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COMMENTS FROM CLERKS AND GRADUATES
“My clerkship experience at MinterEllison (in the Capital Solutions team) exceeded my expectations in many ways. During the four weeks I worked on a range of exciting and technically challenging matters in a financial regulatory context. The support and supervision I received was a personal highlight as this not only assisted my learning, but also provided an opportunity to connect with more people across the team, and the firm. Overall, I’m very grateful for the experience and could not recommend MinterEllison more.”
- Johnathan Langan
“My clerkship at King & Wood Mallesons was both engaging and rewarding. It was a valuable learning opportunity to experience first-hand the life and work of a commercial lawyer. In my two rotations, I got involved in many of the firm’s large scale matters and was brought along to client meetings and the like. The partners and lawyers all dedicated their time to ensure that I made the most of my clerkship experience. Not only was I given the opportunity to advance my practical legal skills but I was also immersed in the firm’s unique and friendly culture.”
- Giulia Marrama
COMMENTS FROM CLERKS & GRADUATES
“The clerkship, what an insightful and rewarding experience. The first two days commenced with a series of training sessions explaining the firm’s history, library services and technology systems. Considering these sessions can be an information overload, the firms provided lunches, coffees and savoury and sugary goodness to keep us engaged and enthused. It was during these opportune snack breaks that we met our supervising buddies or mentors, lawyers and Partners for the first time.
After the training days, we were introduced to our practice groups, shown our desks (or offices if you were lucky) and assigned legal tasks to complete. Such tasks included drafting affidavits and client letters, researching complex legal matters and attending meetings and telephone conferences with high profile clients. Importantly, these tasks were akin to those given to junior lawyers, and truly exposed us to the practicalities of a career in law. In this regard, I felt the entire clerkship was designed to deepen our understanding of what it means to be a practising lawyer, which is quite different from the ideas we have from watching Rake, Suits and the like. During the clerkship, each clerk was assigned to one (or sometimes two) practice group(s). However, to ensure we had some understanding of the various facets of commercial law, the firms organised practice group overviews wherein senior lawyers presented about their areas of expertise. These overviews were extremely valuable, as they got us thinking about the areas of law we are passionate about and would like to specialise in.
Naturally, the legal tasks, networking and firm environment can be daunting and stressful. However, the firms understand this and assigned each clerk with a buddy or mentor, who is a graduate lawyer and a constant support person throughout the clerkship. I felt very comfortable asking my buddies for advice in relation to starting a legal task, or any trivial question I had (e.g. can I wear headphones whilst working – answer: yes!), which in turn, made me feel more comfortable at the firm.
In addition to the working side of things, we clerks were invited to a variety of social and networking events, such as firm CLEs, practice group lunches, Christmas parties and dinners, social sporting activities, trivia nights, and of course, the staple after work drinks. These activities were a lot of fun and allowed us to build relationships with the firm’s lawyers in a relaxed setting. Aside from the technical and legal communication skills I developed, the thing I treasure most about my clerkships are the friendships I made with fellow clerks, and the conversations I had with practising lawyers over a coffee or beer. Overall, the clerkship process was a wonderful experience, which cemented my desire to become a solicitor.”
- Ruthvik Rao
