Careers Guide 2018

CAREERS GUIDE UTS Law Students’ Society 2018

2018 UTS LSS Careers Guide

Editor & UTS LSS Careers (Publications) Director

Grace Wade

Subcommittee

Grayson Gay Katherine Spasich Victoria James Sabrina Ebrahimi Phoebe Armstrong Eugenia Alabasinis

Designer

Megan Wong

Dean Of Law

Professor Lesley Hitchens

UTS LSS President

Katya Shliapnikoff

UTS LSS Vice President (Careers)

Jackson Kang

UTS LSS Vice President (Sponsorship)

Jonathon Hetherington

With Thanks To Print Portal Factory Unit 4, 102-112 Edinburgh Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204 www.printportal.com.au

UTS Law Students’ Society C/-Faculty Of Law UTS Po Box 123 Broadway NSW, 2007 Australia P: +61 2 9514 3448

Copyright Disclaimer

© 2018 UTS Law Students’ Society This publication is copyright. Except where permitted under the Copy- right Act, no part of this publication may in any form or by any means (electronic or otherwise) be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any process, without specific written consent of the UTS Law Students’ Society.

Enquiries are to be addressed to the publishers. Disclaimer: The articles and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Law Students’ Society, the editor, or the UTS Faculty of Law. Although the editor and authors have taken every carein preparing and writing the guide, they expressly disclaim and accept no liability for any errors, omissions, misuse or misunderstandings on the part of any person who uses or replies upon it. The editor, authors and UTS Law Students’ Society accept no responsibility for any damage, injury or loss occasioned to any person or entity, whether law studentor otherwise, as a result of a person relying, wholly or in part, on any material included, omitted or implied in this publication. The user of this guide acknowledges that he or she will take responsibility for his or her actions and will under no circumstances hold the editor, authors or UTS Law Students’ Society responsible for any damage resulting to the user or anyone else from use of this publication.

Careers Guide Contents 2018

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Dean’s Welcome

04

President’s Welcome

05

Editor’s Foreword

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Admission in New South Wales

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Part 1: Careers in Government Part 1.1: Overview of the Government Sector

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14

Administrative Appeals Tribunal

15

Attorney General’s Department

17

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

18

Department of Defence

19

Australian Law Reform Commission

19

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

20

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

20

Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet

21

Australian Securities and Investment Commission

21

New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage

22

My Experience Working in Defence

25

Part 1.2: Careers in State Government

26

Crown Solicitor’s Office

26

New South Wales Department of Justice

27

New South Wales Law Reform Commission

28

Part 1.3: Careers in Government in Criminal Law

29

Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions

30

Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions

30

New South Wales Public Defender’s Office

31

New South Wales Ombudsman

Part 2: Public Interest Law 33

New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties

34

The Aurora Project

34

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre

35

Refugee Advice and Casework Service

35

Salvos Legal

36

Justice Action

36

National Justice Project

37

Redfern Legal Centre

37

Legal Aid NSW

38

Aboriginal Legal Service

38

Arts Law Centre of Australia

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Part 3: Judges Associateships and Tipstaves 40

Applying for Tipstaff Positions at the Supreme Court of New South Wales

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Applying for Associate Positions at the Supreme Court of New South Wales

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Applying for Associate Positions at the Federal Court

Part 4: International Careers 45

My Experience as an International Legal Intern

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My Experience as an Intern with the United Nations

49

My Experience at the London Bar

51

International Clerkships and Graduate Roles: Is it right for you?

Part 5: Working in Legal Technology 57

Working in a Legal Technology Company

59

Life as a Paralegal in a Legal Technology Firm

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Life in a Legal Technology Start-Up

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Life as a Student Intern in Legal Technology

Part 6: Alternative Corporate Careers 68

Life as a Paralegal in an In-House Team

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Clerking with a Big 4 Accounting Firm

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My Experience as a Paralegal in a Big 4 Accounting Firm

Dean’s Welcome Lesley Hitchens

Careers Guide The UTS LSS Careers Guide provides a valuable insight into the range of careers available to a law graduate. There is no comprehensive data on career paths pursued by law graduates and employment outcomes. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that there are only a few ways to use your law degree. Because some career paths have an obvious recruitment pathway like the clerkship rounds, you might be concerned that employment opportunities are limited. But, you would be wise to remember this statistic: in NSW, firms with more than 20 partners account for only 0.8% of all firms (as at October 2016). Understanding career and employment prospects is not helped by superficial media reporting about employment in the legal sector that frequently fails to give the full picture about available career paths. However, you should be encouraged by the knowledge that law graduates nationally have one of the highest employment outcomes for all graduates, and UTS:Law graduates have full-time graduate employment outcome of 91% (2017).

The Guide with its coverage of private and corporate and non-commercial careers will be valuable in making you aware of some of the variety of opportunities available.

The most recent National Profile of Solicitors Report 2016 (June 2017) indicates that the number of practising solicitors has grown between 2011 and 2016 by 24%. Whilst the majority continue to work in private practice (69%), there has been a significant shift in other sectors: the number of solicitors working in the corporate sector has increased by 59% and 34% in the government sector. These increases outstrip the increase of 17% in the private sector. There are currently 2324 practising barristers.

However, these figures don’t capture the careers of law graduates who are not practising as solicitors or barristers. We know from other statistics that many of you will decide not to practise as a solicitor or barrister, or will move out of practice after a few years.

You will be using your law degree (with the benefit also of your other degree discipline if you followed a combined degree) in a wide variety of positions. A law degree can be a good foundation for these other career paths, whether you are based locally or internationally. The LSS Careers Guide will be an important source of information here also.

I regularly receive very positive feedback from law firms, lawyers, judges, and alumni about the quality of UTS:Law graduates. Work-ready; practically-oriented; commercially-focused; articulate; and good team-players are common descriptions. This feedback indicates the value of a UTS:Law degree which focuses on rigorous legal knowledge and professional skills. Not all graduate employment will be found through a clerkship round; you may have to actively seek out the opportunities but the resilience and initiative you demonstrate in that process will be valued by future employers.

So review the options and think carefully about how you might want to use your law degree, and know that you will be well-equipped for your chosen career path.

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President’s Welcome Katya Shliapnikoff UTS LSS President 2018

We’re constantly inundated with a barrage of article about the oversupply of lawyers and, although the NSW Law Society has debunked these inflated figures, many of us are still overcome with the fear that our career prospects are limited if we miss out on the illustrious clerkship.

That’s where this Guide comes in!

The 2018 Careers Guide is an invaluable companion to your law degree. In creating this guide, the UTS Law Students’ Society endeavours to show you the incredible diversity of careers available to law graduates.

Equipped with a law degree and imbued with a set of analytical problem-solving skills, you will understand the work differently and be an invaluable addition to any team.

From research skills, communication, logical reasoning and critical thinking, to a deep consciousness of ethics and the pursuit of justice, these bespoke skills are sought after in a range of sectors and industries, as this guide will show you.

Fortunately, it is never too early, or too late, to start considering your career choices. This guide is filled with handy tips and tricks for how to work today for the career you want tomorrow. Furthermore, while this Guide is a good starting point, it is by no means exhaustive. You can always go off-road and pave your own path.

This year, the Careers Guide also includes a section on Careers in Legal Technology to demystify some of the buzzwords and demonstrate to you how to get involved with this growing sector of the legal profession.

My personal advice is to put yourself in the best position possible. Study hard, work hard, and get involved with the wonderful extra-curricular activities available through the UTS Law Students Society. Make the most of the privileged opportunity that is your law degree.

I extend an enormous thank you to the Careers (Publications) Director, Grace Wade, and the entirety of the Careers portfolio, without whom this publication would not have been possible. They have worked tirelessly and demonstrated an unbelievable passion and support for your futures! I would also like to thank our phenomenal sponsors - you are all responsible for an incredibly worthwhile publication.

Whatever route your career takes, I hope you that it is challenging, rewarding and worthwhile.

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Careers Guide

Editor’s Foreword Grace Wade

Whether you have just started your law degree and are eagerly exploring future career options or are nearing completion and thinking about your immediate future, the possibilities for careers in the law can be overwhelming!

The 2018 UTS Careers Guide is here to help with that. This guide details the range of career options available to law students so that you can find a career that will suit you. There is no one size fits all in careers in the law. It might be that a career in government takes your fancy, or you’re interested in international rotations in a firm, or maybe you want to work in policy reform!

