SLAW – Allison Wolf: “As a coach, I am intensely interested in how we – professionals in the legal sector – can help retain young lawyers in the profession. The young lawyers I speak with have a healthy perspective. They have the types of strengths and interests that align well with a career in law. They are interested in building meaningful and rewarding careers that also leave room for a life outside of law. I believe they are vital to helping transform the practice of law for the better. And we need to retain them in the profession. Too many young lawyers are leaving legal practice, which isn’t news to anyone reading these words. Do a Google search, and you will find a list of articles from the past decade all pointing at the same stark picture. I frequently find myself on the front end of this crisis as I am contacted by young lawyers in distress, suffering from various forms of mistreatment by their law firms or the partners they work with. As Jordan Furlong referenced in his 2021 report to the Law Society of Alberta (citing a 2018 consultation paper by the Law Society of Ontario): some will experience a degree of “difficult or even damaging personal experience” during their articles, and I would add in their initial years of practice. Even for those young lawyers who land in better circumstances, the first years of practice are tough. Everything is new. New law school graduates don’t know anything about the actual practice of law and face a steep and challenging learning curve…”