ME SSAGE FRO starting place for many a legal career. And while partnership is the goal some of you may aspire to, other opportunities will beckon along the way; the Bar, government and community sector, in-house commercial roles to name a few. You must be prepared for, and ready to nimbly embrace change, both within your role and into the future as your personal occupational goals change.
Professor George Williams AO
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s we move into 2020 the law continues to be an exciting place to be in. The accelerating technological change which I alluded to last year continues to move forward in leaps and bounds. Legal technology spend continues to increase, turning disruption into opportunity. Consequently, you will graduate into a private sector where firms will be increasingly more innovative and business models have changed. Private sector practice has long been the
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Some of this change is driven by corporations becoming more sophisticated in their legal service procurement. Another result of this change is that more corporations are retaining in-house counsel and the role of the in-house lawyer has developed to include company secretarial, compliance and risk. In response, UNSW Law Careers is partnering with the ACC (The Association of Corporate Counsel) Australia to create new opportunities for in-house clerkships as inhouse counsel are seeing the value of clerkships which have generally been the purview of traditional law firms. In-house teams are increasingly subcontracting to specialised boutiques, alternative legal services businesses and barristers. Boutique practices offering expertise in niche practice areas – for example, employment, construction, tax, intellectual property – now also offer a quality employment option in the private sector.
