Assistant editor Jobs in Toronto, ON

We’re Hiring! Join By Lawyers as a Canadian Legal Content Editor

At By Lawyers, we create practical, trusted legal resources that help lawyers work more efficiently and confidently. We’re looking for a knowledgeable and detail-oriented legal professional to develop and maintain our Canadian practice guides, with a focus on Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.

In this role, you’ll combine legal research, editorial writing and practical legal expertise to keep our content current, develop new guides from the ground up, and turn complex legal developments into clear, actionable guidance for practitioners. You’ll also engage with lawyers and law firms to demonstrate our products, respond to feedback and help shape the resources they rely on every day.

Working closely with our publication and quality teams, as well as colleagues in Canada, Australia, the UK and New Zealand, you’ll play an important role in delivering high-quality legal content that makes a real difference to legal practice.

By Lawyers exclusively integrates with LEAP Legal Software. As such, you will be working closely with various LEAP Canada teams.

About By Lawyers

By Lawyers publishes practical legal guides for lawyers in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Each guide pairs a commentary written for practitioners with a full suite of precedents, delivered through a matter plan. Our content is written by lawyers, for lawyers.

Our Canadian guides cover Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta across real estate, family law, wills and estates, civil litigation, corporate law, and practice management, with the list growing. We are looking for a lawyer to take ownership of that content. A law clerk or paralegal with extensive experience will also be considered. This posting is based in our Toronto office for a new role being added to the Canadian team.

***Note this By Lawyers role will work out of our affiliated downtown Toronto office managed by LEAP Legal Software (Canada) Limited and the Canadian payroll and employment benefits will be managed by LEAP on behalf of By Lawyers. We work on a hybrid work model that requires a minimum of 3 days a week in office.

Key Responsibilities

As a Legal Editor, you are responsible for the accuracy, currency and usability of By Lawyers guides. Key responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Keep the Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta guides current by monitoring legislative amendments, new case law, practice directions and form changes, and revising commentaries, precedents and matter plans as needed.
• Write new guides from the ground up: scope the matter type, draft the commentary and the precedent suite, and build the matter plan for publication.
• Research points of law and practice across our Canadian jurisdictions and turn them into clear, practical guidance that a busy practitioner can act on.
• Work to the By Lawyers house style and editorial process and take your work through review and publication with our publication and quality teams.
• Demonstrate By Lawyers products to lawyers and law firms, online and in person, as a credible subject matter expert.
• Respond to client questions and feedback.
• Collaborate with colleagues in Canada, Australia, the UK and New Zealand.

Requirements

• LL.B. or J.D. degree with active membership in good standing with a Canadian Law Society; Called to the Bar in Ontario or another Canadian common law jurisdiction; we will also consider experienced, licensed paralegals or law clerks in Ontario for this role
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience as a practising lawyer, OR 7 years' as a paralegal or law clerk, in one or more practice areas
• Must be currently legally eligible to work in Canada without sponsorship
• Excellent written and verbal English communication skills with the ability to write for practitioners rather than for a court or a client
• Strong organizational and project management abilities with a focus on quality and detail
• Strong legal research and analytical skills with good judgment to know when a source settles a question and when it does not
• Strong presentation skills
• Proficiency with Microsoft Word (including styles, tracked changes and comments) and Outlook
• Attention to detail and the discipline to work steadily through a large volume of content without losing accuracy
• Independent, proactive and curious
• Highly accountable to effectively manage your own workload and meet publication deadlines

A Strong Asset, but Not Required:

• Experience working in more than one of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta jurisdictions
• Experience with or working knowledge of workflow tools e.g. Trello and Confluence
• Legal publishing, precedent drafting or knowledge management experience
• Familiarity with LEAP or other legal practice management software
• Comfortable using AI tools in a professional workflow

Application Requirements:

• Current resume
• A brief covering letter, no more than one page, on your practice background and why legal publishing appeals to you
• A writing sample of 500 to 1,000 words that explains a point of law or procedure to a practitioner. Something you have written for work is fine, with all client details removed.

Benefits

Why this role

• Your work is read and relied on every day by lawyers across Canada
• Broad exposure across areas of law and three provinces. You will learn more law here than in a single practice group
• The skills of a practising lawyer without the billable hour, court deadlines or client files
• A small, collegial team with real ownership of your portfolio
• Work/life balance – while there may be times that extended hours are required during peak period or projects, this is generally a ‘9-5’ role.

Why work at LEAP?

There are endless opportunities within our business to progress and grow your career and full training is provided so an aptitude and hunger to learn is essential. We offer:

• Competitive compensation with a base salary. The base salary band for this role ranges from: $80,000 CAD - $100,000 CAD annually. Salary will be based on level of experience.
• Excellent group insurance benefits
• RRSP with employer matching
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO), including starting at 4 weeks’ vacation, sick days, floater/personal days and volunteer days
• Hybrid working model at our beautiful and modern downtown Toronto office as well as work from home days
• Collaborative and inclusive work environment filled with learning and support

At By Lawyers we are committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible environment. We are dedicated to building a workforce that reflects the diversity of the community in which we live, including those with disabilities. By Lawyers is committed to providing accommodations in all parts of the hiring process. If you require accommodation, we will work with you to meet your needs