This guide includes helpful summaries of the different graduate programs, and experiences from both current and past students to help you understand what different careers are like in the day to day and tips and tricks on what you can do today to give you a competitive edge tomorrow. This year, we’ve also included a section on Careers in Legal Technology!

I must give special thanks to Jackson Kang, UTS LSS Vice President (Careers), the UTS LSS President Katya Shliapnikoff, the UTS LSS Vice President (Sponsorship) Jonathon Hetherington, as well as the UTS LSS Careers (Publications) Subcommittee, Grayson Gay, Victoria James, Sabrina Ebrahimi, Katherine Spasich, Eugenia Alabasinis and Phoebe Armstrong, for their tireless efforts in making this Guide a reality. I also must extend a special thank you to Megan Wong, our designer, for her consistently high quality and engaging work.

We hope that once you are equipped with the information in this guide, you are able to find a career path that is engaging, challenging, and uses the many valuable skills you have learnt as a UTS:Law student.

Best wishes, Grace Wade.

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UTS UTS Careers Careers

OurTop Top44Career CareerTips Tipsfor for Law Law Students Students Our Universityisisthe theperfect perfectplace place to to start start developing developing your University your career. At UTS you have access to a ready network of career. At UTS you have access to a ready network of brilliant minds, people who want to see you succeed, brilliant minds, people who want to see you succeed, and industry contacts eager to work with you. But it and industry contacts eager to work with you. But it can be hard to know where to start and where to focus can be hard to know where to start and where to focus your energy. Getting into your ideal job is entirely your energy.

Getting into your ideal jobaisfew entirely possible – you just need to remember pieces of possible – you just need to remember a few pieces of advice. advice.

1) Know who you are and the value you bring 1) When Know considering who you areyour andcareer the value bring pathyou keep in mind When your career path keepand in mind your considering skills, interests, personal attributes what’s your skills, interests, important to you. Trypersonal making aattributes list of whatand youwhat’s bring important to you.

Try making a listyou’ve of what you bring to the table by reflecting on what studied and what you’ve done atyou’ve in studystudied and life,and and toenjoyed, the table by reflecting onwell what what gets youyou’ve out of done bed inwell theat morning. people enjoyed, what in studyTalk andtolife, and who know you and might be able to help you flesh out what gets you out of bed in the morning. Talk to people thatknow list. Law a wealth of you transferrable who you graduates and mightbring be able to help flesh out strengths including critical thinking, communication that list. Law graduates bring a wealth of transferrable and writing skills, research and analysis – all of which strengths including critical thinking, communication are valuable in a variety of careers.

Knowing and writing skills, research and analysis – all the of which value that you bringofiscareers. the first step in career are valuable in acan variety Knowing the development.

Andbring it’s a is critical stepstep if you ever to value that you can the first in are career convince employers or business contacts of your worth. development. And it’s a critical step if you are ever to convince employers or business contacts of your worth.

2)2)Keep mind and explore, explore, explore!

Keepan anopen open mind and explore, explore, explore!

Law graduates succeed in a wide range of positions.

Law graduates succeed in a wide range of positions.

Whilst your initial thoughts may be focused on Whilst your initial thoughts may be focused on traditional law paths such commercial law, the traditional law paths such commercial law, the courtroom, or being a solicitor in a particular practice courtroom, or being a solicitor in a particular practice area, by keeping an open mind you may discover that area, byyour keeping mind business you may discover applying skillsan in open consulting, strategy, that applying your skills in consulting, business strategy, start-ups, government or not-for-profit work can offer start-ups, government or not-for-profit work can offer a great career match for you. Some graduate level a great career match for you. Some level positions are extremely competitive tograduate achieve and extremely and itpositions is always are a good idea to competitive have a plan B,toCachieve and D. The it isisalways a good idea to have planstop B, C taking and D. The key to never stop exploring and anever key is to never and never stop as taking opportunities to stop meetexploring different types of people, you opportunities meetthat different types of people, as you just never knowto where great career opportunity may you might evencareer changeopportunity your mind justcome neverfrom, knowand where that great along the way. may come from, and you might even change your mind along the way.

3) Get social – online and off Social a great 3) Getmedia socialis–actually online and off tool, and employers are using social platforms more and more toemployers find Social media is actually a great tool, and new employees.

LinkedIn and Twitter in particular are are using social platforms more and more to find good platforms to start with, as they see the highest new employees. LinkedIn and Twitter in particular are employer and industry involvement.

To successfully good platforms to start with, as they see the highest leverage each platform, start with a big follow spree employer and industry involvement. To successfully leverage each platform, start with a big follow spree

of influential people and companies in the industry you’re hoping to work in. Then it’s time to start posting. of influential people and in the (respectfully industry If you’re on Twitter, look at companies getting involved you’re hoping toinwork in. Then it’s time to posting. and intelligently) industry discussions orstart trending If you’re on Twitter,yourself look at getting involved topics to familiarise with the people(respectfully who work andsector intelligently) in industry discussions trending in the and get your name out there.orOr, if you’re topics to familiarise yourself with the people who on LinkedIn, spend time creating a polished profile,work in the sector andwork, get your name out there.influencers, Or, if you’re start posting your following industry on LinkedIn, spend time creating a polished profile, connect with people and comment on other posts. start posting your work, following industry influencers, connect with people and offline comment on other posts.

And don’t forget to mingle as well!

Look out

the merit in roles that don’t immediately tick all of your boxes. By breaking down what your dream job actually the meritand in roles thatfor don’t immediately tick all ofsome your of entails, looking work that incorporates boxes.

By breaking your dream job actually these elements (if down not allwhat of them), you open yourself entails, and looking of forfinding work that incorporates some of up to the potential a job that can help you these elements not all of important them), you when open yourself develop.

This is(if especially considering up to the potential of finding a job that canas help internships, clerkships or part time work theyou key develop.

This is especially important when considering element here is to try things out, build your skills, internships, clerkships or part time work as the key make contacts and learn which careers might suit you. element here is to try things out, build your skills, make and learn which careers might you.

Spendcontacts time preparing your applications and suit practicing

for events happening on-campus, take up mentoring And don’t forget to mingle offline as well! Look out opportunities, join professional associations, attend for events happening on-campus, take up mentoring industry events and make sure you show interest – opportunities, join professional associations, attend introduce yourself and ask questions. With a bit of industry events and make sure you show interest – casual networking environments thatWith interest introduce yourselfinand ask questions. a bit you, of thecasual people you meet can become both friends and networking in environments that interest you, great connections.

It’s all about being involved theindustry people you meet can become both friends and and getting yourconnections. name out there! great industry It’s all about being involved and getting your name out there!

4) Throw your hat in the ring When you’reyour looking 4) Throw hat inthrough the ringthe various job boards and hearing positions, keep in mind skills, When about you’re open looking through the various jobyour boards and hearingand about open positions, your could skills, interests goals and flag anykeep typein ofmind role that andmatch. goals and flag any type of role could beinterests a potential Sometimes it’s easy to that get caught a potential match. it’s be easy to get caught upbe in what your ideal jobSometimes is, and it can difficult to see up in what your ideal job is, and it can be difficult to see

your interview technique to put your best foot forward.

Spend time preparing your applications and practicing Make each application as targeted as possible and be your interview technique to put your best foot forward. genuine in expressing why that opportunity appeals to Make each application as targeted as possible and be you. Employers want to know that you can do the job genuine in expressing why that opportunity appeals to (skills and knowledge), you will thecan jobdo (motivation), you.

Employers want to know thatdo you the job and that you understand their organisation (business (skills and knowledge), you will do the job (motivation), acumen andunderstand cultural fit).their organisation (business and that you acumen and cultural fit).

UTS Careers is here to help. We offer resources, tools and Careers consultations your value and UTS is hereto tohelp help.you We assess offer resources, tools be well prepared for the job Our events, and consultations to help yousearch assess process. your value and networking and mentoring opportunities help you be well prepared for the job search process.will Our events, networking andmake mentoring opportunities will help you to explore and valuable connections.

We look to explore make valuable forward toand seeing you soon. connections. We look forward to seeing you soon.

UTS Careers UTS Careers UTS Careers works totoequip UTS Careers works equipstudents studentswith withthe the employability skills, confidence and advice employability skills, confidence and adviceto toachieve achieve their career goals! their career goals!

Working closely with graduate Working closely with graduaterecruiters, recruiters,faculties faculties and industry leaders, UTSCareers Careersoffers offersaavariety variety of of and industry leaders, UTS services and resourcestotohelp helpstudents studentsget getaaheadheadservices and resources start their careers.

