Articling Program

Public service legal careers

The Government of Alberta is committed to a diverse and inclusive public service. Consider joining a team where diversity, inclusion and innovation are valued and supported.

The Ministry of Alberta Justice includes:

• the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) which conducts criminal prosecutions
• the Legal Services Division which provides government with legal and strategic services such as legal advice, managing risks, conducting civil litigation, and drafting legislation

Articling opportunities

We will hire up to 22 articling students and one court student for the 2023-2024 articling year. All articling positions have been filled for 2022-2023.

This unique program is an opportunity for you to gain comprehensive public service experience and considerable courtroom experience.

We offer 3 streams of articles:

• ACPS regional-focused positions
• combined ACPS and Legal Services positions
• Legal Services Division – Civil

Most positions will be in the Edmonton or ACPS regional offices. Articling positions in Calgary are limited to 3 to 4 positions.

ACPS regional-focused positions

These are the majority of our articling positions and are prosecutions-focused articles. These are opportunities to work in a smaller office, and offer significant courtroom and file experience. Students also gain experience with research and legal writing as a Crown prosecutor.

You will be placed in one of these 13 regional ACPS offices:

• Calgary Rural and Regional Response Office
• Edmonton Rural and Regional Response Office
• Fort McMurray
• Fort Saskatchewan
• Grande Prairie
• Hinton
• Lethbridge
• Medicine Hat
• Peace River
• Red Deer
• Slave Lake
• St. Paul
• Wetaskiwin

ACPS will also provide students with the opportunity to assist appellate counsel (remotely, from your regional office, for up to 4 weeks) with the drafting of memoranda for all levels of court. Where possible, ACPS will make best efforts to give students an opportunity to complete a portion of their articles with a Legal Services Division Team for a period of up to 4 weeks.

Combined ACPS and Legal Services positions

Up to 8 students and one court student will be placed in Edmonton or Calgary and will gain experience by working in ACPS (criminal law) and Legal Services (civil law) teams including:

• Prosecutions
• Criminal Appeals
• Civil Litigation
• Family and Surrogate Court Litigation
• an optional rotation through another team in Justice

Students can expect to:

• gain courtroom experience in all levels of court
• provide legal and related strategic advice and services which include:
  • writing legal opinions and memorandums of law
  • drafting documents

Legal Services Division – Civil

The Legal Services Division (LSD) is government’s trusted source for legal and related strategic advice. Students can expect to provide services that include writing legal opinions, drafting documents, preparing legislative proposals, and providing advice with respect to government policy and legislative proposals and projects.

Two students will be placed in LSD in Edmonton and will complete an article consisting of rotations through 4 of the following 13 teams:

• Advanced Education; Jobs, Economy and Northern Development
• Central Services
• Children's Services; Seniors, Community and Social Services
• Constitutional and Aboriginal Law
• Energy
• Environment
• Health
• Infrastructure and Transportation
• Justice
• Labour and Employment
• Labour and Immigration
• Legislative Counsel Office
• Municipal Affairs; Education; Service Alberta

Students will also complete one rotation through one of the following 3 litigation teams:

• Civil Litigation
• Family and Surrogate Court Litigation – Family Law
• Family and Surrogate Court Litigation – Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee

Mentorship and supervision

You will benefit from mentorship and supervision provided by:

• a primary principal
• surrogate principals in each rotation – if in the combined article
• articling program coordinators

Future legal career

We have a solid history of retaining our articling students. Not only do you receive an excellent articling experience, we hire you with a view to long-term team building.

Our ministry has one of Canada’s biggest and most diverse law groups. Your opportunities for an exciting legal career with Justice are exceptional.

Bar admission requirements

We cover the cost of the Practice Readiness Education Program (PREP) and Law Society of Alberta fees for our students.

Our students can complete Accelerated PREP at the beginning of their articles or complete the PREP program throughout the articling year. We provide our students with time away from day-to-day articling responsibilities to complete PREP requirements

Apply

2023-2024 Student-at-law

• $51,894.64 per annum
• Closing date is May 24, 2022.
• Only individuals selected for interviews will be contacted.

We thank all candidates for their interest. However, we cannot confirm our office has received your application because of the large number of applications we get.

What to include

Articling applications must include all of the following information to be considered:

1. Academic transcripts for undergraduate or pre-law and law school grades
   • Unofficial transcripts are acceptable though photocopies of official transcripts may be requested.
   • For law schools outside of Canada, we strongly recommend you provide grade equivalency information from your academic institution.
   • Your application may not be considered if academic excellence cannot be assessed based on information you provide.
2. Cover letter
   • Maximum one page, no less than 12 pt. font.
   • Must describe your interest in articling with Justice.
   • Must state and rank your preferred work locations (regional, Edmonton or Calgary).
   • If applying for an ACPS regional office, you must state and rank the regional office location(s).
3. Resume

Interviews

• First interviews will be held June 6 and June 7, 2022.
• Second interviews will be held June 9 and June 10, 2022.
• Interviews will be conducted via video or telephone conference (in-person interviews will be held if COVID restrictions permit).

Candidates selected for interviews will be asked to rank, in order of preference, the office location(s) where they are prepared to work.

Final candidates will be asked to undergo a security screening.

Further information

Successful candidates will demonstrate:

• academic excellence
• superior advocacy skills
• eligibility to article in Alberta for the 2023-2024 articling year

Previous government experience is considered an asset.

All articling positions have been filled for the 2022-2023 articling year.

We do not recruit outside of the Alberta Law Society articling recruitment period.

The Government of Alberta is committed to a diverse public service workforce that reflects the qualities and differences of the broader population it serves. The Government of Alberta is equally committed to an inclusive workplace that welcomes, respects and values the diversity of employees and supports them to actively engage in the workplace and achieve their full potential.

Contact

Connect with the articling program:
Email: [email protected]