F I N A N C I A L S E R V I C E S

Our team is a specialist corporate advisory team that covers financial services law in Australia, sitting within the broader corporate team. We are fortunate to work on a wide variety of matters with our financial service clients including transactional work and advisory work (as well as supporting the disputes team as financial service experts). This varied experience means we are constantly learning new skills and enables us to become well-rounded lawyers that uniquely get to work with both front end and backend teams across the firm

We are a national team, integrated across Sydney and Melbourne. This means we work directly with lawyers in both states regardless of where we are physically based. Being part of a national practice has enabled me to form connections with colleagues across the HSF network, and travel to the Sydney office for work

In our team you will be exposed to a variety of different areas of financial service law including the full spectrum of regulated changes, enforcement, and compliance which includes: m&a

Transactions

reorganisations and restructuring anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing sanctions requirement to be licensed with ASIC and AUSTRAC conduct and disclosure obligations reporting obligations including breach reporting design and distribution obligations non-cash payment facilities including smart cards, digital wallets, payment tokens, credit cards, and electronic payment facilities regulations and advice regarding entering new financial service businesses and products into the Australian market derivative regulations

The clients we work with include big banks, investment banks, non-bank lenders, payment processing facilitators and fintech’s including crowd source funding businesses and buy-now-pay later businesses and crypto-currency platforms.

We have even worked currency providers in virtual worlds and NFTs!

Being part of a team with a specialist focus means you are able to develop a deep understanding of your clients and their businesses, as well as the broader industry. You become the person at the firm who is an expert in your area and are relied on to provide advice on very complex areas of law You are able to get involved in business development projects such as providing training to colleagues and clients, be part of the global fintech working group and financial services regulatory working group, and work with the digital law team to help clients with new and exciting projects and transactions. You also develop connections with clients early and may even get to go on a client secondment (like me!)

If you are interested in a team that works on varied and challenging matters, have an interest in banking and corporate law, and have an interest in new technologies and ways to access finance you should definitely consider doing a clerkship or rotation in our team.

A Graduate in Herbert Smith Freehills’ Employment, Industrial Relations and Safety (EIRS) practice is exposed to a range of work, experiences, colleagues and clients Having commenced as a Graduate with HSF in March 2022, EIRS is my second of three six month rotations.In those six months I have been involved in a wide range of matters, from advising clients on discrimination claims in VCAT, to unfair dismissal claims in the Fair Work Commission, to assisting with bargaining for new enterprise agreements and responding to safety non-compliance

HSF’s EIRS practice is national (which provides for ample opportunities to work with people across all Australian offices) and has three broad practice areas: general employment law, industrial relations and workplace health and safety.

General employment law – this is the area which focuses on providing both proactive and reactive advice across the full spectrum of advisory and litigious matters including the recruitment and dismissal of employees, unfair dismissal claims, general protections claims, contract and policy drafting, and so on

Industrial relations – Industrial relations encompasses all things enterprise bargaining, industrial action and disputes. The team advises on the full range of industrial relations matters with clients requesting assistance in drafting and negotiating enterprise agreements, which often requires the team to appear in the Fair Work Commission

Workplace health and safety - The workplace health and safety practice at HSF also balances advisory and litigious functions, with the team often helping to conduct investigations, assess compliance, provide safety briefings to companies, and represent clients in litigation at Tribunals, State and Federal Courts

Other HSF practice groups often call upon the EIRS team with discrete advice questions, collaborative work opportunities, or to assist with Corporate Due Diligence.

The two key things that have stood out to me as a Graduate are the diversity of the work and the level of responsibility we’re given Juniors work across all three EIRS practice areas and the type of work includes (but by no means is limited to) researching case law to answer a niche question of interpretation, drafting advice on a general employment query, preparing evidence, or attending witness interviews for a client in the lead to up an appearance in a Tribunal or Court.

The EIRS team also places great importance on business development. EIRS launched the ‘Inside IR’ podcast during my rotation, where each episode unpacks and considers the implications of a current or impending employment issue The team produces an annual ‘employment guide’ for clients and distributes an ever-changing summary of the government law reform agenda As Graduates, we were also tasked with closely monitoring legislative changes in relation to paid parental leave, antidiscrimination, secure jobs and better pay. Business development provides juniors with a good exposure to clients as the team works together to provide client updates on any developments of interest

The EIRS team is supportive, collaborative, and incredibly invested in their practice (not to mention a great group of people to work with).

Based in Melbourne and Sydney, the Australian Asset Management and Investment Funds team is comprised of 6 Partners - Jim Bulling, Daniel Knight, Kane Barnett, Ravi Jayemanne, Matthew Watts, and Lisa Lautier - as well as 6 lawyers, 1 graduate and 2 legal secretaries.