Fromevents eventsand andworkshops, workshops, to to start onon their careers.

From in-person consultationsand andmore, more,we wecan canhelp! help! in-person consultations Visit Visit UsUs Visit ‘Drop-in’ a 15 minutecareer careerconsultation consultation with with a a Visit ‘Drop-in’ forfor a 15 minute Recruitment Advisor.

Drop-in can provide advice on Recruitment Advisor. Drop-in can provide advice on a range of career related issues including career a range of career related issues including career direction, job search and application writing. direction, job search and application writing.

Follow Follow Us Us

10am-12pm 10am-12pm (No appointment necessary) (No appointment necessary)

Contact Us Contact Us careers.uts.edu.au careers.uts.edu.au careers@uts.edu.au careers@uts.edu.au +61 2 9514 1471 +61 2 9514 1471

1:30pm-4:30pm 1:30pm-4:30pm (Appointments are bookable via: careerhub.uts.edu.au) (Appointments are bookable via: careerhub.uts.edu.au) UTS Tower Building 1, Level 4, Room 13 (CB01.04.13) UTS Tower Building 1, Level 4, Room 13 (CB01.04.13)

@utscareers @utscareers #createthefutureyou #createthefutureyou

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Admission in New South Wales

What are the requirements for practicing law in New South Wales?

To be admitted as a lawyer in New South Wales, you must complete the requirements for admission and apply to the Legal Profession Admission Board for a Compliance Certificate.

The Legal Profession Admission Board administers admission in New South Wales. If successful, you will attend a ceremony at the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

In order to be admitted, you must: • have attained the specified academic qualifications prerequisite (being a Bachelor of Laws, Juris Doctor, or equivalent qualification) and • have satisfactorily completed the specified Practical Legal Training prerequisite (‘PLT’) with an organisation accredited by the Legal Profession Admission Board, and • be a fit and proper person to be admitted to the Australian legal profession, and • take an oath of office, or makes an affirmation of office, in the form required by the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

More information on this process is available here: http://www.lpab.justice.nsw.gov.au/Pages/ admission-lawyer/guide-for-applicants-admission.aspx

Practical legal training: what is it? Where can I do it?

Practical Legal Training (PLT) is a structured training program designed to assist you in developing necessary skills to start your career as a lawyer. Prospective lawyers are required to complete their PLT in addition to their law degree before they may be admitted. Where a law degree provides the theoretical basis for a career in law, PLT focuses on the practical skills that junior lawyers need.

A number of organisations offer PLT programs – including UTS, ANU and The College of Law. For a full list of accredited organisations, refer to the Legal Profession Admission Board website (www.lpab.justice.nsw.gov.au).

Approved PLT programs adhere to the Competency Standards for Entry Level Lawyers, and this will be tested in a number of assessments much like university courses.

The Competency Standards cover Skills, Practice Areas, and Values: Skills

Lawyer’s Skills Work Management and Business Skills Trust and Office Accounting Problem Solving

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Careers Guide

Practice Areas

Civil litigation Commercial and Corporate Property Law One of:

Administrative Law Criminal Law Family Law

And one of: Consumer Law Employment and Industrial Relations Planning and Environmental Law Wills and Estates Values

Ethics and Professional Responsibility

Students who undertake PLT on a full time basis will complete the program in 15 weeks, whereas students who choose to go part time will complete it in 30 weeks.

Upon completion of your PLT, you will be provided with a Certificate of Completion. This will allow you to apply for admission from LPAB and the Supreme Court of New South Wales. It is no longer necessary to provide additional certification (previously referred to as a ‘Dean’s Certificate’) that completion of the PLT course results in the attainment of certain competencies.

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Activate your career.

Practical Legal Training programs that better activate your career.

Leading, and in tune with your profession, The College of Law offers the largest range of flexible programs, all purpose-driven to ensure you have the best start to your career.

Con Pana

Lawyer, Federal Government of Australia Graduate of the Practical Legal Training program

Learn more at collaw.edu.au/PLT or call 1300 856 111

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Careers Guide

Careers in Government: Overview of the Government Sector

Practical Legal Training Study freedom With delivery modes including full-time, part-time, online and on-campus, you can select a program that will fit your work and personal commitments. You can also choose from more than 10 programs a year in Sydney so you can complete your practical legal training at a time that suits you.

Hands-on learning Practical, task-based and hands-on, our program ensures that you will transition into the workforce successfully. You will learn through everyday scenarios that parallel real-life practice such as drafting an affidavit or preparing a statement of claim.

Aligned with the legal industry Developed in close consultation with employers, our program includes the communication, leadership, time management and client relationship skills that will ensure you have the profile that is more attractive to employers.

Nine of Australia’s top ten law firms have chosen The College of Law to prepare their graduates to enter the profession.

Lecturer support Passionate and experienced legal practitioners will support you throughout the program. You will have regular one-on-one contact with your lecturers who will provide advice and feedback via email, phone or via our online learning portal.

Leading provider The College of Law has been at the forefront of practical legal education since 1974 and over 60,000 of our graduates now work across all facets of our industries. Innovative and forward thinking, The College of Law has proven to be one the most trusted names in legal training.

Learn more at collaw.edu.au/PLT or call 1300 856 111

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The College of Law

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Part 1

Careers in Government

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Careers Guide

Careers in Government: Overview of the Government Sector

Part 1.1

Overview of the Government Sector

Careers Guide

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Administrative Appeals Tribunal

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act (‘AAT’) carries out independent merits reviews of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws. It falls within the Attorney-General’s portfolio.

The AAT reviews decisions under more than 400 Commonwealth Acts and legislative instruments. It is split into the following divisions: • Freedom of Information Division • General Division • Migration & Refugee Division • National Disability Insurance Scheme Division • Security Division • Social Services & Child Support Division • Taxation & Commercial Division, and • Veterans’ Appeals Division The AAT does not have a formal graduate program. Current career opportunities are advertised on https://aat.bigredsky.com/page.php?pageID=106.

For more information about working at the AAT, visit http://www.aat.gov.au/ about-the-aat/working-at-the-aat.

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Careers in Government: Overview of the Government Sector

Attorney General’s Department

The Attorney-General’s Department delivers programs and policies to maintain and improve Australia’s law and justice framework.

The Attorney General’s Department is structured into four groups: • Australian Government Solicitor (‘AGS’), • Legal Services and Families, • Integrity and International and • Enabling Services.

Graduate programs and career opportunities: The Attorney General’s Department has two graduate programs, one for Policy Graduates and another for Australian Government Solicitor and Office of International Law (legal practice) Graduates.

Both graduate programs last 12-month.

Policy stream: Policy graduates have the opportunity to complete rotations across the department. Graduates will be involved with: • contributing to the development and implementation of legislation, policies or programs • Undertaking analysis, research and critical thinking • preparing briefs, submissions, reports and ministerial correspondence • managing events including ministerial and council meetings • assisting with project and program management.

Australian government solicitor and office of international law stream: Legal Practice Graduates will work on matters of public interest within the Australian Government Solicitor (AGS) and/or the Office of International Law (OIL) or in the Office of the General Counsel.

•A ustralian Government Solicitor: is the primary source of legal services for the Commonwealth Government and engages in both commercial law work and dispute resolution.

• Office of General Counsel: advises all Commonwealth entities on constitutional law, statutory interpretation and legislative development relating to the full range of government activity and represents the Commonwealth in constitutional litigation.

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•O ffice of International Law: advises the Australian Government on international law. This includes advice across government on issues involving public international law, and domestic and international litigation involving public international law. OIL also develops and implements international law projects and assists in treaty negotiations.

Eligibility requirements: In order to apply for a role with the Attorney General’s Department, candidates must: •B e an Australian Citizen.

• Be currently completing their final year of study or have completed their final year of study within the last 4 years.

• Be either admitted to practice in Australia, be eligible for admission, or be currently completing Practical Legal Training.

•B e willing to undergo a security assessment and medical health check.

•H ave an academic average of a distinction or above.

•B e prepared to relocate to Canberra.

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Careers in Government: Overview of the Government Sector

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is an independent statutory body responsible for promoting competition and fair trade across the country while also regulating national infrastructure services and ensuring compliance with the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

Graduate programs: The program is structured into three, 14-week rotations to gain a full overview of how the ACCC and AER operate. There may also be opportunities to work interstate and participate in formal on-the-job learning.

