Lawyers
We’re always looking for talented and dedicated lawyers to join our firm. When we have specific positions available we will post them, however please feel free to submit your resume as we will retain your information in the event an opportunity presents itself.
Students
Philosophy
Guild Yule is dedicated to the development and success of law students. For many years, we have funded scholarships and bursaries at UBC and UVic. Among them are the Advocacy Scholarship at UVic and the prize in Ethics and Professionalism at UBC. In 2015, we introduced two new scholarships at TRU: The Guild Yule LLP Advocacy Prize and the Guild Yule LLP Outstanding First Year Moot Court Prize. Our lawyers have taught Insurance Law at UBC since the 1950s. Three of our partners hold appointments as an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Medicine at UBC (the latter teaching medical students law as it may apply to health care). We have a strong tradition of teaching, coaching moots, and judging mock trials. Several of our lawyers are or have acted as instructors in trial advocacy classes. We also write for and present at the Practical Legal Training Course, Continuing Legal Education courses, and the Inns of Court Program, and we contribute to the Law Society Practice Checklists Manual. We recognize that law students are the future of the profession. This understanding, and our dedication to the development and success of law students, carries over to our own articling program.
Our firm currently consists of lawyers and students with law degrees from the following universities: the University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, Thompson Rivers University, University of Calgary, University of Alberta, University of Saskatchewan, University of Toronto, University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, Dalhousie University, and the University of Canterbury.
Several of our lawyers clerked at various levels of court and many have advanced law degrees, including: The Honourable Lance Finch, Q.C., Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (UBC and TRU), William J. Sullivan, Q.C., Master of Comparative Law (Southern Methodist University), Mary Margaret Mackinnon, Master of Laws in International Comparative Law (Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge), Carla Forth, Q.C., Master of Laws in Health Law (Osgoode Hall), and Marie Willcock, Master of Laws in Jurisprudence and Legal Theory (University College London).
We have a proud history of lawyers who have been recognized for professional excellence and civic involvement, most notably the number of lawyers from our firm who have been appointed judges, including to the Supreme Court of Canada (Hon. Charles H. Locke, K.C.) and to Chief Justice of British Columbia (Hon. Lance Finch, Q.C.), and those who have been appointed Queen’s Counsel.
We look upon students we interview for articling positions as potential future partners in our practice.
With that in mind, we are looking for people who both we and our clients can work with, and who will feel comfortable working with us.
We are looking for people of integrity, people with a sense of balance and proportion, people who are open-minded and tolerant of others, but who can be tough when required.
We are looking for students with the skills and character we think are necessary to becoming effective counsel:
- superior analytical abilities;
- excellent communication skills – speaking, writing, and one which is too often overlooked, listening;
- the self-confidence necessary to advocate effectively on a client’s behalf;
- the patience and self-discipline needed to continue learning as part of a team.
If you think you fit the bill, we would like to meet you and talk about your future in the practice of law.
Principals
We offer articled students the opportunity to begin developing their professional skills in a stimulating and challenging environment.
Our firm is not highly structured. We have attained the high levels of expertise in particular fields necessary to meet the needs of our clients, but our tradition of collegiality and openness has led us away from organizing ourselves into discrete practice groups. Our articling student program is an extension of this philosophy.
Though our students do continue to learn law, we do not concentrate on supplementing the formal, substantive legal education they have already received, and we do not slot our students into a rotation through various practice areas. Rather, we aim to train our students in the practice of law, and the process of lawyering – applying their analytical skills to legal problems, while remaining focused on finding practical means of protecting and furthering our clients’ interests.
The Work Experience
Throughout the period of their articles, our students may be asked by any of our partners and associate lawyers for assistance on particular files. Work assignments may range from short, intensive projects – researching memoranda of law, drafting of pleadings and motion materials, preparing briefs of evidence and mediation briefs, interviewing witnesses, etc. – to daily involvement in the conduct of complex litigation, including attending at examinations for discovery, motions and trial. Having our students work closely with our lawyers ensures that each receives practical, effective training, while we are given the greatest opportunity to assess their abilities and performance.
