About Baker Newby
Founded in 1937 and deeply rooted in the Fraser Valley, Baker Newby is one of the largest law firms in British Columbia outside Vancouver. Our 24-lawyer team delivers a complete range of business, dispute-resolution, and personal legal services from offices steps from the Chilliwack and Abbotsford Supreme Courts. Four of our partners hold the King’s Counsel designation – Cristen L. Gleeson K.C., W. Martin Finch K.C., David M. Renwick K.C., and W. Laurence Scott K.C. – with whom students work closely and receive mentorship.
Why Chose Baker Newby for Your Summer or Full Articles?
Real Work, Real Responsibility: We learn by doing. Students receive real files, real clients, and real court dates from the day they arrive.
- File Conduct: Take carriage of your own matters early: interview clients, draft pleadings, plan strategy, appear in chambers, and report outcomes directly.
- Courtroom Advocacy: Appear before the bench on chambers and Provincial Court matters within weeks, drafting and arguing your own applications.
- Transactional Depth: Work on complex, high-value deals that shape industries – cross-border financings, land-assembly projects, mid-market M&A, and restructurings that raise sophisticated legal and strategic issues.
- Broad Practice Exposure: Commercial litigation, corporate-commercial, real estate & land development, construction, family, estates & trusts, employment, privacy & data, Indigenous, criminal defence, insurance, personal injury, alternative dispute resolution, and more.
Mentorship & Training
Skilled lawyers create skilled lawyers: Close mentorship and practical teaching are always available.
- One-on-One Supervision: Every student has a dedicated principal plus open-door access to firm partners, associates, paralegals, legal assistants, and support staff.
- Baker Newby University Lunch and Learns: Partner-led workshops focusing on practical and substantive areas of legal practice, including such topics as cross-examination and evidence.
- Lawyers’ Lunches: Firm-wide lunches twice a month that encourage candid discussion, collegiality across seniority levels, and cross-practice collaboration.
Balanced Workload, Leading Compensation & Fraser-Valley Lifestyle
Great work should coexist with a great life.
- Competitive Pay: Articling student salary of $60,000 plus full health, dental, and disability benefits, two weeks’ vacation, and bar-course tuition.
- Lower Billable Expectations: Students do not have billable targets. Associates track targets well below downtown norms.
- Lifestyle Edge: Easy commutes, affordable housing, trailheads at your doorstep, and direct access to Vancouver when you want city culture.
- Community & Culture: Firm sports teams and volunteer initiatives keep work human.
Who We’re Looking For
We invite applications from law students at any Canadian law school who are:
- Entrepreneurial, ambitious, and driven;
- Ready to contribute to a team and grow within the firm; and
- Seek a long-term future in a sophisticated, rewarding practice in the Fraser Valley. Our hire-back philosophy means students are recruited to become associates and, ultimately, partners.
Students are expected to work in-person from our Chilliwack office throughout their articles and to have reliable vehicle transportation for court and client meetings across the Fraser Valley.
Application Process
Prepare your Application Package: Create a single PDF that contains:
- Cover letter
- Résumé
- Law school and undergraduate transcripts
Send us your Application Package: Email the PDF to careers@bakernewby.com or mail it to:
Attention: Student Committee
Baker Newby LLP
P.O. Box 390, 9259 Main Street
Chilliwack BC V2P 6K2
Applications are reviewed as they arrive and positions remain open until filled – early submission is encouraged.
Coffee Chat? Current students and junior associates are pleased to answer questions before you apply – request contacts via the same email (careers@bakernewby.com).
Frequently Asked Questions
We generally hire two to three students for any given articling year.
Law school grades are important in determining whether a candidate will be offered an interview. Work experience, life experience, interests, and law-related extracurricular activities also are factors that we consider in determining whether a candidate will be offered an interview. The most important factor, however, is the interview itself.
No. We hire students from any Canadian law school, however, during the student’s articles they are expected to live in either Chilliwack or Abbotsford.
We ask the most promising candidates for a second visit, usually to meet other lawyers who practice in an area which is of interest to the candidate.
This is flexible.
Principals act primarily as mentors rather than as sources of work.
Yes. Students have access to the secretary of the lawyer for whom they are performing specific tasks. As well, we have a word processing department to assist students/lawyers.
Students receive work directly from the lawyers.
Articling students are not expected to bill a particular number of hours. We look at recorded hours for students to determine if they are getting enough work and are learning how to properly manage files.
Yes. Students receive a salary which is competitive with salaries paid by other Fraser Valley law firms.
Students qualify for the employee benefits plan, which incorporates general health care coverage, prescription drug and dental insurance, and disability insurance. Students also are eligible for two weeks of holidays at a time mutually agreeable to the student and the firm.
Yes. Please contact us for the names and telephone numbers of our current students.
Baker Newby is committed to “growing from within.” Our approach is to hire students with a view to keeping them as associates. In the past few years we have made offers to all of our students.
The decision to offer a student an associate position at the end of the articling year is based on the student’s performance during the articling year and the growth required by Baker Newby.
Depending on how long the associate has been with Baker Newby LLP, associates are generally considered for partnership between their 6th to 10th years of call.