Gilbert + Tobin
How many partners and lawyers does your firm have?
What opportunities does your firm uniquely offer that may be of interest to prospective clerks?
+ 400 lawyers nationally across Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. + 80 partners nationally across Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. + 800 people nationally, legal and non-legal.
Aurora Project – Native Title Secondment Opportunity
How many clerks are you intending to take on this summer? Our summer clerk numbers are typically confirmed closer to time. In previous years our intake has ranged anywhere between 10 and 29 clerks. How many graduate lawyers did you take on this year? 30 graduates nationally, including 16 in Sydney plus 10 graduates due to commence in August. How does your firm embody the notions of social and corporate responsibility? We have always taken corporate citizenship seriously. Since our inception in 1988 we have made and kept a commitment to pro bono services for marginalised and disadvantaged people, Reconciliation for Australia’s Indigenous peoples and protecting the environment and reducing our environmental footprint. We actively engage with the social and environmental impacts of our operations. Our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program specifically focuses on three streams – community, reconciliation and the environment. Through these programs we: •
Work to ensure the justice system is accessible to everyone by helping parts of the community who cannot afford legal assistance; Monitor, improve and report on our environmental performance to our key clients, and to the public; Commit with our suppliers of goods and services to achieve better environmental and social sustainability by managing our procurement processes; Maintain an open work place where staff are encouraged to commit to causes and provide the flexibility to enable them to do that.
• • •
We report on our CSR performance in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines. The GRI Guidelines report on sustainability performance in relation to economic, environmental and social performance outcomes. We continue to look for ways to improve our contribution as a responsible corporate citizen. Gilbert + Tobin has a proud community-conscious track record on environmental issues. We are a National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS) certified carbon neutral law firm – one of just two in Australia. How does your firm strive to protect its junior lawyers’ work/life balance? G+T offers an informal and relaxed environment, approachable partners and lawyers, diverse teams, friendly people who care about the firm and the high performance contribution they make irrespective of their role. We have a range of flexible working arrangements and support structures available, including best-practice leave entitlements policies, part-time and job share opportunities and flexible working hours. All employees have access to a ‘work from home IT kit’ to enable greater flexibility in how people manage their personal commitments with the needs of clients. We also provide a range of discounted products and services to help our people balance their out-of-work responsibilities.
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Each year we offer two Sydney clerks the opportunity to gain work experience with a Native Title representative body through the Aurora Project, during the winter semester break. This unique initiative is fully funded by the firm and will help you build important personal and professional skills. In the past, our clerks have seconded to the Torres Strait Regional Authority on Thursday Island, Queensland and the Top End Women’s Legal Service in Darwin, Northern Territory. Upskilling lawyers for the future In addition to legal expertise, we provide our lawyers with essential personal development which focuses on providing tools to be innovative future leaders of the firm. All summer clerks have the chance work with our legal service innovation team, either as a rotation or via innovation projects. Graduates are also able to undertake a rotation in this area, alongside their commercial practice area of preference. Development opportunities: Many of our lawyers choose to undertake postgraduate study. G+T offers funding assistance for masters’ degrees and other postgraduate courses as part of our ongoing commitment to your continuing education. While studying, you may also be offered study leave to study and attend exams. Each year we award a number of scholarships of up to $10,000 to support our people to study at any educational institution in the world in a subject area of their choice, which aligns with the work that they are doing, or a focus area for the firm. Past scholarship winners have studied at prestigious institutions in the United Kingdom, United States and Hong Kong, including Oxford, Harvard and LSE, amongst others. Does your firm offer any opportunities to work overseas? G+T offers secondment opportunities overseas (as well as in Australia). These secondments are a great personal and professional development opportunity. Our lawyers tell us that their secondment experience has been an invaluable part of their career development. G+T has a “best friends” network with top tier firms internationally. We will support you in seeking opportunities to work abroad, which will expand your commercial skills in a global setting. What makes your firm’s culture unique? As a young and independent firm we’re not constrained by tradition, so we are always open to change, new ideas and different perspectives on how to deliver the best outcomes to our clients. We work within a flat structure, which means our clerks and graduates have direct access to lawyers and partners who are experts in their fields, as well as matters that will improve their skill sets and career prospects. We offer an informal and relaxed environment, approachable partners and lawyers, diverse teams, friendly people who care about the firm and the high performance contribution they make irrespective of their role. G+T presents a unique opportunity for you to make a name for yourself through the matters and transactions you work on, with personal accountability yet supported by those around you. “Our culture is quite unique, with its focus on innovation and change. It challenges you to do better, and to be bold and stand by the advice we give. But one thing that surprised me when I joined is how caring it also is. It’s not just about getting the work done – there’s genuine empathy, and a lack of formality or bureaucracy.”