The majority of work assigned to students involves general litigation matters. Students who demonstrate particular interest and aptitudes may be given the opportunity to work intensively on corporate/commercial matters or specialized areas of litigation.
Many of our lawyers are actively involved in providing pro bono services. Students who are interested in doing pro bono work are encouraged to do so by participating in clinics with lawyers at the firm.
Students at our firm can expect a private office. You will be treated as a member of the team and will be invited to the various social, networking, client development, and professional development events that occur throughout the year, including Vancouver Bar Association, Canadian Bar Association, and continuing legal education activities.
Salary and Benefits
Our salary structure is reviewed annually, and is commensurate with remuneration paid by other downtown Vancouver law firms. We also offer two weeks paid vacation – the maximum allowed by the Law Society – and an excellent package of dental and extended health benefits. In addition, every effort is made to provide students with their first choice of both start dates for the articling year, and dates for attendance at the ten-week Professional Legal Training Course.
The Hiring Process
Our hiring is done by lawyers with full-time litigation practices. We run a streamlined process focussed on ensuring we hire the best people for the positions that are available.
Regarding students:
- We conform to the articling guidelines and timelines set by the Vancouver Bar Association. This year’s timelines are as follows:
2024-25 Articling Student Recruitment
Application Deadline: Friday, June 28, 2024 at 11:59pm PT
Intention to Call E-Mails: Wednesday, July 10, 2024 at 8am PT to Thursday, July 11, 2024 at 8pm PT
Interview Call Day: Friday, July 12, 2024 at 8am PT
Interview Week: Monday, August 12 to Wednesday, August 16, 2024
2024 Summer Student Recruitment
Application Deadline: Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 11:59pm PT
Intention to Call E-Mails: Friday, September 27, 2024 at 8am PT to Wednesday, October 2, 2024 at 8pm PT
Interview Call Day: Thursday, October 2, 2024 at 8am PT
Interview Week: Monday, October 21 to Wednesday, October 23, 2024
We anticipate that we will also be participating in the Summer Student On-Campus Interviews with UBC Allard Law, the University of Victoria and Thompson Rivers University (TRU) scheduled in August 2024.
Please visit www.vancouverbar.ca for more information.
- Your application package should consist of a resume, law school and undergraduate transcripts, a list of upper-year courses, and a cover letter. Reference letters and writing samples are optional. In preparing your application package, bear in mind that we receive hundreds of applications each year. This is your first chance to emphasize the experiences, activities, employment, volunteering, and other aspects of your life that set you apart from your peers and to tell us why you are interested in a future at Guild Yule.
- Please do not think we are not interested in interviewing you because we did not arrange an on-campus interview.
- Please do not think we are not interested in interviewing you because we did not send you an email before interview call day advising of our intention to call you.
- If you are selected for an interview, we will spend a considerable amount of time finding out about you and how you might fit in with us. This might take place over more than one meeting. We will take that opportunity to show you around the firm, to introduce you to the lawyers and staff, and to answer whatever questions you need answering in order to make an informed decision about where you will begin your career. Accordingly, we do not offer firm tours, formal or informal, in advance of the interview process.
- We do not host breakfasts, dinners, wine and cheeses, or other similar events during interview week.
- During the interview week, a candidate will not be preferred merely because they interviewed on Monday instead of Tuesday. However, we like to keep Wednesday open for second interviews.
- We do not decide on offers until after 5:00 p.m. on the Wednesday of the interview week. Please do not construe any communication from us before offer call day as signalling an offer.
- If you do not secure a position after interview week has passed, please feel free to re-submit your application, either in that hiring cycle or in the cycle that follows.
- Thank you cards, notes, and calls from candidates are not necessary.
All applicants, be they summer students, articled students, or practicing lawyers, can feel free to submit their application by email to careers@guildyule.com. We try to respond to applications for lateral positions within two weeks.
For more information about Summer Articles, Articles and Lawyer recruitment at Guild Yule LLP please contact:
David J. Bell, Partner, Recruitment Committee Chair
By email: careers@guildyule.com
Guild Yule LLP
Barristers and Solicitors
Suite 2100 – 1075 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC
V6E 3C9
Telephone: 604-688-1221
Fax: 604-688-1315