It’s that time of year when my social media feed is filled with people celebrating exciting accomplishments. From finishing 1L of law school to being called to the bar as a fully-licensed lawyer, it’s a momentous occasion! While it’s been difficult to celebrate these important milestones over the past couple of years, it’s still important to celebrate. I wanted to share some gift ideas for law students and new lawyers that are practical, thoughtful and will be the perfect memento in any professional’s life.
Birks Bee Chic Baroque Pearl Silver Bracelet
If you’re looking for an elegant piece of jewelry that is well made, modern and versatile, the Birks Bee Chic Baroque Pearl Bracelet is perfect, and comes at an affordable price point. I love how the open design of this bracelet can be worn with a suit or casually with a blouse and jeans on the weekend. The freshwater pearls are perfectly sized, on a rhodium-plated silver cuff bracelet. I like that the bracelet is lightweight but still eye-catching. It’s a beautiful, modern piece that works excellent with a watch or worn on its own!
Maison Birks was founded in 1879 and now has 26 locations across Canada. They stock many high-end jewelry brands and timepieces, but their in-house collections have been offering quality, on-trend designs. The Bee Chic line is one of my favourites with competitive price points and minimalist designs! I have a couple items from this line that round up my professional jewelry collection, and I adore some of their bee motifs as well!
Gift Ideas for Lawyers: a Modern Briefcase
A practical bag you can lug around your laptop, files and lunch in is a must! During my articles, my Louis Vuitton Neverfull MM bag, which I purchased after graduating from law school, was a trusty companion that went with all my outfits and was lightweight and large enough to fit everything I needed.
Since then, I have transitioned into other laptop bags. My new favourite is the Senreve Maestra Bag in Mimisa Latte which has a dedicated laptop pouch, tons of compartments, and the straps even convert into a backpack! This is a wonderful feature when I have to carry a cart full of banker’s boxes to and from a hearing. You can save $50 off your Senreve purchase with my affiliate code, NATALIEAST50 shop my laptop bag here. If you’re still looking for gift ideas for law students, I also think this laptop bag is perfect for a student as it can work as a backpack for class or job interview bag as well! It’s an investment that will carry them through their legal career for sure.
The Perfect Pump from Sarah Flint
If you’re still stumped on a good gift idea, you can’t go wrong with a GORGEOUS pair of shoes that can be worn in court or at cocktail parties and events! The Sarah Flint Perfect Pump 85 is a lovely shoe, which features a wider toe box, thicker padding in the metatarsal area, heel padding and even arch support, so you can wear these during 12-16 hour days, no problem! I love the Sarah Flint Perfect Pump 85 in the navy suede, which work for any time of year and are a bit different than a basic black. You can score $50 off your first pair with my affiliate code, SARAHFLINT-BANATALIE.
Gift Ideas for Law Students
If the person is still in law school I highly recommend any of the following gift ideas, at any price point:
- An iPad Mini with a stand for displaying virtual textbooks and cases to streamline their mountains of reading!
- A Nespresso Coffee machine and some pods, or my favourite Origami Dripper cone from Cafune and a subscription to different coffee roasters.
- Gift cards to local coffee shops so that they can study outside of the library!
- Offering to purchase their first high-quality wool suit so they can dress the part for articling interviews and 2L recruitment. You can read more about what to wear to an articling interview here, but as a good starting point, I recommend investing in a wool suit from Sezane, Theory or Tiger of Sweden, which are definitely my top three favourite brands!
- An insulated metal coffee flask or water bottle is essential for long days in class (I remember being in class 25+ hours a week in 1L) and at the library. I love Swell bottles in a cute design, a Zojirushi mug for coffee and tea, or a Yeti mug for hot drinks too!
- The Holy Grail Hilighters. I can’t live without these BIC Grip hiliters. I shared IG stories about them all the time. They are truly well made, won’t bleed and the thin tip allows your law student to be able to highlight even the smallest fonts. I buy a big box so that I never run out, and they will come in handy during bar exam prep!
Gift Ideas for New Lawyers
After they finish their articling term and get called to the bar, it is such an exciting time! There are many options for gift ideas for lawyers, but I’ve rounded up some of my favourites below:
- Offering to subsidize or cover their robes. Even with the new call discount, spending $400-700 on robes (at least as they’re required in Canada) can be a huge investment! While many new calls now borrow or share robes, many young litigators need them for court appearances, so if your new lawyer is a litigator, this would be a top gift idea!
- A high quality watch in a timeless design, made of stainless steel or gold plated is a wonderful gift. Avoid trends and go with classic styles, so that the choice is more versatile.
- For women, a high quality pair of pumps can go a long way! One of my favourite styles is the “Renny” pump from La Canadienne. Another wonderful option is the Perfect Pump 85 from Sarah Flint – which I shared more about above. Remember to use my code, SARAHFLINT-BANATALIEAST to save $50 off.
- Many new lawyers neglect their health early on in their career (guilty!) a year-long membership to the Peloton App or class passes to a local Yoga or Spin studio is a wonderful way to encourage them to stay active and de-stress!
- In that same vein, many new lawyers have difficulty keeping up with a routine and cooking healthy meals at home. A subscription to an at-home meal kit or meal delivery service is a great way to keep them motivated – and free food is a wonderful gift idea!
- If the new lawyer is working from home, or building their own practice, offering to set up an ergonomic work station is a very practical and thoughtful gift. I wrote more about my work from home set up here, but a high-quality office chair, laptop stand, keyboard and mouse is vital!
When I was called to the bar, my boyfriend got me a very thoughtful gift – a silver pen, engraved with my name. I cherish this special present, and the thought behind the symbol. After graduating law school, Daniel bought me a strand of pearls while on vacation together in Spain. These are just a couple of gift ideas for law students and lawyers that can hold special meaning, and are timeless gifts that will follow me into my legal career.
Thank you to Birks for gifting me the beautiful bracelet featured in the post.
