Students
An internship in a dynamic & stimulating environment
An internship at PFD Lawyers
Are you looking for an internship in which you’ll be involved from day one? An internship in which you’ll quickly gain autonomy while having a team of professionals to guide you and help you progress?
Our team is ready to welcome you!
Submit your application
PFD Lawyers is part of the Entente de recrutement as part of the Course aux stages. Students wishing to be part of the PFD Lawyers team for the 2025 and 2026 articling year are invited to submit their cover letter, curriculum vitae and transcript via the viLawPortal between Friday, February 2, 2024 at 9 a.m. and Monday, February 5, 2024 at 5 p.m.
PFD Lawyers is a signatory to the 2023-2024 Course aux stages agreement. Click here to access our brochure to learn more about our dynamic articling environment.
Course aux stages calendar
FEBRUARY 2, 9AM - FEBRUARY 5, 5PM
Receipt of applications
FEBRUARY 2, 9AM - MARCH 11, 8AM
Evaluation of applications
No communication with students except calls to schedule interviews
FEBRUARY 21, 9AM - FEBRUARY 23, 5PM
Calls to schedule interviews
MARCH 11
Start of interviews
MARCH 22, 9AM
Presentation of internship offers
Desired qualities
Skill
From the very start of their career, trainees may be called upon to meet customers. They are also encouraged to build up their clientele over the years.
Rigor
Thoroughness, critical thinking and attention to detail are the qualities that distinguish lawyers from excellent lawyers. Students and articling students will quickly realize that details make a major difference in cases.
Initiative
A future lawyer who isn’t afraid to take the initiative and go for it will always be better served as the years go by in his or her career progresses.
Team spirit
Lawyers working in a medium-sized, multidisciplinary law firm are expected to be team players and to support each other. At PFD Lawyers, teamwork is an important value, and junior lawyers can count on the expertise and advice of senior lawyers.
“My internship at PFD Lawyers was the perfect opportunity to build a solid foundation for my legal career. During these few months, I had the opportunity to develop my knowledge in the area of law that really interests me.”
“During my clerkship at PFD, I had the opportunity to learn a lot about the day-to-day practice of civil litigation. I was involved in a wide variety of cases, in many cases from the initial consultation with the client to the execution of the judgment.”
“During my internship, I interacted with passionate, brilliant, dynamic and creative people. Above all, I met real people who understood that we can achieve much more through collegiality than through individuality. People who, in my opinion, have become much more than colleagues.”
“When I started my internship at PFD, I met a dynamic and stimulating team. The mandates I carried out were varied, interesting and enriching, but above all I joined a group of welcoming and fun people.”
Frequently asked questions
Internships at PFD Lawyers are not rotational. An articling student is therefore expected to work with several lawyers in different practice areas. It’s a great opportunity to discover the practice you’re interested in and work with almost every lawyer in the firm.
As a student or articling student, you’ll have the opportunity to do research, help prepare arguments, assist with conference preparation, attend lawyer-client meetings, make representations to the court and draft procedures or contracts. You may also have the opportunity to attend trials, closing sessions or out-of-court examinations.
The firm hires around 2 or 3 trainees a year.
Yes, future trainees are invited to join us the summer after their third year of undergraduate studies. This is a great opportunity for them to become familiar with private practice and to meet their new colleagues.
Normally, interns work at our Boisbriand or Saint-Jérôme offices. The location of the internship is determined by workload.
90% of articling students in recent years have been offered positions as lawyers. PFD Lawyers has an excellent retention rate for articling students, and it is important for us to be able to offer a position as a lawyer to our articling students who are interested in this position and who have successfully completed their articling period.
Yes, lawyers from our firm attend the Interfaculty Career Day in Montreal every year. We invite you to meet the lawyers and ask them any questions you may have about our firm and our articling program.
Yes, PFD Lawyers has decided to join the other major firms in Quebec and take part in the “Course aux stages” as part of the Entente de recrutement.
The entire process usually consists of two interviews. Successful candidates will first meet with a lawyer and a partner of the firm. This first interview is intended to be friendly. Its purpose is to learn about the candidate’s interests, expectations and motivations. Following this first interview, a shortlist is drawn up and the selected candidates are interviewed again by two or three partners of the firm. They then make the final selection of candidates to be offered an internship.