Key tasks may involve: • Analysing key market sectors assisting in assessing applications for collective bargaining, authorisations and notifications • The economic regulation of network infrastructure • Investigating complaints from business or consumers about possible breaches of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

Applications for the 2020 Graduate program close end of March 2020.

Summer internship program: Students in their final year of study can undertake a paid summer internship for up to six weeks. Regular training and seminar events are included in the program.

Dates for application are as follows: Applications open

September 2018

Interviews

Mid-October 2018

Offers made

Early November 2019

Internships commence

7 January 2019

Dates for the 2020 Graduate program have not yet been released.

More information: https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/careers/intern-opportunities

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Department of Defence

The Australian Defence Force administers the Australian Government’s defence policy in order to defend Australia and its national interests.

Within the Department of Defence, there are a number of pathways to choose from. Those most relevant to law students are Defence Policy, Estate & Infrastructure, and Procurement and Contracting. Graduates can apply for up to two streams.

Defence policy stream: The Defence Policy Stream offers policy development, strategic planning and advice to the Minister for Defence, the National Security Committee of Cabinet and wider Government, review Defence and Australian Defence Force policy, and development and maintenance of Defence’s international relationships.

The graduate program is 12 months and involves 3 x 4-month rotations. Salary is $65,133 pa + 15.4% Super.

Estate and infrastructure stream: Estate & Infrastructure Group comprises two Divisions, the Service Delivery Division and Infrastructure Division, which are responsible for the development and upkeep of one of the largest real estate portfolios in Australia.

The graduate program is 12 months and involves 3 x 4-month rotations. Salary is $65,133 pa + 15.4% Super.

Procurement and contracting stream: The Procurement and Contracting stream manages the procurement projects and sustainment activities of the Australian Defence Force and Defence.

The graduate program is 18 months and involves 3 x 6 months rotations through Commercial Policy, Operations and Project Areas. One rotation will be in Canberra. Salary is $65,133 pa + 15.4% Super.

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Careers in Government: Overview of the Government Sector

Eligibility requirements: • Australian Citizenship • Credit Average.

• Must be prepared to undergo a medical clearance by a Commonwealth Medical Officer • Must be prepared to relocate to Canberra for development or final placement.

•M eet security clearance requirement For more information on the graduate program visit: http://www.defence.gov.au/ Graduates/

Australian Law Reform Commission

Under the direction of the Attorney-General, the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) researches and develops reports on topical issues to improve the nation’s legal landscape. Its influence extends to facets such as simplifying the law, removing defects and ensuring it meets community standards while improving access to justice.

Internship program: Law students in either their penultimate or final year may apply for internships. Successful applicants are given the opportunity to develop their legal research and writing skills and join a team working on a specific ALRC inquiry.

There are generally two intakes of interns per year, with more information on their website https:// www.alrc.gov.au/internship-program

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is an independent statutory body that promotes financial stability by supervising banking, insurance and superannuation institutions. Through collaboration with the Australian Treasury, Reserve Bank and Australian Securities and Investments Commission, APRA also operates as a statistical agency for the finance sector in Australia.

Graduate program: The APRA Graduate Program runs for 18 months.

Graduates complete three six-month rotations, across Frontline Supervision, Policy Development and Data Analytics teams.

Applicants will need a minimum credit average and an Australian or New Zealand citizenship or Australian permanent residency.

Applications for the 2020 graduate program close mid-February 2019.

For more information see http://apra graduatecareers.com.au

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Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the lead agency managing Australia’s international presence. DFAT promotes and protects Australia’s interests on a global scale and contributes to international stability and economic growth.

The department provides the Government with advice relating to foreign, trade and development policy. It collaborates with other government agencies to facilitate the coordination of Australia’s global, regional and bilateral interests.

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) is the team responsible for supporting the Prime Minister, Cabinet, Portfolio Ministers and Assistant Ministers.

Graduate programs and career opportunities: DFAT offers a two-year graduate program, which is open to applicants from a diverse range of academic backgrounds. The program develops knowledge and understanding of the Government’s foreign, aid and trade policy priorities as well as the department’s corporate and financial context.

Applications for the 2020 graduate program will open in February 2019.

More information: https://dfat. gov.au/careers/dfat-aps-careers/graduateprogram/Pages/graduate-program.aspx

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The DPMC has three core functions: 1. Coordinating government-wide policy and ensuring its implementation 2. Working with the Australian Public Service Commission to foster a productive public sector, and 3. Consulting across government, private enterprise, the not-for-profit sector and the Australian community

Graduate programs and career opportunities: The DPMC offers an 18-month graduate rotational program based in Canberra. Graduates work across the department in governance and corporate areas including legal, finance and ministerial support.

Desired attributes include: • Motivated and interested in government • Excellent communication skills • Relationship management skills and respect • Strong analytical ability • Innovative thinking and commitment to learning • Agility and resilience • Cultural awareness Applications for the 2019 Graduate program have now closed. Dates for the 2020 program will be available on https://www.pmc.gov.au/ pmc/careers/graduate-careers

Careers in Government: Overview of the Government Sector

Australian Securities and Investment Commission

New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) is an independent Commonwealth Government body responsible for regulating Australia’s corporate, market and financial services.

The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) is an agency within the Planning and Environment Cluster, responsible for caring for and protecting the state’s environment and heritage. OEH supports the government, business and community in ensuring the protection and strengthening of a healthy environment and economy in NSW. It develops policy and reform in areas such as coastal protection, environmental regulation and sustainability.

ASIC performs the following roles: • Maintain publicly accessible information registers about companies, credit licensees and financial services licensees • Register companies and managed investment schemes • Investigate suspected breaches of the law and require people to produce documents or answer questions •C ommence prosecutions

Graduate programs and career opportunities:

Graduate programs and career opportunities: The OEH does not have a specific graduate program, however, current job vacancies are listed on the Jobs NSW site.

More information: https://jobsnsw.taleo. net/careersection/env_heritage/jobsearch.ftl?lang= en&organization=1010360143997

ASIC offers a graduate program consisting of 4 x 4 month rotations. The program involves both on-the-job training and structured development programs.

The application process involves a written application, psychometric assessments, video/phone interview, and a face to face interview.

Applications for the 2020 Graduate Program open in March 2019.

More information: https://graduates.asic. gov.au/graduate-program.html

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My Experience Working in Defence Bree Nobbs Graduate Legal Officer - Directorate of Operations and Security Law

What does your job involve?

During the graduate program, you rotate through three different areas of Defence. Throughout my grad year, I have rotated through International Policy Division: Middle East, United Nations, Africa & Peacekeeping; Defence Legal: Directorate of Operations and Security Law (DOSL); and the Defence Innovation Hub. As a graduate legal officer in DOSL, my days involved working on a large variety of matters, spanning multiple areas of law – both domestic and international, liaising with a number of different stakeholders. DOSL provides advice on legal matters affecting Defence strategic policy and plans, operations, exercises and training, including the impact of international law, such as the law of the sea, international human rights law, and the laws of armed conflict.

At DOSL, I undertook research and drafted legal advice in the following areas of law: public international law; international humanitarian law; international human rights law; international conflict law; and security law. I was also fortunate to assist in reviewing resolutions for the UN Human Rights Council 38th and 39th sessions, to formulate official responses on behalf of Defence. Not only was I exposed to international law, I also had the opportunity to draft input into the review and development of legislative, policy and regulatory frameworks.

DOSL also works alongside other areas of Defence Legal to provide comment on draft international treaties where there may be operational or security considerations, Defence practice areas and naval waters, and participates in inter-governmental committees and meetings, which, as a graduate, I was able to regularly attend.

What was the application process like for the graduate program?

The application process for the Department of Defence began in March, and had multiple stages comprising of an initial online application, psychometric testing, written assessment, group interview, face-to-face interview, and an oral assessment.

If you are successful, conditional offers are made in July, pending you obtaining the relevant level security clearance and achieving the minimum grade requirements upon graduation. Security clearances are required to be obtained and maintained as a condition of employment in most government positions.

Graduate positions within government departments are as competitive, if not more competitive, than clerkships, as there are not just law graduates applying. Defence took a total of 300 graduates from approximately 6,000 applicants, across a number of different streams. The main streams are: intelligence; policy; corporate; generalist; and engineering – Defence usually takes 15-30 policy graduates.

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Careers in Government: Overview of the Government Sector

Generally, government departments have more stages than corporate law positions, as graduates come from varied backgrounds, and they need to ensure they recruit people with a high standard of written and oral skills across the board.

