Sam Silver, a second-year law student at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, was near the end of a second visit to Mason & Klump LLP, a Bay Street law firm. He was meeting Chuck Clayton, director of professional development at the firm. Silver was mentally exhausted from the interview process that had consumed much of his life for the past three months, during which he had been seeking a position as a summer student at Bay Street firms. He had narrowed his selection to two leading national firms, Andrews, Mantle & Smithers LLP and Mason & Klump. On November 1 and 2, Silver had had interviews at six Bay Street firms, including his top two choices. Although he believed his first choice, Andrews, Mantle & Smithers, would offer him a position on November 3, when formal offers would be made, he was not certain that the firm would do so. As the meeting drew to a close, Clayton left the room for a minute, giving Silver a short time to decide if he should ask any more questions and to begin to reflect on the interview process.
