Davies: student program and recruit guide

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg is a business law firm best known for corporate and M&A work. It is the smallest of the Seven Sisters in Toronto, which shapes the student experience: smaller classes and more time with individual lawyers. Davies publishes less about its program than most firms, so this profile sticks to what is on the record.

At a glance

The student program

Davies' Toronto student page is short. It invites students to apply to the summer program, points to its current and incoming students as "your best source for information," and lists 3 to 4 one-on-one mentoring opportunities a month (Davies). It does not describe rotations or the structure of the summer or articling terms.

Davies' NALP Canada profile, last updated in late 2023, lists a resume, cover letter, post-secondary and law school transcripts, and a list of upper-year courses as the application package, submitted only through the viDesktop portal (NALP Canada). Because the firm publishes so little, talking to its students is the best way to learn how work is assigned. The firm says as much.

Hireback

In Precedent's 2026 Bay Street hireback ranking, Davies had 20 articling students, hired back 17, and had 0 opt-outs, for a hireback rate of 85% (Precedent). Precedent removes students who chose not to stay before it calculates the rate, so a lower number is not always a sign that the firm turned people away.

That is the lowest rate among the Seven Sisters in 2026, though still high by any measure. One year is a small sample in a class of twenty, so ask the firm how it thinks about hireback rather than reading too much into a single number.

Recruit dates for summer 2027

The Law Society of Ontario's procedures set the same dates for Davies and every other firm in the Toronto 2L recruit.

Use our free call day planner to rank your firms and book slots without clashes.

Pay

Davies does not publish its student or associate pay. The Globe and Mail reported in 2025 that first-year associates at top-tier Bay Street firms earn about $135,000 before bonuses, and that Davies would not comment on its raise (The Globe and Mail). For students, the median weekly pay at Toronto firms was $1,900 in NALP's 2025 Canadian survey (NALP). See our student salary guide and Bay Street salary scale.

Questions worth asking at Davies

Good questions show you read about the firm and want to know how the work really runs. These come straight from how the firm describes its own program:

• How is work assigned to summer students, and how do you find files in the areas you want?
• What do the monthly one-on-one mentoring sessions look like in practice?
• How does a smaller class change the summer and articling experience?

For more, read our guides to questions to ask law firms, in-firm interviews, and in-firm week etiquette.

Compare with the other Seven Sisters profiles: Blakes, Goodmans, McCarthy Tétrault, Osler, Stikeman Elliott, Torys, or see all seven side by side.

This profile uses the firm's own student pages and the public sources linked below. Lateral Law Report is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any firm. Programs change from year to year, so confirm details with the firm's student programs team before you rely on them.