How does a role with a government department such as Defence differ from a traditional private practice role?

A government lawyer is usually required to have knowledge in very niche areas of law and there is a significant amount of consultation between departments such as DFAT, AttorneyGeneral’s Department and Home Affairs. Lawyers also work closely within their department with areas such as strategic and international policy. Policy officers provide support to legal officers regularly and there is a significant amount of collaboration across divisions.

Government roles are not usually client facing, and in international law, you are rarely required to write file notes or undertake other corporate administration. Government lawyers do not have billable hours, and if you work overtime, you are entitled to ‘flex’ which can be used to leave early or take days off, if your supervisor approves.

What non-legal roles are available for law graduates?

Most departments do not have a legal specific stream and you enter as either a ‘generalist’ or ‘policy officer’ with the opportunity to do one of your rotations through a legal division.

I never realised how useful my law degree would be as a policy officer. During my first rotation I was fortunate to work in the International Policy Division on the Middle East, United Nations, Africa and Peacekeeping desk, where strong Defence policies are required in order to maintain bilateral and multilateral arrangements with countries.

There are often MOUs being negotiated, which policy officers are required to work with Defence Legal to achieve accurate agreements – having a law degree allows you to understand the various equities that are factors in negotiations with foreign States. Policy officers regularly conduct research and analysis to assist in identifying Australia’s security needs, and interact with a range of external government departments. The main policy areas at Defence include international, strategic, and industry. These different branches are responsible for international relations, emerging technology, counter terrorism, security and capability policy development.

By the end of the program, you usually have experienced a mixture of policy and legal positions within Defence. Your first rotation is allocated by the graduate team, however, you get to nominate preferences for subsequent rotations. These rotations can include placements in policy, corporate, legal, finance, another government department, or at a regional

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military base. Upon completion of the program, graduates are able to nominate their preferred ‘home’ team and will commence a full-time position in that division.

What advice would you give to students who are interested in pursuing a career in a government department?

Government departments value good grades, however, the minimum grade requirement is usually only a credit. Departments look for well-rounded graduates who have done a variety of extracurricular activities, gained overseas experience, have good communication skills and can demonstrate knowledge in a broad range of topics, compared to the emphasis corporate firms place on grades. As mentioned earlier, written and oral assessments usually form part of the recruitment process, and will be on areas relevant to the department or current affairs.

During my studies I completed an intensive international economic law course in Berlin, and an internship in intellectual property law in Beijing, which was credited to my degree. These two overseas experiences helped my application stand out to recruiters, as they show you can communicate with a variety of audiences, adapt to change well, work under pressure and are willing to try anything – I definitely recommend considering an international experience during your degree!

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Careers in Government: Overview of the Government Sector

Part 1.2

Careers in State Government

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Crown Solicitor’s Office

New South Wales Department of Justice

The Crown Solicitor’s Office (CSO) is the primary provider of legal services to the NSW Government and its agencies. The CSO has eleven practice groups, focusing on Child Protection, Commercial Law, Community Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Criminal Law, Employment Law and Industrial Relations, Government Law, Inquiries, Property and Native Title, Torts (Justice/ Enforcement Agencies) and Torts (Service/Regulatory Agencies).

The CSO’s matters are dynamic and varied, with great political significance for New South Wales.

The CSO’s inquests into the Lindt Café Siege and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse are two examples.

The NSW Department of Justice (NSW) performs a range of services to regulate courts and other justice services. In addition, it implements and supervises community correctional services. More broadly, the DOJ protects rights and community standards while overseeing offenders and advising on law reform.

Graduate programs and career opportunities: The CSO offers a two-year graduate program of 4 x 6 month rotations between the CSO’s eleven practice groups. It involves practical training while assisting senior solicitors, focusing on advice writing, litigation and transactional work.

Graduates must have less than two years of legal experience to be eligible. The total remuneration package for 2016-2017 was $90,764 including annual leave and superannuation. Graduates should demonstrate a particular interest in political, social and economic matters affecting the State and the public interest.

Positions are advertised on https://iworkfor. nsw.gov.au/jobs/all-keywords/justice/crown-solicitorsoffice/all-categories/all-locations/all-worktypes?divisio nid=12&agenciesid=93

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Graduate programs and career opportunities: The primary opportunity for fifth-year students and recent graduates is the Summer Clerkship Program.

Successful applicants will engage in a range of criminal and civil matters, including legislation development.

Among other duties, clerks prepare briefing notes for the NSW Attorney-General, evaluate proposed bills and liaise with various stakeholders.

In addition to this, various paralegal, clerk and administration positions are advertised for all students on the DOJ website from time to time.

Further information on the DOJ’s career opportunities can be found at http://www.careers. justice.nsw.gov.au/Pages/our-roles/interns-studentsand-graduates.aspx

Careers in Government: Careers in State Government

New South Wales Law Reform Commission

The NSW Law Reform Commission is an independent statutory body with the goal of modernising and consolidating the law by removing inefficiencies, defects and obsolete provisions. Through this, the Commission aims to improve access to justice. The process of law reform involves intensive literature reviews, independent empirical research, liaising with stakeholders, and legal and industry experts. Additionally, the Commission conducts consultation and question papers for the general public to contribute to law reform.

Graduate programs and career opportunities: The Commission offers full time, paid internships at the Law Reform and Sentencing Council Secretariat for four months over winter. Interns will undertake research, draft consultation documents and assist in the reform consultation process, under the supervision of Law Reform Commissioners, Sentencing Council members and Secretariat staff. The opportunity is available to all students, with a preference for applicants in their fourth or fifth year.

Contact: lrc-intern@justice.nsw.gov.au.

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Part 1.3

Careers in Government in Criminal Law

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Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) is an independent authority that prosecutes all serious offences against NSW criminal statute. It is comprised of solicitors, Crown Prosecutors and administration staff, employing approximately 600 people in total.

The ODPP’s work involves trials, committal proceedings, appeals and summary hearings in a range of jurisdictions, including the Children’s Court, Local Court, District Court, Supreme Court of NSW and High Court of Australia.

Graduate programs and career opportunities: The ODPP offers the Legal Development Program for graduates interested in working as a solicitor for the ODPP. The Program is one year in duration on a full-time basis (35 hours per week) and allows graduates to attain their Practising Certificate. Graduates will work closely with Managing Solicitors, Crown Prosecutors, and a range of stakeholders including NSW Police, defence practitioners and other criminal justice agencies. The Program involves a range of subject matter, from short matters such as sentencing in the District and Supreme Courts, appeals by the Crown and Supreme Court bail applications. Graduates will also assist with trial preparation by compiling evidence, legal research and arranging conferences with victims.

Graduate positions are advertised as they become available on www.iworkfor.nsw.gov.au.

Contact: For further information about the Program, contact HumanResources@odpp.nsw. gov.au.

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Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions

New South Wales Public Defender’s Office

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) is the independent body responsible for prosecuting all crimes against Commonwealth law. Resultingly the matters it sees are varied. Broadly, they focus on counter-terrorism, human trafficking, child exploitation, serious drug importation, fraud on the Commonwealth, money laundering, cybercrime, commercial crime (such as insider trading), environmental crime and serious breaches of safety regulations.

The NSW Public Defender’s Office is an independent body of salaried barristers who represent defendants granted legal aid by Legal Aid NSW, the Aboriginal Legal Service and various Community Legal Centres. It is the only statutory body in NSW to fulfil this role. The Office does not represent defendants from the general public. To assist defence practitioners in representing their clients, the Office also conducts research and makes a range of conference papers publicly available. Public Defenders may also assist in inquests.

Graduate programs and career opportunities: The CDPP do not have a formal graduate program.

However, they offer the entry-level position ‘Federal Prosecutor’ (Level 1). This role does not formally require previous experience, though having previous experience will make graduates more competitive. The role is advertised on an ad hoc basis on https://www.apsjobs.gov.au/ index.aspx.

Graduate programs and career opportunities: Paid work experience to meet PLT requirements is available to successful candidates in the Aboriginal Law Graduates Program. Candidates may be nominated by the Dean of Law on behalf of a lecturer, or under the NSW Bar Association’s Equal Opportunity Program in consultation with the Dean of Law. Unpaid work experience is available on a limited basis for those seeking to complete their Practical Legal Training. There are no designated, paid positions for graduates or students.

Contact: Ruth Haezlewood, ruth.heazlewood@justice. nsw.gov.au.

