Experiences will vary by firm, and there will certainly be multiple events to attend. Depending on the placement firm, the scholar may or may not be accompanied by other articling and/or summer students. They will also meet associates, some of whom will be very junior and others who will be ‘on the partner track’, usually somewhere between 7-10 years at the firm.
Scholars will generally find that there are regular coffees, breakfasts, lunches and dinners for lawyers and/or articling students, seasonal marketing drinks and events, and all-firm catch ups to which they are invited to attend.
You can meet other people outside of the scholarship by joining groups such as ‘Brits in Toronto’, where it is relatively easy to meet postgraduate students and young families who are there for a limited time or looking to meet new people.
Past scholars have said
“I must caveat my experience as I went during the pandemic, but even then Lenczner made a great effort to make things social. We had online pasta making classes and, when it was not possible to host a drinks cart in person, we were sent little parcels in the post. There was a Friday all-firm catch up, which I really enjoyed as you got to learn about all the highly interesting persons at the firm, and I also got the chance to do a presentation about my passion for food culture… I do feel that the firm really made an active effort to make the Fox Scholar feel as involved as possible.” -Fox Scholar
“At Stockwoods there are no articling students and the summer student only begins in May. The main social event is at ‘5-7s’ (Friday night drinks) with the associates and occasionally partners. There is usually a firm retreat and the Fox Scholar is traditionally invited to attend.”
-Fox Scholar
“There were often drinks parties, networking and bonding events to which I was invited. If I worked late, the firm would lay on dinner which was also a good way to meet people. Because I was at a big firm, emails would often go out offering free tickets in the firm’s corporate box to attend events that were not suitable for networking (I got to see Christina Aguilera from the best seats in the house!).”
-Fox Scholar
Toronto has a buzzing food scene. Previous scholar Shanzé Shah even wrote a blog about it (and there are some details and amazing photos of her travel after the scholarship too!): https://shanzeshah.wixsite.com/khana/post/canada-ah-canada