Law co-op

You have the option of participating in your first work term after completing your first year of legal studies and after you’ve taken a mandatory co-op class to help you prepare for your work placement. The co-op class takes place during your first year and topics covered include the preparation of cover letters and résumés, researching employers, interview skills, professional responsibility, civil procedure, learning objectives and job skills. Completing a work term during the summer after your first year is optional, and some students wait until the fall or spring terms of their second year to participate in their first work term.

Students must complete at least two work terms in order to obtain the co-op designation.  Consecutive work terms or academic terms are only possible with permission. Check the law co-op website or visit our office (FRA room 140) in person for more information on scheduling.

You will be encouraged to complete work terms with different types of legal employers - such as, government, private law firms, and public interest organizations.  Some students complete more than two work terms, however, these are considered optional and students scheduled to complete a mandatory work term have priority when applying for posted co-op positions.

The Law Co-op program allows you to work in different areas of the legal profession before embarking on your career. We encourage you to apply for positions that best suit your interests and abilities, but you have an ideal opportunity to demonstrate your work flexibility and try several positions with various types of legal employers and in different geographic locations. We are available to help determine which positions would be appropriate for you.

If you are scheduled to begin a work term, you may apply for jobs that are posted on the UVic Learning in Motion website. When applying for jobs, you must follow the application instructions listed on each job description. We will forward your applications to employers, who then choose the applicants they wish to interview.

Job interviews will take place throughout the academic term before your work term and may take place on campus, at the employer’s office or by telephone. Employers will advise our office once they have selected the successful candidate and we will extend the job offer. You will typically have 24 hours to decide whether you will accept a job offer. All communication with employers is done by the staff of the law co-op office until a job offer has been extended and accepted.

You can also attempt to set up your own co-op placements after consulting with us. The placement cannot be with an existing co-op employer and it must be approved by the law co-op coordinator.

Read the Law Co-op student handbook for more details. We also suggest that you read the Co-op Regulations and Co-op Terms and Conditions documents.

You are evaluated on your written work and your work performance during a work term using an online competency based assessment framework. The Law Co-op coordinator will visit the workplace at the mid-point of your term to meet with you and your supervisor. The purpose of the workplace visit is to ensure that the work term is benefiting both the student and the employer, and to deal with any issues of concern. We are also available to speak to you at any point during the work term. When the workplace is outside of Victoria, these consultations may be conducted by phone, email or skype.

The employer and the law co-op coordinator will evaluate you at the end of the work term. You must submit a work-term report, which is a sample of a written piece of work that was completed while on the work term. You must also participate in individual and group debriefing sessions.

For more information about law co-op competency-based assessments, please refer to the Law Co-op section of UVic's Co-operative Education Program and Career Services website.