Students

Our History

Dolden Wallace Folick LLP was founded in 1994 with the vision of providing legal services solely to insurers. We continue to maintain that vision today. Our firm has grown from a boutique firm of 4 lawyers in downtown Vancouver to a national firm with five offices across the country. We are guided by our history of innovative and dynamic leadership, and we continue to grow to meet the needs of our clients. We are industry leaders, and we are proud of our tradition of excellence.

Our Culture

We are fundamentally a small firm on a national platform. Every member of our team is valued and appreciated for their work, and every member of our team is a contributor to our success. We pride ourselves on our flexible and innovative approach to practice, and we view our students as our future partners.

Our firm is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We strive to attract, retain and promote lawyers and staff and students who are the best at what they do and who reflect the diversity of the communities where we live and work, particularly for those who have been historically excluded from, and under-represented in, the practice of law.  We welcome and encourage your applications.

Our Areas of Practice:

• Cannabis;
• Civil sexual abuse;
• Class action defence;
• Commercial general liability;
• Construction;
• Coverage;
• COVID-19;
• Cyber and privacy liability;
• Director’s and officer’s liability;
• Disciplinary and Regulatory;
• Employment practice liability;
• Environmental law;
• Excess and cross-border auto;
• Fiduciary liability;
• First Nations;
• Fraud;
• Hospitality – liquor liability, social and commercial host liability;
• Legal Expense Coverage;
• Life & Disability;
• Medical malpractice;
• Municipal liability;
• Policy Wording and Risk Management;
• Product liability;
• Professional liability;
• Property specialty;
• Regulatory and administrative liability;
• Sports and recreational liability; and
• Subrogation.

Additionally, we advise insurers on insurance policy wording and coverage. As new areas of practice emerge, we focus on developing and retaining talent who can service the needs of our clients in these new areas of practice.

Articling Experience

Our goal is to develop articling students who will be able to confidently enter the practice of law. For that reason, we ensure that our students are given work that challenges them and teaches them; that brings them into the “real world” practice of handling claims. Our students do not solely draft research memoranda or lists of documents; our students go to chambers, discoveries, mediations, and trial. Our students are our future, and we want to give them the skills they need to succeed.

Each of our students is paired with a principal and with an associate mentor, who will both provide practical support and mentorship. Additionally, we hold student-specific training seminars throughout the year, conducted by senior lawyers at the firm, to give our students a first-hand opportunity to learn from our top talent. 

Summer Student Experience

We look to build long-term relationships with our students and our summer student program is crafted with that goal in mind. We hope to give our students “real life” experience in a law firm: our students attend court, observe discoveries, and interact with our clients. Students can expect to participate in all areas of everyday legal practice, under the supervision and guidance of experienced counsel.

Tours & Events

Given Covid-19, we have not been able to provide prospective summer and articling students the chance to attend at our offices in person. However, we have hosted a number of virtual events with law schools across the country.

Once restrictions are lifted, we look forward to welcoming prospective students to our offices in Vancouver, Kelowna, Calgary and Toronto for “meet and greets” with members of our firm. We also look forward to returning to on-campus recruitment events at law schools across the country, to give prospective students an insight into the work we do, our firm culture and plans for the future.

Dolden has an “open door” policy in our offices, and that policy applies to prospective students too! If you would like to know more about our firm, or our articling program, please feel free to reach out to Student Committee Chairs Amelia Staunton and Chris Stribopoulos.

Mentoring & Development

All articled students work with a principal throughout their articles. The principal will be a partner or senior associate at the firm, who is responsible for ensuring students gain appropriate experience in a wide variety of tasks, while getting the guidance and support they need.

We also assign a mid-level or junior associate mentor to each student, to provide a further resource for students to receive guidance and support as needed, complete regular file reviews and “check ins”. In addition, our firm encourages an “open door” policy, so that students can feel comfortable seeking help and opportunities from all lawyers at the firm.

Throughout the articling period, students are invited to participate in various “in house” seminars – aimed specifically at students – on “hands on” topics such as practice management, effective client communication, and firm culture and diversity commitments. We also run monthly “libation and learn” seminars for associates, which articled students are encouraged to join, to discuss topics of interest in an informal, relaxed setting.

The Nitty-Gritty

Our firm is committed to recognizing future talent, and we compensate our articling students in accordance with that principle. We also offer a competitive benefits program, which includes extended health, dental, paid sick personal days and access to our Employee Assistance Program.