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Careers in Government: in Criminal Law

New South Wales Ombudsman

The NSW Ombudsman is an independent and impartial body responsible for the oversight of most of the public sector and some private sector agencies within the state. Their role is to ensure that these agencies and their staff are functioning properly and meeting their responsibilities to the community.

The NSW Ombudsman improves the conduct and decision-making of these agencies by: • Managing complaints including in relation to public sector agencies, public interest disclosures and local councils • Monitoring and reviewing community services • Supporting the child death review team • Monitoring and assessing Aboriginal programs • Reviewing the situation of individuals in care

Graduate programs and career opportunities: The NSW Ombudsman does not have a specific graduate program however, current job vacancies are listed on the Jobs NSW site.

More information: https://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/what-we-do/our-office/ working-for-us

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Part 2

Public Interest Law

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New South Wales Council For Civil Liberties

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) is a leading Australian human rights and civil liberties organisation. NSWCCL monitors and protests against infringements of these rights and liberties and the abuse of government power.

Internships/volunteer opportunities: The NSWCCL offers unpaid student placements and internships, which range between 20 days and 6 months. Interns research civil liberties and human rights issues, write submissions to the government, draft responses to complaints about breaches of civil liberties and assist asylum seekers and refugees.

More information: http://www.nswccl.org.au/internships

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The Aurora Project

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre

The Aurora Project work on Indigenous Legal Issues such as native title, land rights, advocacy, social welfare, human rights and environmental policy. Aurora provides internships, training, professional development and scholarships to support lawyers working in the native title sector. There are over 120 organisations across Australia, including in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong.

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is an independent, notfor-profit law and policy organisation which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged community members. Their projects include providing access to justice for disadvantaged societal groups, homeless legal assistance, freedom of information assistance, Indigenous justice, and work with prisoners and detainees.

Internships/volunteer opportunities: The Aurora Project offers internships to students and graduates. Internships with the Aurora Project usually last between 4 to 8 weeks depending on the organisation and the volunteer’s availability.

Applicants should have and be able to demonstrate a keen interest in Indigenous issues, social justice and/or administrative law or property law. Written applications are submitted online via the Aurora Project website during the application periods of either in March or August each year. If successful, applicants are invited to attend an interview.

Contact: Placements Co-ordinator, placements@auroraproject.com.au More information: http://auroraproject. com.au/about-applying-internship

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Internships/volunteer opportunities: PIAC regularly has positions available for Practical Legal Training (PLT) placements. PLT’s must commit to a minimum of 3 days per week, for a minimum of 60 days. Recruitments for 2019 PLT placements will begin in early 2019.

Contact: For more information on PLT Placements, contact Senior Solicitor Mary Flanagan by email on mflanagan@piac.asn.au More information: https://www.piac.asn.au/about-us/careers/

Refugee Advice and Casework Service

Salvos Legal

The Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) is one of Australia’s leading refugee legal centres. It provides free, specialist legal advice to asylum seekers and refugees looking to reunite with their family.

Salvos Legal is a not-for-profit law firm specialising in Corporate and Commercial, Property, Technology and Intellectual Property. The profits generated from Salvos Legal are used to fund the work of their humanitarian team, Salvos Legal Humanitarian, which provides free advice to the disadvantaged and marginalised in the community. Both firms are wholly owned by The Salvation Army.

Volunteer opportunities: There are plenty of opportunities for students to volunteer while completing their University degree. Volunteers receive training and supervision and assist in the preparation of legal work, research, office and administrative duties. Applicants should be able to demonstrate a commitment to human rights and social justice, an understanding of the issues that affect asylum seekers, and a capacity to problem-solve. Volunteers will have the opportunity to participate in RAC’s training courses in refugee law.

Volunteers are asked to commit to at least one full day (9:30 am – 5:00 pm) per week for a minimum period of three months and must be in the second year or above of their University degree.

Applicants are required to email a cover letter and CV to Reeve Koelmeyer with “Volunteer Application” as the subject line and should include their availability, state when they are available to start and note whether they can speak a second language.

More information: https://www.racs.org.au/volunteer/ Contact: Reeve Koelmeyer, racsvolunteer@racs.org.au.

Internships/volunteer opportunities: Salvos Legal has voluntary, unpaid intern and law clerk opportunities for students to undertake during their studies. Salvos Legal also regularly recruit volunteer solicitors, migration agents, paralegals, interpreters and administrative assistants.

To apply, applicants should complete the volunteer expression of interest form found on the Salvos Legal website and email it, together with a CV and cover letter, to the Volunteer Coordinator.

More information: https://www.salvoslegal. com.au/careers/ Key contact: Volunteer Coordinator, volunteercoordinator@salvoslegal.com.au

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Justice Action

National Justice Project

Justice Action is a community-based advocacy group that supports criminal justice and mental health reform. Justice Actions provides a watchdog function, overlooking authorities with a focus on criminal justice and health systems. Justice Action aims to improve the social and mental health of prisoners and involuntary patients by providing prisoner, mental health and court support.

The National Justice Project (NJP) is a not-for-profit legal service which promotes human rights and social justice in Australia through strategic litigation and advocacy. The NJP advocate for the development of law and a justice system which is fair, just and equitable, and take on challenging cases that will advance human rights. The NJP does not seek or receive any government funding and rely on donations from the community to run the practice.

Internships/volunteer opportunities: Justice Action offers voluntary, unpaid internships to students. During the internship, students will increase their awareness of criminal justice and mental health issues and develop their research, writing and communication skills. Interns receive supervision and undertake work such as preparing tribunal and court cases, contributing to media releases, writing correspondence for lobbying purposes and assisting in policy work.

Interns are given the opportunity to work from one day a week up to a full-time capacity, both during the semester and in the holidays, however, applicants should be available to work at least one day per week at minimum. To apply, applicants can email their CV and cover letter to the Justice Action Assistant Coordinator.

More information: https://www.justiceaction.org.au/ contact-us/get-involved Key contact: Justice Action Assistant Coordinator, asst. coordinator@justiceaction.org.au

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Public Interest Law

Internships/volunteer opportunities: The NJP offers volunteer opportunities for current law students who can demonstrate a keen interest to work in the social justice sector and advocate for disadvantaged members of the community. Applicants should apply via the volunteer form on the NJP website.

The National Justice Project also offers PLT placements for a minimum of 3 days per week, for a minimum of 60 days total.

More information: http://justice.org.au/take-action/#volunteer Contact: hr@justice.org.au

Redfern Legal Centre

Legal Aid NSW

Redfern Legal Centre is a community legal centre that deals with a vast array of matters. They provide free legal advice to eligible clients. Matters that they assist with include tenancy, employment, domestic violence, complaints about government, police, education or health departments and discrimination claims. They provide such assistance based on eligibility in a designated catchment area and to international students in Sydney and surrounds.

Legal Aid NSW deals with matters concerning criminal law, family law and civil law. They provide assistance to those across New South Wales who are socially and economically disadvantaged. Legal Aid has offices across New South Wales, and services can range from over the phone assistance to case representation at court, depending on circumstances. Legal Aid also provides free workshops and webinars, in addition to writing policy reform submissions.

Internship program/volunteer opportunities:

Internship program/volunteer opportunities:

There are various ways to get involved with the Redfern Legal Centre. As a student or recent graduate, legal assistant roles are often a popular way to get involved.

These are on a volunteer basis over a certain designated period of time and are highly competitive.

There are many ways to become involved in Legal Aid. Firstly, roles are advertised and are either span over ongoing, temporary or casual employment timeframes.

Application are done through Jobs NSW, and generally involve providing a CV and cover letter and answering targeted questions to determine candidates suitability for the role they are applying for.

Legal Aid also advertises graduate opportunities. The Graduate Program spans over two years and allows the successful applicants to gain a well-rounded experience during their employment by being placed within a rotational program. Applicants must have less than 12 months post admission legal work experience.

For more information, refer to the Redfern Legal Centre’s website: https://rlc.org.au Refer to their career’s page for upcoming opportunities: https://rlc.org.au/jobs-volunteers

More information: https://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au Advertise roles (seasonal): https://www.legalaid.nsw.gov. au/about-us/working-at-legal-aid/job-vacancies Graduate opportunity: https://www.legalaid.nsw.gov. au/about-us/working-at-legal-aid/graduate-program

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Aboriginal Legal Service

Arts Law Centre of Australia

Aboriginal Legal Service NSW conducts legal work concerning matters in criminal law, family law and children’s care and protection to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander community members. Their service includes providing legal advice and information and representing clients in court. The Aboriginal Legal Service is a community organisation that refers clients to secondary services as required. They hold 24 offices and branches across New South Wales and the ACT.

