Civil Litigation Associate, Edmonton
A tort practice of your own, and the IPV claims coming out of our family files.
Kirker Law is looking for a civil litigation associate to start a tort practice at the firm, working alongside our family lawyers on claims for intimate partner violence.
Why we're hiring for this
The Supreme Court recognized the tort of intimate partner violence in Ahluwalia this year. Coercive control is in most of our family files, and a lot of those clients have a civil claim alongside the family one. We want them to have a lawyer who does that work properly, not a family lawyer doing it on the side. None of us does tort work. That's the gap.
The work
Two parts. The first is the IPV claims that come out of our family files. The family lawyer screens them, stays on for the parenting and property side, and you take the tort. These cases are new territory for the Alberta courts and there isn't much to copy from, so you'd be working a lot of it out as you go.
The second is your own civil litigation practice, in whatever area you already do. Personal injury, employment, professional negligence, we don't have a preference. We'll market it the same way we market everything else the firm does, but you'll need to be able to run a consult, sign the client and keep the referral sources warm yourself. There isn't a senior litigator here to do that for you.
On mentorship
Since nobody at the firm practises tort law, the day to day guidance on civil litigation won't come from inside. We do know tort lawyers in Edmonton and Calgary who have said they'll take calls from whoever we hire, and we'll introduce you. What we can teach you is coercive control, as law and as evidence, and on that we know more than most firms in Alberta. You'd also have our paralegals, an office, and the firm's name on your letterhead.
What you need to have already
Enough civil litigation behind you that you've run files from the first meeting to the end and been in court without someone sitting beside you. Some understanding of coercive control, or a real willingness to learn it from us. And patience with people who are not at their best. Most of our clients are leaving someone who hurt them, and some of the tort clients will be reliving it with you.
The terms
We'll talk about compensation when we meet and we'll give you real numbers. No Saturdays unless you want them. In the office, in Edmonton.
How to apply
No cover letter. Send a CV and short answers to two questions:
- A civil file you'd handle differently now, and what you'd change.
- What you'd want to know about one of our family files before taking the IPV claim out of it.
Email akoch@kirkerlaw.ca with the subject line "Litigator, Edmonton." If there's nothing open when you write, we'll say so and keep your name.