How a student placement works
Nothing is arranged until your school approves the placement in writing. Here is each step, from your first enquiry to your school’s evaluation, what must be on file before your first day, and a planner for your hours.
- 240 hUsual paralegal field placementAs your program requires; 120 if it began before Sept 1, 2024
- $0Fee for a placementFor the student and the school
- 18+To use the online formUnder 18: school-board co-op only
The model in four points
Every placement at NEO works this way, whatever your program.
Your school approves it
A placement is part of your program, approved by your school in writing. Your school decides credit and evaluates you.
A licensed paralegal supervises you
A licensed paralegal in good standing supervises you directly and is responsible for your work.
Supervised support work only
Research, drafting for review and file work within the paralegal scope. No legal advice, and you represent no one.
Confidentiality first
Your confidentiality undertaking and conflict-of-interest declaration are signed before you see any client file.
Part 1: Before you start
From your enquiry to your first day. Either of us can decide not to go ahead at any point before you start.
You ask, and a person reads it
Tell us about your school, your program and the placement it needs in a short online enquiry. A person at NEO reads every one and replies by email, whatever the answer.
We contact your placement coordinator
If it looks like a fit, we talk with you and your placement coordinator or co-op teacher about the hours, the dates, your learning goals and your school’s forms.
Your school approves the placement in writing
We need your school’s written placement agreement or approval for this placement (for high school co-op, the school board’s Work Education Agreement). Your word alone is not enough, and nothing is arranged before we have it.
Workplace insurance, through your school
Your school confirms how workplace insurance is arranged for the placement, and we agree with your school the steps to follow if anyone is hurt.
Confidentiality and conflicts
You sign a confidentiality undertaking and a conflict-of-interest declaration, and we check for conflicts with the firm’s clients. You see no client file until both are signed.
Your supervisor, schedule and hours log
We name the licensed paralegal in good standing who will supervise you, to you and your school, agree a schedule that covers the hours your program requires, and set up a log of your hours.
Nothing starts until these are on file
Before your first day, we confirm each of these. A placement can’t begin while any one is missing, and the last line applies only to a student under 18.
- Your school has confirmed that this placement is part of your program, approved for credit.
- Your school’s written placement agreement or approval (for high school co-op, the school board’s Work Education Agreement).
- Workplace insurance confirmed through your school, and the injury-reporting steps agreed.
- Your signed confidentiality undertaking (co-signed by a parent or guardian for a student under 18).
- Your signed conflict-of-interest declaration, and our conflict check against the firm’s clients.
- A licensed paralegal in good standing named as your supervisor, your tasks set as supervised support work only, and the hours log and your school’s forms set up.
- For a student under 18: the placement is through the school board’s co-op program, and a parent or guardian contact is on file.
Part 2: During the placement
Supervised support work within the paralegal scope of practice.
Your supervised placement
You do supervised support work within the paralegal scope of practice. Your supervisor directs and reviews your work and is responsible for it. Students give no legal advice and represent no one.
What you do
- Legal research, and short memos on what you find, for the supervising paralegal.
- Drafting letters, forms and other documents for the paralegal to review and sign.
- Preparing court and tribunal forms, for example for Small Claims Court, the Landlord and Tenant Board or a provincial offences matter, for review.
- Observing client meetings when the client agrees, and observing hearings, and taking notes.
What you don’t do
- Give legal advice to a client or anyone else.
- Act as anyone’s legal representative, or use any title that suggests a Law Society licence. You are introduced as a student.
- Negotiate with another party without approval, or give or accept an undertaking.
- Sign anything other than routine correspondence, or send a document the paralegal has not reviewed.
Court and tribunal appearances
Only students in a Law Society of Ontario accredited paralegal program may ever make a limited appearance, at the supervising paralegal’s discretion, with express instructions and direct supervision, on a suitable matter where the court or tribunal allows it. You are identified as a “paralegal student”. It is never promised. Students in any other program observe only.
Your hours and check-ins
- Your hours go in the log as you work them, so the total can be checked against what your program requires.
- You check in regularly with your supervisor, who reviews your work and answers your questions.
- If your schedule needs to change, tell your supervisor and your school as early as you can.
If something changes
The placement ends if your school stops approving it or you leave the program. Any hours beyond what your school approves, or any work outside the placement, would be paid work, at not less than Ontario minimum wage.
