No long commutes, affordable housing, time for family and leisure activities, access to an abundance of recreational activities, and the ability to balance life and work.
Waterloo Region is the best of everything. It includes the Cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo as well as the Townships of NorthDumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich. It has two outstanding Universities in the City of Waterloo. In Waterloo Region you will find vibrant urban life as well as large farming communities and unspoiled, natural beauty. Waterloo Region has a large Mennonite community and, at the same time, is home to innovative institutions such as the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Waterloo Region is home to Oktoberfest, North America’s largest Bavarian festival, a world class symphony orchestra, the world’s largest maple syrup festival in Elmira, the Cambridge Highland games, the uptown Waterloo’s Busker Festival, the Wellesley Apple Butter festival, and many other exciting experiences. Waterloo Region is easily accessible by road, rail and air. Waterloo Region is a community rich in culture and diversity. With a population of approximately 535,000 and its location only an hour from Toronto, London and Hamilton, Waterloo Region has much to offer young lawyers and articling students.
The Waterloo Law Association is 519 members strong. It was first incorporated December 31, 1894 for the purpose of forming “a law library for the use of its members…and to promote the general interest of the profession and good feeling and harmony among its members.” The Waterloo Law Association continues to actively pursue these objectives.
The legal community in Waterloo Region is characterized by collegiality and support for each other. The Association’s Annual General Meeting takes place in April and is one of the best attended events of the year. Each year at the Annual General Meeting, the Association gives an award to one of its members (the Coulter A. Osborne Award) that best exhibits the characteristics of beneficence, integrity and comity. We have an annual opening of courts ceremony and social function that gives local lawyers an opportunity to speak with the local judges in a social setting. Our annual June golf tournament is extremely popular and the Association arranges for, and supports, many continuing legal education opportunities throughout the course of the year. Our Association is particularly supportive of young lawyers and articling students and we offer many opportunities for young lawyers and articling students to get together in both an educational and a social environment.
We truly hope that you consider articling, practicing and living in Waterloo Region.
Pamela L. Hebner
Waterloo Law Association President
Practicing HereLearn what being a lawyer here is all about
There is a great combination of sole practitioners, small firms (with a handful of lawyers) and medium sized firms with 10 to 30 lawyers practicing
in the Waterloo Region. And with a population of approximately 500,000 people, the residents of this region require a diverse range of legal services. Listed below are just some of the areas of law that are practiced here:
Commercial and Residential Real Estate
Wills and Estates
Family Law
Civil Litigation
Criminal Defense
Corporate (including transactional work for the purchase and sale of businesses)
Employment
Information Technology
Patents and Trademarks
The Region of Waterloo provides its lawyers with high quality, complex and
challenging legal work. As well, unlike some larger financial centres,
practicing in Waterloo Region often presents young lawyers with the ability
to have more direct client contact. It is common for young lawyers to have
carriage of a file and be the main legal contact in their first, second and
third years of practice.
For those of you who have an entrepreneurial spirit Waterloo Region
presents a great opportunity to develop your own legal practice. There are
several community organizations to get involved in, like the Chamber of
Commerce and Rotary where you can network and in turn assist you to develop
your client base.
Practicing in Waterloo Region is more than just providing legal services.
It is about getting involved in your community and giving back to your
fellow residents. No matter the needs of your client or the size of your
client be they an individual or a corporation - the practice of law in
Waterloo Region is rich and rewarding. There is great satisfaction among
the practicing bar that you can make a difference in the lives of those you
advise.
New Courthouse
We are excited about our new Waterloo Region courthouse that is presently under construction and is expected to open early 2013. Read more...
Courthouse Library
The Waterloo Law Association Law Library is located in the Superior Court of Justice building in downtown Kitchener just 2 blocks from the main street, 1 block from the Ontario Court of Justice, next door to the Ontario Provincial Offences courts and within walking distance of dozens of law firms and offices.
The library has two full time staff members on weekdays from 8:15 am to 5:00 pm. Evening and weekend access is arranged with library staff at the commencement of articles. One-on-one tours and orientation with the collection and electronic resources can be arranged at any time. The print collection consists of LSUC and OBA Continuing Education material, federal and provincial legislation, current loose leaf subscriptions in addition to a comprehensive selection of over 15,000 current and historical texts and law reports.
Students and lawyers are encouraged to take advantage of all the services offered through the law library. AdvoCat, the Law Society of Upper Canada’s online catalogue, can assist in helping you find the text you need to start your research. Through our Document Delivery Agreement, we are able to borrow any item from one of our member libraries and have it for you in most cases the next day. If you need an article in a scholarly journal that we don’t have, we can have it faxed or emailed to us usually the same day. If you are having trouble getting started on your research and need a jump- start, you can access AdvoCHAT directly from your own desktop and chat live online with a librarian who can help you with your question. These are just two of the current and sophisticated services of which you are encouraged to take advantage of.
Visit our website for more information on the Waterloo Law Association Law Library including useful links to many free legal resources available on the Internet www.waterloolaw.org.
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