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Applying for an Exemption from the Experiential Training Program

Only candidates who meet the relevant eligibility requirements and are fully registered in the Lawyer Licensing Process may apply for an exemption from the experiential training program requirement.
 

Before submitting their application, candidates must review the relevant sections of the Licensing Process Policies and the guidelines contained on this webpage to ensure that they understand the criteria used to assess exemption requests.

Overview of the exemption application process

The general process for exemption applications is as follows:

  1. The candidate submits the exemption application and all of the candidate’s supporting documents.
  2. Third parties submit supporting documents.
  3. The Law Society reviews the application and supporting documents.
  4. As appropriate, the Law Society sends questions or requests for additional documentation to the candidate or the candidate’s referee(s).
  5. Once the application is submitted in full and the review process has commenced, the Law Society issues an invoice to the candidate for the application fee.
  6. The exemption application is subject to a detailed review. 
  7. A decision regarding the requested exemption is sent to the candidate. If a candidate is not eligible for an exemption, the candidate may submit a request for abridgement based on prior legal experience.

Eligibility requirements

Applicants must be fully registered in the Lawyer Licensing Process to proceed with this application.

A candidate is eligible to apply for an exemption from the experiential training program requirement where the candidate has

  1. been licensed to practise law in a common-law jurisdiction; and
  2. had at least 10 months of legal practice experience after being called to the bar in that common-law jurisdiction.

Candidates who do not meet these criteria should not apply for an exemption but may consider applying for an abridgement based on prior legal experience.

The following factors will be considered when evaluating a request for an exemption:

  1. the length, recency, nature, scope, and diversity of the candidate’s common-law practice experience; and
  2. the relevance of the common-law practice experience to the experiential training competencies and requirements for candidates established by the Law Society.

Candidates must currently be in good standing in the jurisdictions where they are licensed to practise law or must have chosen to relinquish their licence to practise law in those jurisdictions for reasons other than disciplinary/regulatory allegations or action.

Application requirements and supporting documents

To apply for an exemption from the experiential training requirement, the following documents are required:

  1. The Application for Exemption from the Experiential Training Program. 
  2. An original letter from the candidate, in the candidate’s own words, that sets out each of the candidate’s periods of common-law practice experience and a description of the associated practice setting. The letter must be in PDF or Word format. ​ The letter must describe the relevance of the candidate’s common-law practice experience to the skills, practices, and systems ordinarily experienced during an articling placement, make reference to the applicable experiential training competencies for candidates, and provide detailed examples of the candidate’s common-law practice experience.
  3. An original letter of reference from one or more lawyer or judge referees, sent directly from the referees to articling@lso.ca. The letter must be in PDF or Word format. Reference letters in support of exemption applications must be prepared in compliance with the relevant sections of the Licensing Process Policies and should
    1. explain how the candidate’s common-law practice experience is relevant to the experiential training competencies as set out on the Law Society’s website;
    2. provide at least two specific examples from the candidate’s common-law practice experience that reflect the candidate’s demonstration of one or more of the experiential training competencies;
    3. contain a high level of detail about (1) the nature of each specific experience being cited; (2) the legal or procedural complexity of each experience; (3) the candidate’s role, responsibilities, and accomplishments during each experience; and (4) the timeframe within which each experience was obtained (start and end dates); and
    4. indicate the specific dates between which the candidate obtained common-law practice experience under the referee’s observation.
  4. An original Certificate of Standing from the governing body of the legal profession of each common-law jurisdiction in which the candidate has been licensed to practise law. The certificate must be sent directly from that governing body to the Law Society. An electronic copy transmitted to articling@lso.ca is preferred, but the Law Society will also accept a certificate mailed to the attention of Licensing and Accreditation – Articling, Law Society of Ontario, 130 Queen St. W., Toronto, ON, M5H 2N6 (see below regarding translations).

Guidelines for preparing an application

  1. Any documents that are not in English or French must be translated by a translator certified by the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO). Candidates may wish to refer to ATIO’s Directory of Certified Translators on its website at www.atio.on.ca. The original Certificate of Standing must be sent by the governing body of that jurisdiction directly to a certified translator. The certified translator must then send both the original and translated copies of the Certificate of Standing directly to articling@lso.ca.
  1. Letters submitted by the candidate must be original and written in the candidate’s own words.
  1. A reference letter from an eligible referee must be original and written in a referee’s own words. Candidates must not provide templates or draft content to a referee, although they may provide a referee with factual information to remind the referee of the candidate’s experience. Candidates are encouraged to direct referees to the relevant provisions on this webpage and elsewhere on the Law Society’s website. Reference letters that simply confirm or duplicate the contents of a candidate’s letter will not be accepted. Reference letters must be sent directly from the referee to articling@lso.ca.
  1. Candidates must submit their exemption application form before submitting (and having third parties submit) the documents in support of their application. Documents submitted in support of an exemption are valid for a period of up to six months following the Law Society’s receipt. If a candidate has not ensured that a complete application has been submitted within six months, then the candidate must submit a new application with up-to-date documentation.
  1. Candidates should submit a complete exemption application at least 45 days prior to the date when they would prefer to receive a decision. Applications will not be considered complete and will not be reviewed until all required documents are received by the Law Society.
  1. Candidates must ensure that the name listed on all supporting documents is the same as the name associated with the candidate’s Law Society account.

Review process

Applications that do not comply with the applicable requirements or that are incomplete will not be reviewed. Applications will not be deemed complete until the Law Society receives all of the required documents relevant to the candidate’s application.

Exemptions are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Fees

Please see the Fees schedule found on the Fees and Forms page for the fee associated with this application.

Additional Resources

Lawyer Licensing Process Policies – Part 9 (Experiential Training Program)
Experiential Training Competencies 
 
Terms or Concepts Explained