Outside of the traditional article, students-at-law can choose composite articles to fulfil the articling requirement of becoming a lawyer in Alberta.

Composite articles are articles that are made up of a variety of practice settings that accumulate to fulfill the minimum articling requirement in Alberta. They can be an amalgamation of multiple short- or long-term articling positions.

Each time you change practice settings, you also change to a new principal. For example, you could have five practice settings, in five different practice areas, with a new principal in each setting.

Students-at-law considering composite articles should:

• Ensure the articles meet the education plan requirements.
• Ensure they have an agreement in place with each articling principal to ensure a common understanding of practice area(s), articling term start and end dates, expectations, salary and any other relevant items.
• Ensure an Application for Admission as a student-at-law is submitted. When moving from the first articling portion to each subsequent portion, a new Articling Agreement must be submitted to Membership through the Lawyer Portal at least 30-days prior to your commencement date.
• Ensure after each articling position, that your principal certifies the articles through their Lawyer Portal on the “My Students” page.
• Ensure Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education (CPLED)applications and fees are completed and submitted in accordance with the requirements of the Practice Readiness Education Program (PREP).

As a helpful resource for further information, read our article Rising to the Challenge about another student’s experience with composite articles.