Alumni How did you transition into your current position? I started at my firm as a Summer Clerk as a part of the 2017/18 cohort. Following that, I was Paralegal for about 9 months, before commencing as a Graduate in 2020 in the Finance team. What is a typical work day like for you?
Nikita Harlalka Law Firm in Sydney
A typical work day as Summer Clerk varies depending on the practice area you are rotating through. However, there was no one typical day I had, every day was different and there was always something new to learn!
As a Clerk, I rotated through three groups - Finance Solutions, Real Estate and Transaction Solutions. The work ranged from researching commercial and legal problems and summarising my findings in a memo to the Partner to drafting and reviewing documents to attending settlements and client meetings. As a Summer Clerk, we had the opportunity to partake in ‘Clerk Projects’, giving you exposure to an additional practice area that you did not rotate through. Outside of work, we participated in inter-firm clerkship sports competitions, which is a lot of fun! And at my firm, the Clerks have an exciting mission to put together a fun video which the rest of the firm comes together to watch on the last day of the clerkship. What do you enjoy most about your role? What are the biggest challenges? I particularly enjoyed understanding how the commercial rationale for a transaction is reflected in the legal documents. I also enjoyed researching and writing memos for senior lawyers. I was lucky enough to be rotating through the M&A team during the Banking Royal Commission and it was very exciting to contribute to high profile matters featured on the front pages on the Australian Financial Review.
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