Final Notes

Leo Cussen (Advertisement?)] Clerkship FAQs

When are the Clerkship Intakes?

Intakes for clerkships take place in either summer or winter and run for approximately three to four weeks. The actual dates will differ from firm to firm, however generally speaking the dates are as follows:

Summer 1 intake: November to December.

Summer 2 intake: January to February.

Winter intake: June to July.

It is important to also note that only a few firms facilitate a second summer intake of clerks, for the majority of the firms it is typically one summer and one winter intake.

Usually when the applicant gets through to the interview stage, the firm will ask the applicant what their preferences are regarding the different intakes the firm offers.

Which Intake is the Best?

The answer here is subjective, ultimately the aim of a clerkship is to make a good impression so as to be remembered and chosen for a graduate role. Consequently, whether you choose a summer or winter intake, you will be subject to the same standard of assessment. However, there are some practical differences that may be worth taking into account:

1. The first summer intake can be more fun and festive given that the firm typically engages in Christmas/ holiday festivities like Christmas parties and lunches, consequently you may have an easier time socialising with people at the firm during this time.

2. With the first summer intake, once it is finished, you ought to do little things throughout the year (up and until graduate applications) to remain remembered, for instance having regular coffees or catch-ups with the people of the firm.

3. Regarding the second summer intake, the firm will usually be less busy when it comes to work (compared with first summer intake and the winter intake), this is because a lot of the legal world goes into hibernation until late January. Further you will find that some partners and senior associates will be on holiday with family for some of the time in which you are clerking.

4. Some claim that the winter intake is more beneficial because it is prior to submission of graduate applications and therefore your impression is likely to be the most recent impression left on the firm.

5. People whom are fortunate enough to accept three clerkship offers, may want to place their favourite firm in the winter intake and in turn use the preceding two offers during the summer intakes as practices that will best prepare them for their final winter intake.

Ultimately, there is no best practice, both summer and winter intakes have their respective advantages and disadvantages.

Who Typically can Apply for a Clerkship?

Law firms and accounting firms typically prefer penultimate year students (students in their second last year of law school), this is because the clerkship for a lot of firms can be a good pre-requisite to the offering of graduate roles. Consequently, once you have finished your clerkship, it is desirable that the following year (2023) you are completing your last year and can therefore start a graduate role by 2024.

Is it Mandatory that you be in your Penultimate Year to Apply for a Clerkship?

Notwithstanding what was said above, it is not mandatory that you be in your penultimate year. It is not uncommon that applicants who have applied in one year, apply again for another year, this can be due to the fact that the individual was unsuccessful in the preceding year.

Typically, in the application process law firms will ask you whether you are in your penultimate year (and when you aim to graduate), hence law firms do expect that not all of their clerks will be in their penultimate year. However, most law firms will expect that if you are not in your penultimate year, you will certainly be in your final year (as opposed to being in your pre-penultimate year).

Is there an Optimal Time to have Submitted your Clerkship Application?

The short answer is no, all law firms will review and give equal weighting to all clerkship applications that are submitted within the required dates (outlined by the law firm). Hence, submitting your application in the first week of applications will not give you an advantage over the person who submits their application in the second week (and vice versa). Notwithstanding what has been said, it is generally unwise to submit your application in the last couple of days in which it is due, this is because you will not have enough time to prepare for last-minute problems that may arise such as the crashing of servers.

How Important is the Applicant’s WAM/GPA? Is there a Minimum WAM/GPA?

Different firms are going to place varying emphasis on the applicants WAM/GPA, hence it is difficult to make a blanket statement that pinpoints the degree to which the WAM/GPA is important for the clerkship process. The bad news is that the legal industry and in particular, the commercial legal industry is very competitive, therefore we would be lying to ourselves if we said that the WAM/GPA is not important. The good news is that the WAM/GPA is not the only factor that is looked at for the purposes of the clerkship application: in my own personal experience I know people with HD averages who had failed to secure a clerkship or at the very least, they struggled to get many interviews. This is because firms want to know that they are not hiring people that are one dimensional (that is, only good at academics), firms want to see that you are capable of juggling university with jobs (legal or other), volunteering and other extracurricular activities, above all, firms want to know they are hiring someone who is human. While firms will not accept applicants with a poor academic average, one cannot place a specific cut off point knowing that other variables are at play, like the firm’s psychometric/aptitude testing (if any) and the applicant’s other strengths that they can present in their application.

