Quote:
Originally Posted by fotze
Lawyers and engineers seem to populate alot of this board.
What exactly is "an article"?
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It's like an apprenticeship for a would-be lawyer. There are different requirements for different provinces. In order to become a lawyer in Alberta you must:
1. Get a degree.
2. Get a law degree.
3. Article for 12 months.
4. Complete a course by the Canadian Centre for Legal Education (CPLED).
5. Get admitted to the Law Society of Alberta (bar call).
You can sometimes get away with not completing #1 if you can convince a law school to let you in. I've only met one guy who did that at the UofC. Your results may vary.
I always tell people articling is like being an apprentice (or a padawan if I'm talking to someone really nerdy). For 12 months you are a slave to your principal. He or she is responsible for ensuring you learn what it takes to be a lawyer. He or she is also responsible for making your life a living hell for the next year. Some principals and articles are better than others, no doubt.
There is no bar exam in Alberta anymore. For the last 4 years or so, Alberta (and some other provinces) use the CPLED program. It's basically distance education for lawyers. You go for 6 months or so doing assignments that range from essays and memos to actually drafting fake pleadings and submitting them online for grading by an anonymous unaccountable internet grader. There are also three sessions where you have to demonstrate competency in client interviewing, counseling and negotiations. You are video taped doing these things with another classmate (in the case of the negotiations) or a hired actor (in the case of interviewing and negotiating) and your grade is based on your performance on the tape. Assignments are pass/fail (though I understand now it's more like pass, fail, awesome). You must pass every assignment to pass the course and you have to wait to the end of the program to redo assignments. You can also ask for a regrade of your assignment but you have to pay a fee to do so. Fail too many assignments and you have to do the course over again.
By the time you get to the bar call stage, everything is probably a foregone conclusion. Your principal makes an application in court to have you admitted as a member of the Law Society. He or she will probably tell all kinds of embarrassing stories about you like the time you broke down and started crying in your office during articles because your principal was making your life a living hell. Then you swear an oath and go to a reception afterwards. In Alberta, you can get called to the bar in any of the three levels of court (Provincial Court, Court of Queen's Bench, Court of Appeal). You have to wear a barrister's gown but they frown upon you wearing a powdered wig. My robes and stuff cost over $1000. They've sat in a closet unused since. In other provinces, they call dozens or even hundreds of lawyers to the bar at the same time. In Alberta, we're one of the last provinces that does all this individually. It's just you and your principal up there.
Sorry you asked?