Reducing the Length of a Placement

Overview

The general process for an abridgement of the articling term based on prior legal experience is as follows:

1. The candidate submits the abridgement application and supporting documents.
2. Third parties submit supporting documents.
3. The Licensing and Accreditation Department reviews the application and supporting documents.
4. As appropriate, the Licensing and Accreditation Department sends questions or requests for additional documentation to the candidate.
5. Once the application is complete, as part of the review process, the Licensing and Accreditation Department issues an invoice to the candidate for the application fee.
6. The abridgement application is subject to a detailed review.
7. A decision regarding the requested abridgement is sent to the candidate. 

A candidate may apply for this abridgement if the candidate has

1. been licensed to practise law in another jurisdiction and practised as a lawyer in another jurisdiction,  or
2. had other legal experience obtained after completing a law degree.

The following factors will be considered when evaluating a request for an abridgement:

1. the length, recency, nature, scope, and diversity of the candidate’s legal experience, and
2. the relevance of the legal experience to the experiential training competencies and requirements for candidates established by the Law Society.

When evaluating a request for abridgement based on prior legal experience, the Director of Licensing and Accreditation will not consider experience obtained by the candidate before completing a program to obtain a Bachelor of Laws or a Juris Doctor degree from a law school (for clarity, this means that experience while enrolled in a program of a law school (including clinical education experience or full-time, part-time, or summer experience in a law firm or legal organization) is not considered prior legal experience).

Note: If the request for an abridgement of articles based on prior legal experience is based on being licensed to practise law in another jurisdiction, the candidate must currently be in good standing in that jurisdiction or must have chosen to relinquish the licence to practise law in that jurisdiction for reasons other than disciplinary allegations or action.
 

Fees

Please see the Fees schedule found on the Fees and Forms page.

Application Requirements

To apply for an abridgement based on prior legal experience, the following documents are required:

1. The Application for Articling Abridgement.
2. A letter from the candidate, written in the candidate’s own words, describing the period(s) of legal experience. Reference must be made to the experiential training competencies for candidates and provide specific examples of the applicable competencies.
3. An original letter of reference from one or more lawyer or judge referees who have direct knowledge of the candidate’s legal experience. The letter(s) must be written by the referee in the referee’s own words, verify the period of the candidate’s legal experience cited in the candidate’s letter, and provide specific examples of the applicable competencies. The letter(s) of reference must be sent directly from the referee to articling@lso.ca.
4. A letter from the candidate’s articling principal (only applicable if the candidate has begun articling). The letter from the principal or firm must include the start date of the articling placement and the amount of time off from articles the candidate has taken up to the date of request, including any vacation days, sick days, or study days.
5. Candidates must ensure that the name listed on all supporting documents is the same as the name associated with the candidate’s Law Society candidate account.
6. Where a candidate has been admitted to the bar(s) of a foreign jurisdiction, an original Certificate of Standing sent from the governing body of that jurisdiction directly to the Law Society’s articling staff. The Law Society will accept either a mailed physical copy of the Certificate of Standing or a Certificate of Standing emailed directly from the issuing jurisdiction (see below regarding translations).

 

Supporting documents submitted by the candidate and all referees must be their own original work. Candidates must not provide draft content to a referee, although they may provide a referee with factual information to remind the referee of the candidate’s experience. Candidates must not copy any content from any current or former candidate’s application or supporting documents.

Any documents that are not in English or French must be translated by an Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO) Certified Translator. Candidates may wish to refer to ATIO's Directory of Certified Translators on its website at www.atio.on.ca. The original Certificate of Standing must be sent by the governing body of that jurisdiction directly to a certified translator. The certified translator must send both the original and translated copies of the Certificate of Standing directly to articling staff.

Review Process

Applications that do not comply with the instructions or that are incomplete will not be reviewed. Applications will not be deemed complete until articling staff receive all of the required documents relevant to the candidate’s application.

If the abridgement application is not complete within six months, it will expire. The candidate may then be required to re-submit the supporting documentation.

Each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. The Law Society is unable to estimate the possible length of an abridgement until a full review has been completed.