articled clerk

An articled clerk, also known as an articling student, is an apprentice  in a professional firm in Commonwealth countries; generally the term arises in the accountancy and legal professions. The articled clerk signs a contract, known as "articles of clerkship", committing to a fixed period of employment. Wharton's Law Lexicon defines an articled clerk as "a pupil of a solicitor, who undertakes, by articles of clerkship, continuing covenants, mutually binding, to instruct him in the principles and practice of the profession". The contract is with a specific partner in the firm and not with the firm as a whole.