Law Clerk

What law clerks make

Bay Street real estate, corporate and litigation clerks with 10 years in can pass $90,000. Small-town firms pay in the $40,000s.

Starting pay

Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver start higher. Legal assistant roles, which are more admin and less file work, start a few thousand lower than law clerk roles.

Senior pay

Corporate clerks who manage company filings, and real estate clerks who run closings end to end, are the best paid. Firms pay overtime during deal crunches.

What it costs to get there

Law clerk diploma (2 years)

$3,500 to $5,000 a year

Legal assistant certificate (1 year)

$3,500 to $5,000

Optional certification exams

A few hundred dollars

Licence

None needed

Roughly, all in

$3,500 to $10,400

Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel

The low end is a one year legal assistant or law clerk certificate at a public college. The high end is a two year law clerk diploma plus an optional certification exam afterwards. There is no licence to buy and no exam you are required to pass. Some firms hire people with general office experience and train them, which costs nothing at all, but it is far easier to get hired with the paper in hand.

Among the cheapest routes into an office career in law. Some firms hire people with any office experience and train them.

Benefits

• Health and dental at most firms

• Regular hours

  Most clerks work 9 to 5, which most lawyers do not.

• Paid overtime

  Unlike the lawyers, clerks are usually hourly or eligible for overtime.

• Pension in government and courts

  Court staff and government legal assistants join public pension plans.

The path

A short college program, a placement, then learn the firm's systems.

1. 1

   High school diploma

   Grade 12

   Any stream. English marks and typing speed matter.

2. 2

   College diploma

   1 to 2 years

   Law clerk (2 years) or legal administrative assistant (1 year). Litigation, real estate, corporate, family and wills procedures, plus legal software.

3. 3

   Placement

   4 to 8 weeks

   Most programs end with a few weeks in a law office. It is your first reference.

4. 4

   First job

   1 to 2 years

   Junior clerk or assistant. You learn one practice area and the firm's systems.

5. 5

   Optional certification

   1 to 3 years part-time

   In Ontario, the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario runs a voluntary certification. Some firms want it for senior roles.

High school courses that help

• English and writing

  You will draft letters and court forms every day.

• Keyboarding and business technology

  Speed and accuracy with documents are what firms hire for.

• Accounting

  Trust accounts, closing adjustments, invoices.

• Law

  Useful background, not required.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school

1 to 2

Admission

High school diploma. Most programs are not competitive.

Total tuition

$4,000 to $10,000

Paid while training?

No, but evening programs let you work

No licence, and two meanings of the title

Law clerk is not a regulated title in Canada. No exam is required and anyone can use the name. In Ontario it usually means a college-trained legal professional who prepares documents and manages files under a lawyer. In other provinces the same job is called a legal assistant or legal administrative assistant. Confusingly, law clerk is also the title of a lawyer who spends a year working for a judge after law school. That is a different job.

Specialties that pay more

• Corporate

  Incorporations, minute books, government filings. Large firms pay a premium.

• Real estate

  Running closings from title search to registration. Often the best paid clerks in small firms.

• Litigation

  Court filings, discovery, trial preparation. Busy but valuable.

• Estates

  Probate applications and estate accounting. Growing as the population ages.

Nice-to-haves

• Fast, accurate typing

  60 words a minute is a common expectation.

• Software skills

  Document management, closing platforms, electronic court filing, and in Ontario the electronic land registry.

• French

  An asset in Ottawa, Quebec and New Brunswick.

• A part-time job at a law office while in school

Side path: paralegal or lawyer

Many Ontario colleges let law clerk graduates bridge into a licensed paralegal diploma with credit for courses already taken. A few clerks go on to university and law school later. The years inside a firm make that an informed decision.

A typical day

Open the lawyer's email before they do. Draft a statement of claim from their notes, file it with the court online, diarize the deadline. Prepare closing documents for Friday, order a title search, chase a bank for a mortgage payout. Call a client to book a signing. Record your time. At a big firm you might do one of these all day; at a small one, all of them.

The honest trade-offs

Work life

Typical hours

37.5 to 40 a week, overtime at deal time

Remote work

Hybrid at many firms since 2020

Physical demand

Low

Unionized

Government and court staff, yes. Private firms, no.

Similar paths

• ParalegalIn Ontario, a licensed legal professional who argues in small claims court, traffic court and tribunals. Elsewhere, a support role.
• LawyerSeven years of school, a licensing year, then anything from legal aid to Bay Street.
• Accountant (CPA)The money behind every business. A degree, a national exam, and a designation that travels.

Ontario clerks have their own institute

The Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario has run a voluntary certification for decades. Senior clerks put the designation after their name, and some firms ask for it.

A closing can run on the clerk

In many Ontario real estate firms the law clerk does nearly the whole closing: title search, documents, funds. The lawyer reviews, signs and takes responsibility.

The other law clerks are lawyers

Judges' law clerks work one year for a judge after law school, researching and drafting. Clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada is one of the most competitive jobs in Canadian law.

Court clerks are a different job again

The clerk sitting below the judge in a courtroom is a court services employee who swears in witnesses and marks exhibits. Also no licence, also a government pension.