The Arts Law Centre of Australia is a community legal centre which works directly with Australian artists and art organisations. Arts Law provides free and low cost specialised legal advice, and also provides education and resources regarding legal and business issues. Arts Law commonly deals with contracts, intellectual property, business structuring, insurance and employment law issues.

Internship program/volunteer opportunities:

Employment opportunities are advertised on the Arts Law website, in addition to volunteer roles. There are two steams in which Arts Law employ their volunteers: volunteer lawyers and student volunteers.

Student volunteers span over six months, with working at Arts Law for at least one day per week. This opportunity can also serve as a PLT placement depending on the circumstances. The requirements of the student volunteers include that they be in at least their third years of study in a law degree and have completed intellectual property or media law subjects, and application forms are available online for eligible students to fill out.

Arts Law accepts volunteer applications all year round.

There are a variety of employment opportunities at the Aboriginal Legal Service. This include student volunteer roles and internships, in which volunteers and interns assist the Aboriginal Legal Service’s lawyers and admin officers. Often, they are employed through external initiatives and programs such as the Aurora Project and as part of Professional Legal Training. It is often through these volunteer roles that the Aboriginal Legal Service hire their permanent staff.

More information: https://www.alsnswact.org.au Volunteer roles: https://www.alsnswact.org.au/aboutals/get-involved/volunteers/ Jobs advertised: https://www.alsnswact.org.au/aboutals/get-involved/jobs/

Internship program/volunteer opportunities:

More information: https://www.artslaw.com.au Jobs page: https://www.artslaw.com.au/about/careers/ Volunteer roles page: https://www.artslaw.com.au/ support/volunteer

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Public Interest Law

Part 3

Judges Associateships and Tipstaves

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39

Applying for Tipstaff Positions at the Supreme Court of New South Wales

The Supreme Court offers a number of tipstaff positions each year. Tipstaves are employed as part of the personal chambers staff of a particular judge. They provide legal research, in-court duties and other support for that judge.

Tipstaff positions are generally not advertised, and the selection of tipstaves is conducted directly by the judge(s).

Work Tipstaves conduct complex legal work on behalf of the judges. This would generally involve a detailed analysis of case law and an examination of legal developments in areas where precedents may not be well defined. These skills may be used in drafting background papers and assisting judicial officers in their work.

Period of appointment Tipstaves are generally appointed for a period of one year.

Application The Chief Justice seeks applications for research positions in the Chief Justice’s chambers in October each year for the next following year. For example, in October 2015, applications are sought for the commencement of Law Term 2017. An advertisement will be placed on the Court’s website to advise law graduates that the Chief Justice is seeking applications for these positions.

Applications should be made at the beginning of the year before the appointment is to take effect. Each judge’s chambers operate individually. Applicants are strongly recommended to contact the chambers of individual judges for specific information relating to applying for the tipstaff position with that judge.

Candidates applying for positions are expected to display the following skills and abilities: • highly developed legal research, conceptual and analytical skills • excellent organisational skills • strong interpersonal skills • high-level computer and keyboard skills.

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Judges Associateships and Tipstaves

Applying for Associate Positions at the Supreme Court of New South Wales

Applying for Associate Positions at the Federal Court

Associates provide broadly based executive support to enable the judge to meet obligations both within the court and to external stakeholders, including legal practitioners, litigants in person and members of the public.

Associate positions are generally not advertised and the selection of an associate is conducted directly by the judge(s).

The Federal Court offers a number of associate positions each year. Associates are employed as part of the chambers staff of a particular judge. They provide legal research, in-court duties and other support for that judge.

Associate positions are generally not advertised, however, some Judges of the Court provide information about the status of their recruitment, i.e. which year they are seeking associates for (often recruitment occurs 1-2 years in advance of the start date) and the specific requirements they may have for associates working in their chambers.

This information can be found on the profile of the individual judge on the federal court website, http:// www.fedcourt.gov.au/about/judges/current-judgesappointment.

Period of appointment Generally, associates are employed at the Supreme Court on a 12-month contract, renewable on an annual basis following approval from the judge.

Application Applicants are asked to forward a cover letter (outlining suitability for the role) and a CV to: Judicial Staff Coordinator Supreme Court of NSW Law Courts Building, Level 4 184 Phillip Street Sydney NSW 2000 GPO Box 3 Sydney 2001 Tel: (02) 9230 8100 E-Mail: sc.supportservices@justice.nsw.gov.au (Attn: Judicial Staff Coordinator)

Period of appointment Associates are employed on a non-ongoing contract for periods of approximately 12 months

Application Submit a cover letter addressed to the judge, curriculum vitae and an academic transcript directly to the chambers of the judge or to the National Judicial Registrar & District Registrar.

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What are we looking for?

What are we looking for?

There is no typical Allen & Overy lawyer. We realise each There is nohas typical & skills Overyand lawyer.

We In realise each person their Allen unique qualities. addition to person has their unique skills and qualities.

In addition excellent academic results, we seek students who areto excellent academic results, we seek students who are team players, show resilience, are good communicators, team players, show resilience, are good communicators, have strength in planning and organisation, are adept at have strength in planning and organisation, are adeptwith at problem solving and general commercial awareness problem solving and general commercial awareness with an overall ambition to build a career at Allen & Overy. an overall ambition to build a career at Allen & Overy.

Our shared culture and the values inspire the way we work behave: instinctively collectively Ourand shared culture and thethoughtful, values inspire the wayambitious, we work insightfully andthoughtful, refreshinglycollectively open. and behave: inventive instinctively ambitious, Careers at Allen & Overy insightfully inventive and refreshingly open.

To apply for our Summer Clerkship program in 2018/19,Careers please visit our website: at Allen & Overy www.allenovery.com/careers/gradsaustralia To apply for our Summer Clerkship program in 2018/19, please visit our website: The website also contains details of our Clerkship program in Perth. www.allenovery.com/careers/gradsaustralia website also Careers Guide Careers in Government: Overview ofThe the Government Sectorcontains details of our Clerkship program in Perth.

42 Allen & Overy means Allen & Overy LLP and/or its affiliated undertakings

Allen & Overy means Allen & Overy LLP and/or its affiliated undertakings

Summer Summer Clerks Clerks 2018/2019 2018/2019 The an amazing amazingexperience. experience.During During TheSummer SummerClerkship Clerkshipat atAllen Allen && Overy Overy was was an the fortunateenough enoughtotocomplete complete the1010weeks weekswe wespent spentat atthe the firm, firm, we we were were fortunate two fundraiser,and andtravel traveltotoBangkok, Bangkok, tworotations, rotations,host hostaacompetitive competitive drawing drawing fundraiser, Singapore winningthe thewooden woodenspoon spooninin Singaporeand andBeijing, Beijing,all allwhilst whilst successfully successfully winning the small feat!). feat!). theclerk clerksports sportscompetition competition(which (which was no small One of the reasons manyofofususchose choseA&O A&Owas wasour ourdesire desire to One of the reasons many travel and work with people from all over the world.

From our travel and work with people from all over the world. From our very first week, we were working on matters alongside very first week, we were working on matters alongside colleagues from across thevast vastA&O A&Onetwork, network,including including from from colleagues from across the the London, Hong Kong and Tokyo offices, for a diverse range the London, Hong Kong and Tokyo offices, for a diverse range of multinational clients.

Every clerk also spent a week in one of multinational clients. Every clerk also spent a week in one of A&O’s APAC offices, getting a taste of working overseas. of A&O’s APAC offices, getting a taste of working overseas.

The clerks who went to Bangkok drafted a piece on the The clerks who went to Bangkok drafted a piece on the renewables sector in Thailand, which involved looking major renewables sector in Thailand, which involved looking major projects in wind, solar and hydro-electricity, and those in projects in wind, solar and hydro-electricity, and those in Singapore worked on cross-border transactions across Singapore worked on cross-border across Indonesia and Malaysia.

In additiontransactions to working, the Asia Indonesia and Malaysia.

In addition to working, the Asia experience was also a chance to explore a new city.

Those experience was also a chanceand to explore a new city. Those of us stationed in Shanghai Beijing took a considerable of us stationed in Shanghai Beijing a considerable amount of time to sample and a wide rangetook of dumplings and amount of time to sample a wide range of dumplings and noodles, while the group in Singapore conducted a thorough noodles, while the group Singapore conducted investigation of the city’sinhidden cocktail bars. a thorough investigation of the city’s hidden cocktail bars.