The team advises Australian and global investment managers and institutional investors, financial advisers, superannuation fund trustees and financial services entities on all aspects of investment management and financial services regulation and compliance Due to the global nature of the work the team works closely with its colleagues in a wide range of jurisdictions, such as the United States and Japan.

The team covers a broad area including:

Superannuation

FinTech Credit

Cryptocurrency

Investment funds management

Financial products

Anti-money laundering compliance

Bribery and corruption

The Asset Management and Investment Funds team works with a range of clients from Australian superannuation funds to start-up fintech companies As a result the work itself is varied and interesting. The team works collaboratively and junior lawyers, graduates and seasonal clerks are encouraged to get involved.

Due to the wide range of work that is done in the team there are differing levels of involvement for members of the team available, from working as part of a large team on a large investment to working closely with partners on regulatory queries for FinTech companies. The area is broad and diverse with a wide range of subject matter covered. As a result it is an exciting and cutting edge area with scope for junior lawyers to get excellent broad experience early in their career.

The different types of clients and different types of work mean that you will rarely do the same thing twice and will be exposed to different ways of working and different client requirements.

The following types of work may be done by seasonal clerks and graduates:

Participating in client meetings and teleconferences

Drafting emails and other short advices to clients

Reviewing fund documents relating to a client's investment

Writing blog posts for our Global Investment Law Watch blog

Writing articles for the firm website

Conducting legal research

Drafting financial disclosure documents and terms of use for financial products

Assisting in drafting agreements between different financial services entities and their service providers

This is not an area of law which is studied as a core unit at University. Most seasonal clerks and graduates come to our team without having a background in the area. Rather what is important is to have a desire to learn and an interest in the area.

Who knew Eminem was a graduate compensation lawyer thrown into the Supreme Court on day 1?!

If this sounds like a good time, then compensation is for you!

Compensation law is a fast-paced litigious team specialising in workers’ compensation claims. Our major clients are WorkSafe Victoria, the Transport Accident Commission and various self-insured clients.

Compensation lawyers young and old frequently appear in the Magistrates’ Court, County Court and Supreme Court of Victoria.

Each employer in Victoria is required to hold a policy of worker's compensation insurance. If an employee is injured at work, a claim is registered against the employer’s policy of insurance If that employee actually pulled a hammy playing footy on the weekend, then it's a different story

Statutory benefits

Worker’s compensation claims are governed by the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (Vic)

An injured worker is entitled to receive weekly payments, reasonable medical and like expenses (including rehabilitation services), and in some cases a lump sum payment for permanent impairment of body function, irrespective of how the incident occurred This is known as ‘no fault’ statutory entitlement

When a dispute arises, we are instructed to act on behalf of WorkSafe Victoria with respect to that dispute. Workers are often represented by firms such as Slater & Gordon and Maurice Blackburn.

Common law

An injured worker is also entitled to pursue common law damages in circumstances where there injury was caused by a tortious act of another party Often the employer's negligence is alleged to have been causative

In order to pursue common law damages, a worker must first establish that they have sustained a ‘serious injury’ which takes into account a range of factors known as the ‘narrative test’. If an injured worker has sustained a ‘serious injury’ they can initiate proceedings in either the County or Supreme Court Damages awards obtained by workers vary from $50,000 to in excess of $1 million

Why compensation law?

We deal with disputes about injuries arising in all industries imaginable Any given week may see our lawyers in the Supreme Court before a jury or visiting a small business in the regions. The evervarying circumstances of workplace incidents and injuries exposes us to interesting occupations and complex medical evidence. The injuries we deal with on a daily basis range from broken legs, fingers and toes to more complicated conditions including spinal injuries, pain syndromes and psychiatric injuries

Our daily life involves providing detailed advice to clients, appearing in Court, conferencing with employers and witnesses, and engaging with the workers’ legal advocates (both barristers and Solicitors)

Our role is to ensure the administration of the WorkCover scheme is fair and to ensure injured workers receive entitlements in a timely manner. The overarching purpose of the WorkCover scheme is to support workers with their recovery and return to work.

My name is Felicia and I am a lawyer in Maddocks’ Employment, Safety and People (ESP) team, which is where I settled after rotating through the team as a graduate During my graduate year, I also rotated through two other practice areas, Dispute Resolution and Litigation (DRL), and Construction and Projects.

Why employment law?

