Monard-D'Hulst | Stage in de advocatuur

Traineeship in the legal profession

Already as a law student, you decided to become a lawyer. Now that you are on the verge of graduation, or have already obtained your diploma, you want to get going. There is no better place than with Monard - D'Hulst to get your start. After you have taken the professional oath, you can embark on a three-year articling programme with us.

Getting a proper start ….

During the first year, you will be taking the BUBA programme, a professional training course organized by the Bar Association.

This programme teaches you practical skills and devotes attention to the composition of procedural documentation, contracts, and similar instruments. At the same time, you will work on your verbal fluency by practising plea exercises. Likewise, you will be following an internal training course with Monard - D'Hulst, consisting of intensive guidance, ‘coaching-on-the-job' , and training programmes and courses specifically designed for the purpose. During this initial ‘stage' with us, you will be able to lay a strong foundation for the future.

What other benefits can we offer you?

You will be actively participating in monthly study meetings, at which time legal journals are discussed briefly, as well as interesting cases handled by the firm.

Team work

Per practice group, publications are studied and matters and/or special items are being explained, providing a possible opportunity to engage in debate. You will participate in the practice group meetings per office and across the various locations.

Sector study

Experienced lawyers will discuss special topics with reference to their own approaches … precisely the kind of thing they did not teach you in the classroom …

Informal Discussion periods

We will offer support towards the realisation, if so desired, of a part-time academic career, and encourage you to engage in the publication of legal articles.

We will encourage you to engage in the publication of commercialised contributions in your own name, that is to say, newsletters that are being made available digitally to an interested target group, with the author's personal signature.

Profiling and own publications

As a trainee lawyer, you will be offered the opportunity to work on well-defined matters on an ongoing basis in order to provide you with insight into the strategic options of the partnership, the evolution, and the manner of realizing objectives.

Attention to the strategy and the development of the matters

Wherever possible, our associate partners will invite you to be present during all of the discussions. A trainee lawyer will have the opportunity to experience the legal problem at hand with a sense of personal involvement.

Personal client contact

The trainee lawyer is advised never to accept a problem at face value. You are likewise urged to obtain relevant information by resorting to penetrating and probing discussions and to amass research data that can constitute the basis for a more thorough approach to, and support for, the client's factual and legal position.

Inducement to assertiveness and critical examination

The trainee lawyer will be invited to collaborate in the preparation of texts for public speeches and addresses, slide presentations, and similar events, a contribution that will be acknowledged with a personal mention and, where feasible, an effective personal participation.

Participation in the preparation of public addresses, speeches, and seminars

Our legal practice comprises a combination of various niches and practice groups. You will be invited to decide, in keeping with a schedule and rhythm that you will establish for yourself, on specialisation in a specific niche. The possibility to compare the advantages of the various departments and legal areas is experienced as a refreshing and broadening exercise. At first, your articling programme will be of a general nature, but, as time passes, the field will be narrowed and you will participate in making your own choices.

Invitation to start in-depth specialisation and development

You will become acquainted with the strategies and the various types of approaches practised by several matter managers, depending on the relevant pratice group area. In effect, for most of the niches, there are a number of associates under whose guidance and direction the work can be performed. For the trainee lawyer, the challenge is to make the best of the opportunities offered to him or her.

Getting acquainted with various types of approach

A stay abroad with an associated practice, or in the Walloon region, can offer an important contribution to sharpening one's language proficiency.

Exchange opportunities

Ready access to well-functioning ICT systems makes life a lot more pleasant and easier for the trainee lawyer.

Modern work environment

All birthday occasions are celebrated in honour of the birthday ‘boy' or ‘girl'. Every Friday evening, we plan a get-together with a bite and refreshments. Fruit as a nourishing “snack” has acquired status as a permanent feature. We are mindful of the ancient aphorism “Mens sana in corpore sano”.

Easy-going work environment

It goes without saying that we maintain, for everybody's use, a very extensive and modern library, including legal databanks.

Legal libraries and databanks

In 2008, Monard-D'Hulst Hasselt was represented with 3 teams to contest the VOKA Chambers Trophy and won first and third prize out of 110 participating teams.

Representation and sports teams

In its mission statement, Monard-D'Hulst pays public tribute to the significant contributions of all of its staff. This collaboration, which we fully expect to continue into the future, ensures the firm's ongoing successes.

Mission statement

All stages of a matter are presented in a transparent manner to the trainee lawyer as of the initial client contact to and up to the final billing and financial follow-up.

Learning to operate independently

You will be assigned to one of our associate lawyers during the articling term. This associate will be an experienced lawyer with at least 10 years of actual practice in the field. He / she will assume final responsibility for your training programme. Moreover, your advisor is your permanent contact person – both for legal matters and for questions of any other nature. In the course of your articling term, you will be presented more and more with your own matters, i.e. matters for which you are expected to take responsibility. At least once a year, we will conduct a joint evaluation exercise.

Coaching