couldn't get an accurate number.
The Law Society of Upper Canada's 2008 Licensing and Accreditation Task Force Consultation Report estimated that in the past 6 years, approximately 55 to 75 candidates have failed to find articling positions in Ontario after entry into the Law Society’s licensing program.
The problem with this number is that it underestimates the number of unplaced students, likely significantly. The Consultation Report estimated the number of unplaced candidates based on the number of candidates registered in the Law Society’s bar licensing process. These figures do not include candidates from previous years who were still searching for positions, nor do they capture students who were unsuccessful in finding articling positions and as a result don’t bother to register for the bar licensing process. The licensing process is expensive and, not surprisingly, many students will not invest in the process (or simply cannot afford to) unless and until they know that they have an articling position.
A much more accurate assessment of the problem would be to study the rate of placement for all law school graduates (admittedly, it would tricky because many students who study out of province look for articles in Ontario). Unfortunately, when I tried to do an assessment, I ran into the same problem identified in the New York Times article. While schools conduct surveys into the placement of their students, there didn't appear to be set guidelines. As a result, even though some students couldn't be located, went to grad school because they couldn't find articles, or were working as temps, they could still possibly be considered as “placed” or having found employment – just not necessarily articles.
Why is it important to get accurate numbers? Based on actual registrations, the Consultation Report estimated a daunting deficit of 430 articling positions in Ontario in 2009 (assuming 1730 candidates and 1300 positions). However, if one included graduates who were looking but didn’t register for the Law Society bar licensing course that year, the number would clearly be higher.
Further study is clearly needed to understand the true magnitude of law students who can't find articles - and therefore can't practice law. Although, whatever the real number, it’s still a problem. In my next post, I’ll explain all the other reasons why articling just isn’t working and then propose a possible solution.
Note: Apologies for the lack of up-to-date numbers in Ontario and for other provinces. These numbers date from my 2008 submission to the Licensing and Accreditation Task Force. I’d be very interested in hearing about placement numbers for other provinces and more recent numbers for Ontario.
Comments
I'm covering these issues exclusively on my blog: www.lsffp.wordpress.com. The NYT article is great - and definitely applicable to the situation in Canada. Great article!
Thanks. You're make some really good points in your blog - especially about the impact of student debt on career choices (and the associated stress). It's really important that the concerns of your generation are heard.
"These figures do not include candidates from previous years who were still searching for positions, nor do they capture students who were unsuccessful in finding articling positions and as a result don’t bother to register for the bar licensing process. The licensing process is expensive and, not surprisingly, many students will not invest in the process (or simply cannot afford to) unless and until they know that they have an articling position."
As someone who still does not have an articling position and knows a number of others in the same situation or individuals who did not find a position till after most of our cohorts had, I can say that not one of us chose not to the write bar exam in the spring with everyone else. Also people register for the licensing process not right before the bar exams but around the December holidays in their third year. So I do not agree with your assessment about why the numbers from the law society might be misleading.
Interesting point. I've met a number of law grads who simply didn't bother to register (in fact I ended up hiring one to article with me). However, whatever the real numbers, I think it's clear that we have a problem.
I didn't register for licensing until after i had my articles lined up because of the cost. This is probably more common than we might think and is just one of the many reasons that we need a distinct monitoring body to track and share information.
A number of people have had the same experience. I agree on the need for more transparency.
I am a 2010 grad who has entered the process, and I can personally attest that three employers in Toronto have stated that they each received over 150 applications for a single articling position. These positions were posted in Feb, and March of this year. The last position received over 200 applications according to a member of their student committee. The situation in Ontario clearly has been underestimated if there are 200 or so applicants still fishing in Toronto come April.
The situation with overproduction of lawyers in Canada generally, and in Ontario in particular, is grossly underestimated by the law societies. They have a clear motive to do so as their revenues are proportional to the size of the bar and always increasing. The law society and the universities will always claim that we do not have enough lawyers. The undeniable truth is that we have overproduction of lawyers and have had this overproduction at least since 1983 - the earliest written argument brought by Ontario lawyers to the attention of the law society and available on the Internet. Tragically, the law society in Ontario will simply abolish the articles as a licensing requirement or substitute it with a community services of some sort. From there all other societies will abolish articles within 10 years at most.
Recent law graduate would be much better off by not getting in the "profession" at all, but they will soon find it out on their own. Ugly, despicable, stressful profession which rejects anyone with soul and decency. However, where does one go with a political "science" degree or a BA in English literature? Law school, of course.