My interest in employment law was sparked after completing an employment law elective in my penultimate year of university. From the beginning of my ESP rotation, I was drawn to the dynamic and human centric nature of the work. The legislation is forever changing to keep up with community standards and respond to emerging issues.

What we do?

The ESP team at Maddocks services all three tiers of governments, as well as private sector enterprises The ESP team works on a range of employment aw matters from industrial law to workplace health and safety and privacy. One aspect which was highly enticing to me personally was the opportunity to work on both transactional (“front-end”) and dispute (back-end) matters. The work we do in the ESP team at Maddocks is incredibly rewarding. In my view there is nothing more satisfying than working with your colleagues to ensure clients receive the best practical advice which meets their respective needs

What a day in the employment team looks like

I feel incredibly grateful for the variety of opportunities which I have had access to so far in my career. As a junior lawyer in the Maddocks ESP team, I have had the opportunity to assist with meaningful work each and every day.

This has included working on a diverse range of tasks such as: workplace investigations; drafting practical and strategic advice to clients on discrimination matters; preparing court documents such as court books and pleadings; and regularly attending meetings with clients and legal counsel.

These experiences have enabled me to feel positively challenged and engaged. I am also fortunate to work alongside a number of the ESP Partners and Senior Associates who are leaders in the field and who are dedicated to facilitating the learning and development of juniors in the team, such as myself

Should you give the Maddocks ESP team a go?

Whether or not you have undertaken an employment law elective at university, I would highly recommend taking the opportunity to rotate through the Maddocks ESP team. Perhaps, I am slightly biased, but in my view the Maddocks ESP team has some of the most interesting, diverse and challenging matters!

Norton Rose Fulbright Australia (NRFA) has a well-developed pro bono practice, where all our lawyers are expected to undertake at least 40 hours of pro bono each year (pro-rated for part time staff) Last year, we exceeded this target, with an average of almost 59 hours per lawyer

But pro bono work means so much more to us than meeting targets. It enables us to make genuine and positive social impacts within our community, and build deeper relationships with clients and partners All lawyers at NRFA are encouraged and supported to become involved in pro bono work

Our pro bono strategy guides the work we take on. We consider new matters based on impact – we know the importance of pro bono resources being directed to the areas where they will achieve the best outcomes.

Our Pro Bono Strategy

Impact Pillars

Mental health and disability

International Human Rights, particularly projects that support refugees, reduce modern slavery, prevent financial abuse and promote human rights through sport

Environment and sustainability

Focus Themes

Benefit First Nations communities

Use strategic litigation to deliver wide reaching positive change

Embrace legal innovation and digital solutions to improve the efficiency and reach of Pro Bono services

The central Pro Bono team is the engine room of our pro bono practice. It sources and places pro bono work to the, roughly, 500 lawyers in the firm, develops our pro bono client base, and undertakes practice management Our team is also made up of highly qualified and skilled lawyers, which allows to take on our own pro bono matters

During the Graduate Program, you can elect to rotate through the Pro Bono team either internally within our central team, or externally on a secondment. Currently, we have an internal graduate in the Pro Bono team and four secondees on placement across Australia

In Melbourne, we have a graduate at the Human Rights Law Centre. In Sydney, we have two graduates on secondment at Anti-Slavery Australia and the Refugee Advice & Casework Service. In Brisbane, a graduate is working in the Family, Domestic violence and Elder Law Practice at Caxton Legal Centre

At NRFA, we understand the importance of partnering with community legal centres and not-forprofit organisations. It is through these strong relationships that we are able to provide our graduates with exciting secondment opportunities and our lawyers with high quality pro bono legal work In Melbourne, we have long-standing relationships with the Human Rights Law Centre, Refugee Legal and Justice Connect. We are always open to building new partnerships and welcome conversations with graduates and lawyers on their ideas within the context of our strategy. Secondment opportunities are not just limited to our graduates, with more senior lawyers able to undertake internal and external pro bono secondments For example, this year, we will be sending two lawyers on secondment to Fiji to work on climate change projects with Fiji-based not-for-profits

We give our graduates and lawyers opportunities to participate in clinic programs at several legal centres, such as Refugee Legal and the Immigration Advice and Rights Centre.

Settling in the Pro Bono team after completing your graduate rotations is also an option, with one of our graduates, Remy Michelson, recently joining our team permanently after completing an internal rotation. Remy commented to us, “For me, being able to settle in the Pro Bono team is another great example of how seriously the firm views pro bono legal work and providing young lawyers with career pathways that reflect their interests and goals ”

As a disputes Partner at Thomson Geer I have a unique practice – on the one hand I run commercial litigation in all of the superior and federal courts (across a full range of industries and subject matter); on the other hand I act as counsel and as arbitrator in international commercial arbitration.

