Our approach to professional development is to produce well-rounded counselors and advocates who possess a sound understanding of the complexities of the legal and commercial issues which affect financial institutions and the financial markets. Our approach relies upon 3 cornerstone principles:

Access to Clients, Regulators and Counterparties. We delegate substantial responsibility to our associates. From the very beginning, our associates work directly with clients, regulators and transactional counterparties on significant matters under the firm's close supervision. This direct contact enables our associates to learn about different facets of the financial services industry and the financial markets and to appreciate market norms. We believe that these benefits would not be possible if our associates were limited to receiving instructions from more senior lawyers.

Opportunities for Multi-Disciplinary Learning. We expect our associates to practise across a range of legal disciplines, including corporate law, securities law, banking law and general commercial law. We expect them to engage in their own legal research and to develop an understanding not only of prevailing market practices but also of the laws underlying these practices. We believe that this approach produces complete, well-rounded lawyers with breadth, sophistication and depth of knowledge of a wide variety of legal disciplines, the ability to think independently and creatively and the skills to identify and resolve legal issues in cutting edge work where market practices have yet to evolve or where market practices are not suitable.

Mentoring. We actively mentor our associates, guiding them in their development and instilling in them the confidence to approach legal problems. Each hire is the beginning of a process of continued communication.