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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 17 years and sort the hireback data in each column. If you click on a specific firm, you’ll see its historical data. Below the chart, we’ve outlined how we calculate the hireback rate and how we have handled law-firm mergers over the years.
The 2025 Hireback Watch is now live. In the coming weeks, we’ll update the chart below as firms report their numbers. To make sure you stay in the know, follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to Precedent’s flagship newsletter.
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| Firm | Articling Students |
Students Hired Back |
Number of opt outs* |
Start Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crawley MacKewn Brush | 3 | 3 | 0 | September | |
| Lax O’Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb | 3 | 3 | 0 | June and September | |
| Dickinson Wright | 3 | 2 | 1 | September | |
| Sherrard Kuzz | 6 | 5 | 1 | September | |
| Bell Temple | 6 | 4 | 0 | June and July | |
| Blaney McMurtry | 6 | 6 | 0 | September | |
| Baker & McKenzie | 6 | 4 | 0 | September | |
| Lenczner Slaght | 6 | 6 | 0 | September | |
| Fogler, Rubinoff | 5 | 3 | 1 | September | |
| WeirFoulds | 6 | 4 | 0 | September | |
| Fasken | 20 | 14 | 0 | September | |
| Wildeboer Dellelce | 6 | 6 | 0 | February 2026 | |
| Torys | 25 | 22 | 0 | September | |
| Aird & Berlis | 12 | 8 | 1 | September | |
| Dentons | 11 | 8 | 0 | September | |
| Torkin Manes | 6 | 4 | 0 | September | |
| Goodmans | 11 | 11 | 0 | September | |
| Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg | 17 | 16 | 0 | September | |
| Miller Thomson | 13 | 11 | 0 | September | |
| Gowling WLG | 13 | 12 | 0 | September | |
| Lerners | 4 | 1 | 0 | TBD | |
| Paliare Roland | 4 | 2 | 1 | September | |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | 16 | 11 | 2 | September | |
| Cassels Brock & Blackwell | 24 | 17 | 0 | September | |
| Keyser Mason Ball | 2 | 2 | 0 | August | |
| McLeish Orlando | 3 | 2 | 1 | August | |
| Polley Faith | 1 | 1 | 0 | October | |
| Smart & Biggar | 11 | 6 | 3 | September | |
| DLA Piper | 8 | 7 | 0 | September |
*Students who opted out are included in the figures for total articling students
Notes on the data
- 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 2013 refers to the numbers for FMC, which merged with Dentons in March 2013.
- Our data for each year before 2015 refers to Davis LLP, which merged with DLA Piper in April 2015.
- 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.