The genesis of my practice was construction and project disputes. And it was informed by a short secondment with Clifford Chance in London at a time when London was already a major seat for international arbitration whereas Australia was only at the start of the arbitration journey.

Many of my friends at Clifford Chance worked in the arbitration group, already a standalone practice where the lawyers focussed solely on arbitration Litigation matters were run out of the litigation group Whilst I was placed in the litigation group, I became intrigued by the work of my arbitration colleagues.

When I returned to Melbourne, it was at a time when my clients were investing offshore. Within 12 months of my return I was conducting an ICC arbitration to resolve significant disputes for Australian entities who had supplied components for a 900 km pipeline in northern India. The tribunal included a presiding arbitrator in Paris (where we would go for our case management conferences) The contracts were governed by Swiss law and the seat of the arbitration was Lausanne

For four years a significant part of my practice was conducting this arbitration. I spent months at a time travelling, including visiting the clients' offshore offices in Delhi, interviewing witnesses in Singapore, Rome and London, attending case management conferences in Paris and working alongside local counsel in Geneva. I was also responsible for advising on strategy for parallel litigation in India, the Czech Republic and Italy and project managing the teams of experts and foreign counsel working in multiple jurisdictions The role culminated in two separate ten day hearings in a hotel on the shores of Lake Lausanne

By this time, I was hooked.

Arbitration is often referred to as alternative dispute resolution and bundled in with mediation and conciliation. It is quite different. Arbitration is essentially the determination of disputes through a private 'adjudicator'. It has some similarity to litigation, in that the tribunal decides the issues based on a form of pleadings (which often take a less formal form than statements of claim and defence), evidence (fact, expert and documentary) and legal submissions But there are also unique features:

First, the parties can choose their tribunal – this is particularly important in cross border disputes because contracts might be governed by different laws, documents might be in different languages and parties are likely to be culturally diverse.

Secondly, arbitration is private and confidential – this means that only the parties and the tribunal have the right to attend the arbitration hearings (although other persons might be permitted in particular circumstances) and the parties and the tribunal must keep information about the arbitration confidential

Thirdly, the tribunal, in consultation with the parties, can conduct the arbitration proceedings flexibly and in a manner which best suits the dispute, including deciding issues on the papers, requiring concurrent evidence (from both experts and fact witnesses) and conducting hearings at different locations around the world (or virtually as we have done over the past few years).

Fourthly, international arbitration practices tend to draw on elements of both common law and civil law legal systems. This means, for example, that discovery of documents (which is known as disclosure in international arbitration) is not a given – tribunals need persuasion that particular documents sought from another party are indeed relevant and should be produced

Finally, the award made in an international arbitration (known as a foreign arbitral award) can be recognised and enforced in over 180 countries around the world who have signed up to the New York Convention without the local court reviewing the merits (provided, in short, that the arbitration has been conducted in accordance with principles of procedural fairness and that the award is not contrary to public policy)

The key to international arbitration for parties is the arbitration agreement. An arbitration agreement is usually recorded in a clause in a transaction document. Parties are not, however, precluded from entering into a standalone arbitration agreement after a dispute arises An arbitration agreement can be short and sweet: the essential elements are an agreement to refer disputes to arbitration, the language of the arbitration and the seat of the arbitration. The seat (which is usually a city) dictates the procedural law which will govern the arbitration. For example, if the seat is Singapore, then the procedural law will be Singaporean law. This does not impact on or supplant the governing law of the parties' contract; the tribunal will apply the law chosen by the parties and either expressly set out in the contract or as a result of a conflicts of laws analysis

Arbitration can be ad hoc or institutional. Institutional arbitration is administered by an arbitral institution, for example, the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration. Each institution has its own arbitration rules which set out the procedure for the arbitration (including the appointment of the tribunal) In ad hoc arbitration, the parties and the tribunal determine the procedure.

A career in international commercial arbitration, either as counsel or as arbitrator (or both, as I have) requires discipline There is truly an international arbitration community around the world; it is important to be recognised by your peers as having the requisite expertise and experience Conducting arbitrations for clients is not enough to gain this recognition; you need to be involved in arbitral institutions, to publish widely and to be seen at conferences (preferably in a speaking capacity).

Australian courts have limited power to intervene in international commercial arbitration Their main role is in the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. The Supreme Courts and Federal Court have concurrent jurisdiction under the International Arbitration Act 1974 (Cth).

The combination of litigation, where I assist clients in complex and high value disputes, and international commercial arbitration, where I am constantly exposed to foreign laws and practices, is for me a perfect balance.