Summer Associate Program: New York

Overview

You are about to take an important step in your professional life.

In deciding where to begin your legal career, you will consider many firms, each with a distinct reputation and distinct values and approaches to the practice of law.

Torys LLP offers you the opportunity to work in the business center of the world – on major domestic, cross-border and international matters – in an environment that is informal and collegial. You will be able to grow and develop along with the firm, and to shape its direction. You will also have the chance to develop lasting relationships with your colleagues.

At Torys, we often work in teams consisting of attorneys from our New York and Toronto offices. As a summer associate at Torys, you will play an integral role on these teams and you will have the opportunity to

• get exposure to litigation matters and work on a variety of corporate matters, with small start-ups, medium-sized growing companies, and large global and established companies;
• work closely with the most experienced senior attorneys in the firm;
• enjoy a collegial environment in which the participation of junior attorneys in firm projects and client relationships is highly valued;
• get involved in pro bono matters, including a pro bono placement with a public interest organization for half the summer.

About Torys

Torys LLP is an international business law firm with more than 300 attorneys, and offices in New York and Toronto. We have a reputation for quality and creativity, and we are trusted legal advisers in complex transactions and major disputes. Our clients include many of the most prominent and prestigious Canadian and international corporations, as well as non-profit organizations, governments, Crown corporations and individuals.

We represent companies in a range of industries, including financial services, energy, life sciences, telecommunications, technology, manufacturing, consumer products and services. New and growing businesses trust us to guide them through their development. Businesses involved in disputes turn to Torys to develop and implement effective resolution strategies.

Dedication to professional excellence and outstanding client service is Torys' hallmark. Of equal importance is our commitment to maintaining a collegial working environment – one that brings together individuals with diverse educational backgrounds, personalities and styles in an atmosphere of friendship and team spirit.

Mutual respect is one of our core values and prevails in all relationships within and outside the firm: between partners, associates and students; between attorneys and administrative staff; and between every member of Torys and our clients. This is what you can expect from us, and it is what we will expect from you.

Our Student Program

In the early years of practice, you will learn where your interests and strengths lie and start to build client relationships.

We look for summer associates and attorneys who not only show the potential to develop excellent technical skills but also appreciate the importance of providing excellent service and forming close, long-term relationships. If this sounds like you, and if you would like to help us maintain and grow our business in this way, then you will thrive at Torys.

Torys believes in investing in its summer associates and full-time attorneys from the outset. For us, this investment takes many forms. Clearly, this begins with enabling you to form beneficial relationships with partners and senior associates while you continue your legal education. However, we understand that the little things also make a difference in the quality of your day-to-day work and life balance. From the first day, you will be provided with many extras, including a BlackBerry, gym membership and abundant social opportunities.

At Torys, you will play a key role very early in your career. You will work directly with partners and other senior attorneys in the firm. You will also deal directly with clients and with counterparties and their counsel. We encourage you to be a generalist within your practice area for the first few years and to develop an area of specialized knowledge and expertise gradually. Your professional development will be guided and enhanced by our continuing legal education programs, which are open to our summer associates, and supplemented with seminars offered exclusively to summer associates. Our goal is to turn each new associate into a skilled practitioner.

Our education and mentoring programs are intended to assist you in developing your skills. In this way, you will progress successfully from a junior associate, with a more supportive role, to a mid-level associate, with an active role in managing client relationships and delegating to others, and then to a senior associate responsible for running a deal or litigation matter.

Our Practice

Torys has expertise in the following ten broad areas of practice, and our pro bono work is integrated into each area:

• Corporate and Capital Markets
• Litigation and Dispute Resolution
• Restructuring and Insolvency
• Real Estate
• Infrastructure and Energy
• Tax
• Intellectual Property
• Pension and Employment
• Environmental, Health and Safety
• Technology and Communications

In all areas of practice, we treat each new client matter as unique, creating client teams with the collective skills best suited to meet each client’s particular needs. Increasingly, our client teams include our colleagues on both sides of the border. As a student, you will play an integral role on these teams.

Corporate and Capital Markets

Our Corporate and Capital Markets Practice includes

• Advisory and Governance
• Debt Finance and Lending
• Derivatives
• Equity
• Income Funds and REITs
• IPOs
• Leasing
• Managed Assets
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Private Equity
• Securities
• Structured Finance and Securitization
• Tax

As more of our Canada-based clients expand their operations abroad, so our work for them in both the United States and Canada continues to grow significantly. We are also frequently involved in international transactions in Mexico, Cuba and other Latin American countries, as well as in Europe and Asia.

As a student at Torys your exposure to a broad variety of corporate and capital markets matters will include attending client meetings where transactions are negotiated; helping to draft agreements and other commercial documents; preparing documents for public financings; conducting due diligence investigations; researching and writing legal memoranda; assisting in the preparation of legal opinions; and preparing for and participating in the closing of corporate and capital markets transactions.

Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Our Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice handles a wide variety of business litigation, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution matters, including many complex and high-profile cases. We are involved in litigation arising out of corporate restructurings, proxy fights, shareholder disputes, mergers and acquisitions, shareholder oppression claims and securities matters. We have a strong and rapidly growing Intellectual Property Litigation Practice, especially in the pharmaceuticals industry.

Other litigation matters we handle include

• Administrative and Regulatory
• Arbitration
• Broker/Dealer Litigation
• Class Actions
• Constitutional
• Construction
• Corporate and Securities Litigation
• Directors and Officers Liability
• Environmental, Health and Safety
• Government and Public Services
• International Trade and Investments
• Media and Defamation
• Pension and Employment Litigation
• Privacy
• Products Liability
• Restructuring and Insolvency Litigation
• Technology Litigation
• White Collar Crime

We are regularly involved in cross-border and other international litigation and arbitration. We also have one of the most active constitutional law practices in Canada.

During your litigation rotation, you will have the opportunity to participate in many aspects of the litigation process, including meeting with clients and opposing counsel; researching and assessing legal and factual issues; preparing legal opinions; developing litigation strategies; preparing pleadings and other court documents; interviewing witnesses; attending settlement negotiations and mediations; and preparing for and attending examinations for discovery, motions, trials, appeals and other hearings.

Restructuring and Insolvency

The attorneys in our Restructuring and Insolvency Practice have extensive experience in financial restructurings, reorganizations and workouts, receiverships, bankruptcies and security enforcements. They represent financial institutions, other lenders, creditors, borrowers, receivers and trustees in bankruptcy. These attorneys frequently act on major insolvencies, often in teams that include members of other practice areas in the firm. Increasingly, large corporate restructuring and insolvencies are cross-border transactions.

Tax

Our Tax attorneys provide advice on the tax implications of domestic and international transactions, both directly to clients and to other attorneys within our firm. We engage in sophisticated tax planning relating to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, leveraged buyouts, real estate and infrastructure, corporate finance transactions, and restructuring and insolvency matters. Our tax attorneys in both our New York and Toronto offices represent clients in matters regarding their investments, cross-border transactions and tax disputes. Our attorneys also assist clients with executive compensation plans.