Job Overview
Droit Aequitas Law is seeking a thoughtful, organized, and client-centred Associate Lawyer to join our growing legal team.
This role is ideal for a lawyer who is interested in family law, child protection matters, property transactions, wills, and estates, and who wants to practise law within a collaborative, trauma-informed, neurodevelopmental, and neurosequentially informed service model.
At Droit Aequitas Law, we recognize that many clients seek legal support during some of the most stressful periods of their lives. Family conflict, court involvement, separation, child protection concerns, grief, housing transitions, and financial stress can all affect a person’s ability to communicate clearly, organize information, make decisions, and participate effectively in the legal process.
For that reason, our firm emphasizes a legal service model that is not only technically strong, but also relational, structured, compassionate, and developmentally responsive. The Associate Lawyer will play an important role in helping clients understand their legal circumstances, prepare for court, make informed decisions, and move through the legal process with clarity and support.
The primary focus of this role is legal analysis, court preparation, client meetings, supervision and review of drafted documents, court appearances, and legal oversight. While the Associate Lawyer may complete direct drafting and file work when appropriate, much of the role involves reviewing and supervising work prepared by Paralegals, Case Managers, and other members of the legal support team.
The successful candidate will work closely with the Principal Lawyer, Paralegals and Case Managers, legal assistants, and administrative staff to ensure files are moved forward in a timely, ethical, organized, and client-centred manner.
Key Responsibilities
The Associate Lawyer will be responsible for:
- Providing legal analysis, advice, and direction on assigned client files.
- Meeting with clients to gather instructions, review legal options, explain court processes, and help clients understand the next steps in their matter.
- Preparing clients and files for court appearances, judicial conferences, settlement conferences, hearings, negotiations, and other legal proceedings.
- Attending court proceedings and other legal appearances as required.
- Reviewing evidence, disclosure, client narratives, draft affidavits, pleadings, court forms, and supporting documentation to identify legal issues, strengths, risks, and gaps.
- Reviewing, revising, and approving legal documents prepared by Paralegals, Case Managers, or other members of the legal support team.
- Supervising the preparation of court documents, affidavits, pleadings, application materials, agreements, correspondence, and client-facing documents.
- Ensuring legal documents are accurate, complete, professionally drafted, and aligned with applicable legislation, court rules, client instructions, and firm standards.
- Conducting legal research using LexisNexis or other legal research tools to support court preparation, legal arguments, file strategy, and client advice.
- Supporting negotiation and resolution efforts by reviewing legal positions, assessing risk, and assisting with legal strategy.
- Providing clear direction to Paralegals and Case Managers regarding file priorities, document needs, deadlines, risk issues, and next steps.
- Helping the legal team structure client communication in a way that is clear, respectful, organized, and responsive to the client’s stress level and circumstances.
- Applying a trauma-informed, neurodevelopmental, and neurosequential lens to client interactions by recognizing that clients may require structure, repetition, plain language, emotional regulation, and relational support before they can meaningfully engage in legal reasoning and decision-making.
- Maintaining professional, respectful, and compassionate communication with clients, opposing counsel, court staff, Legal Aid New Brunswick, Social Development, and other involved parties.
- Ensuring files are properly documented and maintained in accordance with firm procedures, professional obligations, Legal Aid requirements, and Law Society of New Brunswick standards.
- Recording time, file activity, and billing information accurately and in a timely manner.
- Participating in file reviews, team meetings, supervision meetings, and quality improvement processes.
- Supporting a collaborative team environment where lawyers, Paralegals, Case Managers, and administrative staff work together to move files forward efficiently, ethically, and professionally.
Neurodevelopmental and Neurosequential Practice Lens
Droit Aequitas Law is part of a broader service ecosystem that values a neurodevelopmental and neurosequential understanding of people, systems, stress, and decision-making.
In practice, this means we recognize that clients involved in legal matters may be overwhelmed, dysregulated, frightened, angry, confused, avoidant, or unable to organize information in the way the legal system expects. Our role is not to provide therapy, but to deliver legal services in a way that is structured, relational, predictable, and respectful of how people function under stress.
