Corporate Counsel Externship
A unique opportunity for future lawyers to bridge knowledge from the classroom to the boardroom.
Generously supported by Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP.
Calgary is one of Canada’s most dynamic business centres. Home to a diverse range of companies, from global energy giants to cutting-edge tech startups, UCalgary's Corporate Counsel Externship takes advantage of Calgary’s vibrant corporate backyard by placing law students into the legal departments of Calgary-based companies and other in-house environments. The program allows students to explore the dynamic role of corporate counsel in advising businesses on legal strategy, compliance, risk management, and corporate governance.
The Externship is ideal for students interested in general corporate commercial, transactional, administrative, regulatory, construction or energy law, as well as certain litigation or tribunal roles, though the exact fields offered will vary from semester to semester depending on the participating companies.
The Corporate Counsel Externship is open for upper year JD students who will be placed under a supervising lawyer in the legal department of a participating company for up to 12 hours per week over 9 weeks in a semester (108 hours total) for course credit.
The Corporate Counsel Externship is sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright
UCalgary Law program boosts students’ real-world experience
Are you curious about what it’s like to practice law inside a company? The Corporate Counsel Externship places law students in the fast-paced world of in-house legal practice and offers a glimpse of how legal strategy supports business success.
Past Corporate Participants
The Corporate Counsel Externship helped me be a better law student by enhancing my in-class learning, growing my professional network, and delivering unique perspectives of the daily reality of a contemporary lawyer.
Joel Palyga 2L, Fall 2024
Frequently Asked Questions
Kay Johnson is VP Legal at Flair Airlines and graduated from the University of Calgary Faculty of Law. Before transitioning in-house, she articled and practiced at Bennett Jones in Calgary for three years, then practiced at Baker McKenzie in London, UK for an additional three years.
Byron Tse is currently the general counsel at Passion Dental Group. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law. Before moving in-house, Byron articled at Export Development Canada, practiced at Norton Rose Fulbright in Ottawa for three years, and spent four years at Bennett Jones in Calgary.
The course instructors are there to ensure that both supervisors and students have a valuable experience during the Externship. For students, this is achieved through regular check-ins throughout the semester, which include two written reflections and verbal check-ins to confirm that their supervisors are providing appropriate work in terms of both quality and quantity. In addition, the instructors conduct check-ins with the supervisors via email and a final feedback survey, offering any necessary administrative support for participating companies.
Upper-year JD students at UCalgary Law must apply to the Externship through the clinical posting instructions at UCalgary Law . Successful applicants will be notified as soon as possible following the deadline for applications.
The Externship allows the supervisor to determine the appropriate balance of remote versus in-person work for the student. However, it is a teaching principle of the Externship that in-person interactions are valuable to the student’s educational experience. For this reason, the program is currently only accepting companies or supervisors with a presence in Calgary. Supervisors are expected to organize some in-person interactions, which could include a tour of the company’s operations (if applicable), working in the company’s office, or occasional in-person meetings or coffees with the student. The frequency of these in-person interactions is left to the discretion of the supervisor.
Students may (and are encouraged to) work with multiple lawyers, but one lawyer from each participating company will be designated as the supervisor. The supervising lawyer will be responsible for mentoring students, ensuring they receive appropriate and sufficient assignments, on-boarding and integrating students into the company, and will be the primary point of contact for the student. The course instructors will be available to assist supervising lawyers with any administrative support, as needed. Students will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis.
The supervising in-house lawyer:
- Must be qualified to practice in a jurisdiction of Canada, with a minimum of four years of legal work experience; and
- The lawyer will act as supervisor for the student, identifying tasks appropriate for the student, meeting with the student regularly to provide guidance and feedback, and providing feedback to program director to help evaluate student on a pass/fail basis.
Preference will be given to lawyers who are physically located in Calgary, however, the portion of student work done in office/virtually is at the discretion of the lawyer.
The student will be awarded 3 credits (equivalent to one course) upon successful completion of the Externship. The student will not and should not receive any monetary payment from the company or the Externship.
Tasks assigned to the student should broadly fit into one of the three following categories:
- Work that deepens the student’s knowledge in a substantive area of law;
- Work that gives the student an opportunity to interact with a business unit; and
- Work that exposes the student to how an in-house legal department runs.
Examples of such tasks could involve:
- Prepare and deliver training presentations to business units on relevant legal subject matters;
- Prepare research memo on relevant legal subject matters;
- Update template agreements;
- Review and update internal or external policies;
- Update contracts and precedents repositories; and/or
- Research legal technology solutions to enhance legal department efficiency.
The course instructors are happy to work with supervising lawyers to evaluate or brainstorm useful assignments based on the type of legal workflow.