Part 3: At the end
Your hours, your school’s forms, and what carries on afterwards.
Your school’s forms
At the end, your hours are confirmed against the log, and the supervising paralegal completes your school’s attendance and evaluation forms and sends them from the firm’s own email address.
- Your confidentiality undertaking continues after the placement ends: what you learned about our clients stays confidential.
- Your enquiry and placement records are kept as the form’s privacy notice says. See our Privacy Policy.
- We can’t promise a job or a reference. A reference letter is at the supervising paralegal’s discretion.
Hours planner
Roughly how long your placement could take. Pick the hours your program requires, your hours per day and your placement days.
As your program requires. For a Law Society of Ontario accredited paralegal program it is usually 240 hours, or 120 if your program began before September 1, 2024. Your school confirms the number.
The hours you would be at the placement on a typical day, for example 7 or 7.5.
To estimate a last day. If it isn’t one of your placement days, counting starts on the next one.
An estimate to discuss with your placement coordinator, not a schedule or a promise. Holidays, absences and your school’s calendar are not counted, and your school’s agreement governs. Nothing you enter here is sent to us.
Weeks needed at a few example schedules
Illustration only| Example schedule | Hours a week | Weeks for 240 hours | Weeks for 120 hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 days a week, 7 hours a day | 14 | 18 | 9 |
| 3 days a week, 7 hours a day | 21 | 12 | 6 |
| 5 days a week, 7 hours a day | 35 | 7 | 4 |
120 hours applies to accredited paralegal programs that began before September 1, 2024. Your program sets your hours.
Which page do you need?
- Ready to ask about a placement: the student enquiry.
- Your school’s paperwork, insurance and evaluation forms: for placement coordinators.
- The employment standards and Law Society rules, with sources: the rules.
- Not in a school-approved program: any work would be a paid role, at not less than Ontario minimum wage. Join the talent list through the student form by choosing “None of these”.
- Licensed paralegals: For Paralegals. Ontario lawyers: For Lawyers.
Questions about the placement itself
How many hours is a placement?
The hours are set by your school’s program, and we agree a schedule with you and your placement coordinator. For a Law Society of Ontario accredited paralegal program, the field placement is usually 240 hours (120 hours for students whose program started before September 1, 2024). Your school will confirm what applies to you. The hours planner gives a rough idea of the weeks it could take.
Is it in the office or remote?
We decide that with you and your school for each placement. Direct supervision and client confidentiality come first, so some or all of a placement may need to be at our office, Unit 236, 1099 Kingston Road, Pickering, ON L1V 1B5. Any remote part is by agreement.
Who supervises me?
A licensed paralegal in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario, named to you and your school before you start. They direct and review your work and are responsible for it. You can check any licensee on the Law Society directory.
Will I go to court or a tribunal?
You may observe hearings with your supervising paralegal. If you are in a Law Society of Ontario accredited paralegal program, the supervising paralegal may, at their discretion, with express instructions and direct supervision, let you make a limited appearance on a suitable matter (for example asking for an adjournment or setting a date), where the court or tribunal allows it. You would identify yourself as a “paralegal student”. This is never promised. Students in any other program, including high school, university and law school, do not appear for anyone.
What do I sign before I start?
A confidentiality undertaking and a conflict-of-interest declaration, and we run a conflict check. You will not see any client file until both are signed. Your school’s own placement agreement is signed too, before your first day.
Will you give me a reference?
We complete your school’s attendance and evaluation forms. Anything more, such as a reference letter, is at the supervising paralegal’s discretion and is not promised.
General information only, not legal or employment advice. NEO Legal Services Professional Corporation is a licensed paralegal firm regulated by the Law Society of Ontario, not a law firm. Each placement is arranged with the student’s school, and the school’s agreement governs it.
General information only
NEO Legal Services Professional Corporation is a licensed paralegal firm (Mo. Farooqui, Licensed Paralegal, LSO licence P21785), not a law firm. This page is general information, not legal or employment advice, and it is not an offer of a placement or a job. Each placement is arranged with your school, and your school’s agreement governs it. The hours planner and the table are arithmetic only. Sending an enquiry does not create a lawyer-client or paralegal-client relationship.
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