Legal Services Articling Program

Supporting Legal Education

Articling at the Department of Justice

The Department of Justice supports the education of young lawyers in Nova Scotia.

The Legal Services Division of the Department does that in two ways:

  1. a summer work term for second-year law students, and
  2. an articling program for law graduates.

The Division has developed an articling program to provide learning and practical experience to law school graduates as they prepare to be admitted to the Bar. Articling is one of the last steps in the formal legal education process before the call to the Bar. The articling program addresses the various mandatory and discretionary requirements for admission to the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, including a term with the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service.

The Department of Justice pays the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society fees associated with articling.

How does it work?

Legal Services is hiring 2 summer students in 2024 with a subsequent offer of employment as articled clerks in 2025-2026 subject to satisfactory performance in the summer student position.

Successfully completing a summer work term with the Division can lead to an articling position with the Department once the students have graduated from a recognized law school and are eligible for articling in Nova Scotia.
Interviews are mainly conducted through the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie’s interview program in January.

More details on the articling program can be found here and an overview of the Legal Services Division can be found here.

Legal Services is hiring 2 summer students in 2024 with a subsequent offer of employment as articled clerks in 2025-2026 subject to satisfactory performance in the summer student position. See the job posting for details (PDF).

For more information, contact Debbie Brown, Chair of the Articling Committee, at Debbie Brown@novascotia.ca