The Associate Lawyer is expected to support this approach by:
- Communicating legal information in clear, practical, and accessible language.
- Helping clients understand the difference between emotional urgency and legal priority.
- Supporting clients to participate meaningfully in legal decision-making.
- Preparing clients for court in a way that reduces confusion and increases predictability.
- Recognizing when clients may need information broken into smaller steps.
- Working with the team to ensure clients receive consistent messages and clear next steps.
- Maintaining professional boundaries while still demonstrating compassion, patience, and respect.
- Understanding that strong legal advocacy includes helping clients become more organized, more prepared, and more able to engage with the legal process.
This lens is especially important in family law and child protection matters, where legal issues are often connected to stress, trauma, attachment, conflict, parenting, safety, and complex family systems.
Qualifications
The successful candidate will have:
- A Juris Doctor, Bachelor of Laws, or equivalent Canadian legal degree.
- Membership in good standing with the Law Society of New Brunswick, or eligibility to be called to the New Brunswick Bar.
- Strong legal analysis, research, writing, and drafting review skills.
- The ability to review legal documents carefully and provide clear, practical feedback to support staff.
- Strong understanding of professional responsibility, confidentiality, client communication, and ethical legal practice.
- Excellent organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple files, deadlines, and priorities.
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate clearly with clients, colleagues, opposing counsel, court staff, and community partners.
- Confidence preparing for and participating in court proceedings.
- Comfort working within a team-supported file model where Paralegals and Case Managers assist with drafting, file organization, client follow-up, and document preparation.
- Comfort using Microsoft 365, legal research platforms, and practice management software such as Clio or similar systems.
Assets
The following would be considered assets:
- Experience in family law, child protection, property law, wills, or estates.
- Experience with Legal Aid New Brunswick matters.
- Bilingualism in English and French.
- Experience appearing before the Court of King’s Bench of New Brunswick.
- Experience reviewing and supervising legal documents prepared by support staff.
- Experience working in a small or growing law firm environment.
- Experience working with clients experiencing high conflict, trauma, stress, grief, family instability, child protection involvement, or major life transitions.
- Interest in trauma-informed, neurodevelopmental, neurosequential, relational, or client-centred approaches to professional service delivery.
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate is practical, professional, and team-oriented. They understand that excellent legal service requires more than legal knowledge. It requires judgment, organization, responsiveness, compassion, and the ability to guide clients through stressful and complex circumstances.
This role would be well suited for a lawyer who enjoys the legal and strategic side of practice, including legal analysis, court preparation, client meetings, supervision of legal documents, and quality oversight. The successful candidate does not need to personally complete every task on a file, but they must be comfortable taking legal responsibility for the quality, accuracy, and direction of the work being completed.
The ideal candidate will also understand that many clients cannot engage in legal problem-solving until they feel heard, oriented, and clear on what is happening. They will be able to balance professionalism and compassion, structure and flexibility, legal boundaries and relational communication.
We are looking for someone who can work respectfully with clients and collaboratively with a legal support team while helping the firm deliver organized, responsive, and high-quality legal services.
What We Offer
Droit Aequitas Law offers:
- A collaborative and supportive legal team environment.
- A structured practice model supported by Paralegals, Case Managers, and administrative staff.
- Opportunities to focus on legal analysis, court preparation, client advice, and quality oversight.
- Exposure to meaningful family law, child protection, property, wills, and estates matters.
- Support from an experienced Principal Lawyer and growing legal team.
- A workplace culture focused on quality, responsiveness, respect, compassion, and client-centred service.
- The opportunity to be part of a firm that is building a distinctive legal service model grounded in professionalism, relational practice, and a neurodevelopmental understanding of people under stress.
Compensation
Compensation will be based on experience, qualifications, independence, and fit with the role. The firm uses a structured compensation approach that considers legal experience, quality of work, court readiness, file oversight, responsiveness, productivity, and contribution to the growth and stability of the firm.
Application
Interested candidates are invited to submit a resume and cover letter outlining their legal experience, practice interests, language skills, and why they are interested in joining Droit Aequitas Law.
Pay: $72,312.00-$150,312.00 per year
Work Location: In person
