Toronto-Wide Hireback Numbers

Since 2009, Precedent has tracked the number of articling students Toronto law firms have hired back as first-year associates — and called it the Hireback Watch.

In the interactive chart below, you can toggle between the past 14 years and sort the hireback data in each column. If you click on the name of a firm, you’ll see its numbers from over the years. See below the chart to find out how we calculate the data and how we have handled law-firm mergers over the years.

The 2022 Hireback Watch is now complete.

Scroll
Firm Articling
Students
Students
Hired Back
Number of
opt outs*
Start Date Notes
McLeish Orlando 2 1 0 August
Sherrard Kuzz 3 3 0 September
Hicks Morley 11 9 1 September
Blaney McMurtry 6 6 0 Flexible. On or before September 6.
Bereskin & Parr 8 6 1 September
Baker & McKenzie 7 6 1 September
Fogler, Rubinoff 6 4 1 September
Minden Gross 4 2 0 September
WeirFoulds 6 4 1 August or September
Lenczner Slaght 7 4 2 September
Norton Rose Fulbright 16 13 1 Varied
Torys 17 16 1 September
Beard Winter 4 3 1 September
Lerners 4 2 0 TBA
Wildeboer Dellelce 5 5 0 October
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg 16 14 1 September
McMillan 14 12 0 September 6. (Anticipated.)
Paliare Roland 4 2 1 TBD
Blake, Cassels & Graydon 34 28 5 September
Aird & Berlis 8 6 1 September
Miller Thomson 12 11 1 September
Goodmans 13 11 2 September
Gowling WLG 15 15 0 September
Fasken 15 12 3 September
Cassels Brock & Blackwell 18 17 1 September
Gardiner Roberts 4 3 0 Varies
Bennett Jones 20 20 0 September
Department of Justice 14 14 0 Various dates in June.
Borden Ladner Gervais 24 23 1 September
Stikeman Elliott 18 17 1 September
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt 34 31 3 September
Dentons 9 7 2 September
McCarthy Tétrault 24 20 2 September
Torkin Manes 5 3 1 August to October
Polley Faith 4 4 0 September/October
Thornton Grout Finnigan 3 2 0 September
Glaholt Bowles 1 1 0 June
Goldblatt Partners 7 3 1 TBD
Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti 3 2 1 September
DLA Piper 6 4 1 September
Affleck Greene McMurtry 1 1 0 September
McCague Borlack 7 5 0 Staggered throughout the summer. All associates will start by September.
Loopstra Nixon 4 2 0 June and July
Kim Spencer McPhee 1 1 0 End of August
Gilbert’s LLP 2 1 0 June
Dickinson Wright 3 3 0 September
Teplitsky, Colson 2 1 0 TBD

*Students who opted out are included in the figures for total articling students

Notes on the data

  • Our data for each year before 2013 refers to the numbers for FMC, which merged with Dentons in March 2013.
  • Our data for each year before 2012 refers to Ogilvy Renault, which merged with Norton Rose in July 2011.
  • Our data for each year before 2016 refers to Gowling Lafleur Henderson, which merged with UK-based Wragge Lawrence Graham to form Gowling WLG in February 2016.
  • Our data for each year before 2015 refers to Davis LLP, which merged with DLA Piper in April 2015.