What does the Typical Clerkship Application Process Entail?

When applying for a clerkship, you will find the application process is broadly similar across all the firms, but this is subject to some small exceptions. The typical application process is outlined as follows:

Completing the actual application:

Most law firms (if not all) require you to submit a resume, a cover letter, an official transcript and personalised responses to questions that are designed to elaborate more about you, your achievements, strengths and knowledge of the firm.

Where the variations can occur is that some firms dispense with a cover letter and require you to instead submit responses to the questions asked. This is because the questions asked typically require responses that you would otherwise put in your cover letter. For HR, this method can be seen as a more efficient and effective method of discovering who you are as an applicant.

Completing the Psychometric/Aptitude Testing Process:

Once you have submitted your application and assuming you progress through to the next stage, some firms require you to undertake psychometric and aptitude testing.

However, some firms put the psychometric/aptitude testing component as apart of the first stage (in conjunction with the actual application).

Psychometric testing is a series of questions that are designed to capture your personality traits and overall emotional intelligence. While aptitude testing aims to measure one’s ability to recognise patterns, ability to work out numerical problems and one’s reading and writing acumen.

Interview Stage:

After completing the application and psychometric/aptitude stage, then the applicant will progress through to the interview stage. This stage typically takes the form of a face to face interview between the applicant with one or more representatives of the firm. The representatives of the firm may include HR, a senior associate or even a partner of the firm.

Some firms will have more than one interview stage and some firms employ the use of a one-way video interview platform. This type of interview is conducted on your computer, where you are asked questions and you video record your responses to those questions via the relevant computer program being used by that firm. These video interviews tend to be a prerequisite to a real face to face interview.

Lastly, the applicants that receive an interview are usually invited to a firm cocktail night, this presents an opportunity for the applicants’ (who are about to undertake an interview) to get to know the firm on a more personal level. They will be able to mingle with various partners, senior associates, associates and graduates of the firm. This is also an opportunity for the applicant to make a lasting impression on the firm prior to their interview.

Offer Day - October 19, 2022:

For the applicants that made it through every stage of the clerkship process, offer day is when the firms will inform the applicants of whether they received a clerkship offer. At 10am, firms will 2. promptly make first contact with the successful applicant via email. This email is followed up by a phone call from the partner, senior associate or HR representative that interviewed you. In accordance with the LIV guidelines, the applicant does not have to immediately accept or reject the offer, they may hold the offer for a minimum of 4 hours as the applicant would want to know whether they will receive offers from other firms (unless you hold more than 4 offers, in that case you cannot hold the offers for more than 2 hours). Also in accordance with the LIV guidelines, an applicant may accept a maximum of three clerkship offers, hence it is strongly advised that prior to offer day, you prioritise what offers you would accept.

The applicants who were not given an offer will be informed of this fact either by the end of offer day or sometime the following day.

This is typically done via email.

What if I do not get a Clerkship?

If you do not get a clerkship, the first thing to realise is that it is not the end of the world. A clerkship offer is not the requisite magical key that unlocks the door to a successful law career. Assuming that you want a commercial law career in one of those firms, there will always be other avenues that allow you to meet that dream. In light of this, you should be aware of the following alternative pathways that can be taken:

1. There is nothing wrong with applying for clerkships a second time, as explained above, law firms will accept applications from students in their last year, this is notwithstanding the fact that they have already applied the year before. It is recommended that if you try again, you should have an understanding as to your weakness in the application process, so that you can aim to rectify those weaknesses when you apply again.

2. Law firms do facilitate open market offers. These are graduate offers made to applicants in the open market, that is law students who have not completed a clerkship at that firm in the year prior to their graduate year. Not every law firm does this and it also may be subject to the demand for law graduates versus the supply of successful clerks. Hence, it is necessary to find out which law firms are offering an open market offer in that year.

3. To have a successful career in commercial law, you do not need to start in a top tier law firm, I would recommend trying your hand at a boutique commercial law firm or even at a government institution like ASIC or the ACCC. This is because once you look beyond your graduate year, law firms (especially top tier firms) do not necessarily look for the best transcript.

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