Legal Department - Articling Student Program

The United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada employs an in-house department of labour lawyers dedicated  to providing advice and advocacy for the union in all areas of law. The Legal Department forms part of the Canadian National Office, which is located in Toronto.

For over 20 years, the Legal Department has employed an articling student. The Articling Student Program continues to form an important part of the work of the Legal Department.

THE UNITED STEELWORKERS IN CANADA

The USW is an international trade union with some 280,000 members in Canada. The union’s members are employed in all sectors of the economy and in all jurisdictions in Canada.

The Steelworkers employs full-time Staff Representatives across the country to provide service and leadership to local unions.

THE CANADIAN NATIONAL OFFICE

The Canadian National Office (CNO) provides a wide range of services to staff and local unions: organizing, education, promotion of equity issues, research, communications, and legal services.

The CNO also includes the offices of the Steelworkers’ Humanity Fund (SHF). The SHF is based on negotiated penny-an-hour donations from participating local unions. These, together with funds from other sources, are dedicated to a program based on partnerships with agencies in developing countries on humanitarian aid and related development projects. The SHF also seeks to promote labour rights internationally by connecting with unions and human rights organizations in other countries.

Staff employed in the CNO report to the elected leader of the Steelworkers in Canada, Ken Neumann, the Canadian National Director.

Just as any other department in the Canadian National Office, the Legal Department is an integral part of the union.  Currently, the Legal Department consists of six lawyers and two support staff:

• The head of the Legal Department is Canadian Counsel for the Union, Paula Turtle. Paula completed her articles with the Legal Department and has practised in the Department since her call to the Bar in 1988.
• Robert Healey was called to the Bar in 1990 and joined the Legal Department in 1992.
• Mark Rowlinson was called to the Bar in 1994 and has practised in the Legal Department since then.
• Cathy Braker articled with the Legal Department and has remained with the Legal Department since she was called to the Bar in 1999.
• Shaheen Hirani articled with the Legal Department and was called to the Bar in 1998. She returned to the Department in 2002 after having worked as in-house counsel for two other unions.
• Rob Champagne articled with the Legal Department and has remained following his call to the Bar in 2002.
• Pat Armstrong has served as secretary in the Legal Department since 1987 and Marsha Stanley since 2000.

The Legal Department has included an articling student position for over 20 years.

All lawyers in the Legal Department are called to the Bar of Ontario. Because of the significant similarity in the structure of labour law and related law across the common law provinces, lawyers in the Legal Department routinely provide advice to staff and local unions, and attend before administrative tribunals, in all areas of the country.

Because legal services in Quebec generally require expertise in civil law and professional level  fluency in French, the Union’s District 5 (Quebec) maintains its own department of legal staff. District 5 Legal staff and the Legal Department of the CNO remain in contact regarding common issues and initiatives.

THE WORK OF THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT

The Legal Department is the union’s front line for responding to any legal issue that arises in the life of the union, including:

Advocacy Before Administrative Tribunals

• Ontario Labour Relations Board and other Provincial Labour Relations Tribunals
• Canada Industrial Relations Board
• Grievance Arbitration Boards
• Human Rights Tribunals across Canada
• Employment Standards Tribunals across Canada
• Employment Insurance Commission
• Financial Services Commission of Ontario
• Occupational Health and Safety Complaints/Refusals
• Occupational Health and Safety Prosecution
• Workplace Safety and Insurance Board
• Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal

Collective Bargaining Negotiation

• Strategic and Legal Advice
• Drafting and Collective Agreement language
• First Contract Arbitration Applications

Trial and Appellate Advocacy

• Supreme Court of Canada
• Federal Court of Canada
• Ontario Superior Court of Justice
• Injunctions
• Judicial Review Applications

International Labour Rights

• National Administrative Offices
• The North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC)
• International Human Rights Agreements

Education Support for Steelworker Staff and Local Union Activists

• Preparation for grievance arbitration, including how to approach witness interviews, research, and negotiation of settlements
• Presentation of grievances, including how to conduct preliminary motions, direct examination, cross examination and argument
• Updates on new developments in legislation and jurisprudence with respect to labour relations statutes, employment standards, human rights, bankruptcy and insolvency, and picketing
• Training on legal issues faced by organizers and local union officers

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ISSUES

 The Steelworkers are on the forefront of the movement towards greater co-operation and co-ordination among trade unions across the globe.

Steelworker initiatives include exchange programs with “common employer” trade unions such as mining unions in Chile whose members are employed by multinational companies based in Canada.

The Legal Department played a key role in the preparation and presentation of the first complaint brought in Canada under the North American Agreement on Labour Co-operation (NAALC), the labour side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The role of the articling student

Just as the Legal Department is integral part of the union, the articling student is an integral part of the Legal Department.

