Much more than a clerkship program

While strong academic performance and outstanding communication skills are a given, we’re looking for so much more.

We want you to:

• have interests and experiences beyond your studies. We value the diversity of perspectives that this brings to our work
• be problem solvers, and solution orientated. That’s how we add real value to our clients
• be a team player and look for opportunities to collaborate. We’re better together
• use initiative and drive your own career. We’ll help you build the career you want through training, feedback and ongoing development
• believe in giving back. Our social justice focus is really important to us, and pro bono work is an important part of who we are.

Our undergraduate program begins in February of your penultimate year of studies. Positions are advertised on our careers page and on university job portals in July and August.

We review all applications carefully and organise phone interviews with applicants who are shortlisted. Following this, you meet one of our partners and a senior lawyer. Then it’s time to meet a current graduate or junior lawyer who undertook the program to find out what it’s really like!

We aim to make offers prior to the Christmas break, and successful applicants then let us know their practice group preference for the first rotation.

Our Undergraduate Program runs for your two final years of university. The Program enables you to complete rotations across our practice groups as well as in our Knowledge Centre. You’ll get real world experience of working in a large law firm as you move through each practice group.

By working in up to four different practice groups, you'll get hands-on legal experience across a broad range of contemporary legal practice which will help you start thinking about the areas of interest to you. 

We value feedback and it’s an important part of your development, so you’ll have regular feedback sessions as well as a formal review with Partners and the Head of our Knowledge Centre at the end of each rotation. The Program is flexible so you can manage your work and university commitments. You’re also able to increase your working days in semester breaks.

We ask for a minimum commitment from you of two days a week throughout the Program.

During the first year you’ll work one day a week, for the whole year, in our Knowledge Centre undertaking research across all of our practice groups. The second day will be working as a paralegal in one of our practice groups and you’ll have the opportunity to rotate through two practice groups, spending six months in each.

You’re able to let us know your preference of practice groups and, provided the groups have work for you, you’ll be allocated to them.

In your second year you’ll focus on the paralegal side, again rotating through two of our practice groups.

The application process for clerkships and graduate programs is daunting and time-consuming. We aim to help you avoid the process completely! 

After working with us for a year in the Undergraduate Program, we aim to make our graduate offers early in the second year. If you choose to join us, you don’t have to worry about applying for anything else.

Once you accept an offer to move into the Graduate Program, your undergraduate work continues until your graduate contract begins. We get that you might want a break before starting as a graduate and that’s completely fine too!

On occasion we recruit Graduates directly and usually look to hire in September each year. Any roles will be advertised on our ‘Apply Now’ page.

As a graduate you join us in mid-February. During the graduate year you’ll complete your practical legal training.  During your 12 months as a graduate you’ll complete two six-month rotations across two practice groups. Again, we seek your practice group preferences and do everything we can to place you in the groups you choose. As with the undergraduate program, you’ll receive regular reviews throughout the year.

It’s our hope that our graduates become first-year lawyers with us, and we make those offers in December of your graduate year.

Congratulations! If you’ve successfully completed the program and accepted an offer as a first-year lawyer, you’ve made it!