• independent carriage of files
• preparation of materials for educational seminars and assisting in the delivery of seminars
• intake of inquiries and requests from servicing staff
• interviewing witnesses
• drafting opinion letters, pleadings, and other submissions
• formulating positions and drafting submissions on public policy matters such as law reform
• attendance with lawyers at mediations and hearings, particularly when the student has been involved in preparation
• depending on the student’s interests, attendance as counsel at mediations or hearings

Essentially, articling students participate in all of the work of the Legal Department, including direct contact with servicing staff and members.

The mentorship program

With six lawyers, the Legal Department is a relatively small and a necessarily close-knit group. Lawyers are not limited to particular areas of law nor to particular “clients” within the union but rather lawyers work co-operatively and routinely transfer or consult on files. The working environment is highly collegial and non-hierarchical. Students enjoy a true “open door” policy by which they can contact any of the lawyers at any time.

In addition, there is each year one lawyer assigned as the student’s mentor in order to ensure that the student has a point of first contact for general questions, for assistance with particular assignments, and to monitor the student’s workload for quantity and variety. As well, the mentor provides the student with ongoing feedback about their work and a more formal midterm evaluation.

Education of staff and local unions

The Legal Department regularly provides advice on issues arising from the administration of collective agreements. However, the Department does not routinely attend at grievance arbitrations. Rather, the Steelworkers have a long history of assigning staff representatives to prepare and present grievances at arbitration.

To that end, the Legal Department regularly presents educational seminars for staff and local union officers on a variety of subjects related to the filing, investigation, mediation and arbitration of grievances. Articling students assist in this work by updating and organizing seminar materials and by attending the seminars themselves.

Educational seminars by the Legal Department also involve legal issues beyond collective bargaining and grievance arbitration. Seminars topics regularly deal with human rights, bankruptcy and insolvency, and updates on leading cases and amendments to labour legislation.

Hireback and Career Opportunities

In choosing where to complete their articles, many students quite properly consider the possibility of employment as a lawyer.

Like all law offices which serve unions, including private firms, the Legal Department cannot guarantee that an articling student will be hired back as a lawyer.

However, the Legal Department has a long history of hiring lawyers from among former articling students. Currently, four of our six lawyers articled here.

As well, all students who articled for the Legal Department and who wished to pursue a career in union side labour law have been able to do so. The Legal Department has always made every effort to assist its former articling students in finding work.

Listed below are all of our articling students in recent years along with a summary of their careers after they articled with us. As you can see, a majority have been hired back to work with us. Virtually all of our students are practising union side labour law, most of them as in-house counsel to trade unions

1993-1994 – Elizabeth Traicus. Elizabeth practiced as in-house counsel to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and is currently in-house counsel to the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA).
1994-1995 – Heather Alden. Heather was hired back by the USW. She worked with us until she was hired by the Amalgamated Transit Union as inhouse counsel in 1998.
1995-1996 – David Doorey. Upon the completion of his articles, David moved to Vancouver and practiced with the Victory Square Law Firm, a leading union side labour firm in B.C. He returned to the USW in 1998 and practiced with us until 2001. He is now a professor at York University.
1996-1997 – Shaheen Hirani. After articling with us, Shaheen worked as inhouse counsel for the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), and the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA). She was hired back by the USW in 2002.
1997-1998 – Cathy Braker. Cathy was hired back upon the completion of her articles and has worked in the department ever since.
1998-1999 – Colleen Barrett. Colleen is working as a Policy Advisor for the Ontario Ministry of Labour.
1999 - 2000 – Travis Kearns. Immediately following his articles, Travis was hired by a union side labour law firm.  He is currently a Labour Relations Officer with the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
2000-2001 – Rob Champagne. Rob was hired back upon the completion of his articles and has worked in the department ever since.
2001-2002 – Carrie Barkley. After articling, Carrie opened a sole practice in the Kingston area.
2002-2003 – Laura Miller. Laura was hired back to work in the department on a contract from September 2003 to July 2004.  She is now working in the counsel’s office of the Ontario Office of the Worker Advisor.
2003-2004 - Daryl Seupersad.  After finishing his articles, Daryl also went to work at the counsel’s office of the Office of the Worker Advisor.
2004-2005 - Kirsten Agrell.  Kirsten worked in the Legal Department for a year while another lawyer took parental leave.  She now works for the Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union.

We are proud of all of our former students and their records of accomplishment. We encourage prospective students to get objective facts from all employers regarding hireback and career opportunities.

Wages and benefits

The Steelworkers provides articling students with a salary and benefits comparable or greater than at other union side law offices, as well as payment of the fees for the bar admission course.

More Information

If you would like more information, contact the Steelworkers’ Legal Department at  416/487-1571 or email

THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT

ADVICE AND ADVOCACY FOR THE UNION

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