A&O’s relatively small team in Australia meant that we never A&O’s relatively small in Australia meant that weanever felt like just a cog in team the machine.

Every person was valuable team, andmachine. the seniorEvery lawyers took the and feltpart like of justtheir a cog in the person wastime a valuable to get to know found took that it’d beand a parteffort of their team, and us. the Often seniorwe lawyers thejust time clerk, an associate and a partner on a task.

This level effort to get to know us. Often we found that it’d just be a of exposure to real work was daunting at the start, but the clerk, an associate and a partner on a task.

This level on-the-job training was a fantastic way to develop our of exposure to real work was daunting at the start, but skills the as commercial lawyers.

The responsibility came quickly but when on-the-job training was a fantastic way to develop our skills as the going did get tough, everyone (from fellow clerks through commercial lawyers. The responsibility came quickly but when the partners) would pitch in to make sure the job got done. thetogoing did get tough, everyone (from fellow clerks through to the partners) would pitch in to make sure the job got done.

As our clerkship was As with with any anyjob, job,not notevery everymoment momentofof our clerkship was glamorous and fun.

However, each time we were faced glamorous and fun. However, each time we were faced with explained ourour rolerole with less lessexciting excitingwork, work,the theteam teampatiently patiently explained in the context of the wider matter, allowing us to gain a better in the context of the wider matter, allowing us to gain a better understanding or or piece of of understandingofofhow howaacomplex complextransaction transaction piece litigation runs from start to finish. litigation runs from start to finish.

In addition to this, we had the opportunity to engage in pro In addition to this, we had the opportunity to engage in pro bono legal work, such as research for a matter in Kenya run bono legal work, such as research for a matter in Kenya run out of the London office. Some of us also had the opportunity out of the London office. Some of us also had the opportunity to volunteer for a day at the Wayside Chapel, where we to volunteer for a lawyers day at the Wayside Chapel, where we worked with A&O to cook a delicious meal for people worked with A&O lawyers to cook a delicious meal for people experiencing homelessness. experiencing homelessness.

The highlight of our clerkship was undoubtedly getting to know Thefellow highlight of our undoubtedly our clerks.

On clerkship any given was morning, you couldgetting find usto know our fellow clerks. any morning, youthe could us chain-eating raisin On toast in given the kitchen and by end find of the chain-eating in the kitchen and by the end of the ten weeks, weraisin weretoast embarrassingly inseparable, snuggling up ten weeks, we were embarrassingly inseparable, snuggling up under a blanket with wine in hand at the Moonlight Cinema. under a blanket with wine in hand at the Moonlight Cinema.

All together, we had an unforgettable summer, learnt invaluable new made some exceptional friends, All together, weskills, had and an unforgettable summer, learnt and we are so excited to start as grads together in 2019. invaluable new skills, and made some exceptional friends, and we are so excited to start as grads together in 2019.

A career in Law Find out more at:in www.allenovery.com/ A career Law careers/gradsaustralia

Find out more at: www.allenovery.com/ Follow the conversation: careers/gradsaustralia Careers Guide LinkedIn Follow the conversation: LinkedIn

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Part 4

International Careers

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International Careers

My Experience as an International Legal Intern Alix Friedman Associate to Judge Alex Calabrese in the Red Hook Community Justice Centre in Brooklyn, New York.

Intern at the International Bar Association in London, England.

Associate to Judge Alex Calabrese in Brooklyn, New York The Red Hook Community Justice Centre comprises a multi-jurisdictional court and hears criminal, housing and family cases from three large police precincts in Brooklyn, and other services and programs including community service, counselling, and drug rehab. The Centre focuses on restorative justice and rehabilitation of offenders, rather than imprisonment My role involved sitting at the bench with the judge to observe a variety of cases, interviewing the staff about important stories and cases and writing them down to memorialise them and analysing data about statistics of crime and the judicial system in Brooklyn.

Application Process: Fortunately, a relative of mine had recently met Judge Calabrese and she recommended that I write to him to request if I could come and intern at the court. I sent my resume and corresponded with the Judge in the lead up to my coming to New York. He was very happy for me to come and work for him. This was not a difficult application process and I think it would be available to other people/students interested in interning there.

What would your advice be to students who are interested in this sort of opportunity?

I highly recommend applying to work at Red Hook with Judge Calabrese. He is a remarkable inspiring man and the Court is a wonderful place, and very different from the usual adversarial court in the criminal justice system. I enjoyed getting to know a diverse range of people at the court and everyone was very welcoming. I learned a lot about criminal justice in the USA – the problems and also the strengths of the ‘problem-solving’ community court.

Internship at the International Bar Association, London, in the Human Rights division I was in the Legal Policy and Research Unit (LPRU) – this involved researching areas of international commercial law. There was one other intern in the LPRU with me and about 5 interns in the Human Rights division.

I worked on a range of projects in my 3 months at the IBA. The group was in the middle of writing several papers about various contemporary global legal areas including Business & Human Rights, Anti-Corruption, Blockchain Technology and Women in the Law. I assisted the lawyers by researching the areas, compiling research memos, proofreading the reports, attending conferences about these topics. I also wrote an article and delivered a presentation about Women in the Law from an Australian perspective. The article was published on the IBA website.

Application process: I applied approximately 5 months before the internship commenced (April/May 2017). This involved sending a cover letter, a resume, filling in the IBA application for the LPRU and

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providing a sample of a piece of writing I had previously done. The application process took some hours but it was not overly complicated. I had a Skype interview with 2 people in the LPRU in July 2017 and I was informed that I had secured a position as an intern approximately 1 week after the interview.

What would your advice be to students who are interested in this sort of opportunity?

I highly recommend applying to intern at the IBA. It was a great experience – I learned a lot about international law, made friends with like-minded interns from all over the world, and loved living in London for 3 months.

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My Experience as an Intern with the United Nations Hanna Aili Intern at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Algiers, North Africa, in the Registration and Protection divisions.

What was the application process?

The Application process was long, and at often times frustrating because of the lack of communication. The initial stages involved submitting an application and then going through two rounds of interviews before being informed of the outcome. My best advice for anyone interested in applying would be to persevere and maintain contact with the office, even if you do not hear back from them as soon as you would like. Something to remember, and you will see when you are there in person at the office is that the volume of work that they have to do, and the often-short-staffed nature of the organisation makes the delay in responses understandable; so, it’s important to just remain patient.

What did a typical day on the job involve for you?

My days at the office were full-time and long; they were broken up into working in the Protection and Registration departments. Mornings were reserved for registration and interviewing refugees. This was conducted in French and Arabic and involved translating and transcribing on the spot. The stories that you hear are quite harrowing and confronting, but because this is the first stage in the Refugee Status Determination process, it is crucial that their stories are written down exactly as they tell them. Furthermore, it is also crucial that any concerns are picked up on and the office is alerted of these e.g. young children not going to school, seriously ill people that do not have access to health care, women in need etc. The interviews do take up most of the morning and can go into the afternoon, due to the volume of people that are received every day and the varying complexity of cases.

The afternoons are generally spent transcribing the interviews into reports and providing recommendations on whether they should be granted refugee status or not using your international laws and conventions research to support your outcome. These are then given to a supervisor for checking. Depending on the day, you could also be going out on the field to check on vulnerable cases, completing news alerts and reports for the Geneva head office or liaising with other UNHCR offices to discuss potential refugee transfers.

What advice would you give to students who are interested in pursuing similar opportunities?

My main advice for anyone wanting to participate would firstly to be extremely dedicated and passionate - the nature of the work is very difficult and does require a lot of external motivation to see it through to the end. If you are taking a role overseas, particularly in a different culture, I would also recommend you really remain open to different mindsets and try and do as much research to understand what is waiting for you; as well as preparing yourself mentally for the challenge that is to come.

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What was particularly rewarding about your experiences working overseas?

The most rewarding part about the experience was realising the varying ways in which your legal degree can be used and it’s rewarding nature - the changes that you can make to people’s lives are so great, and you can’t comprehend the impact until you see the direct effect it has on the refugees.

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My Experience at the London Bar Grayson Gay Mini Pupillage at Bedford Row Chambers in London, England.

Tell us a little bit about this internship – how did you hear about it, and what was the application process?

UTS Law offers a scholarship called the Michael Whitbread Scholarship, which sponsors one student per year to travel to London for what is called a mini-pupillage in a Barristers’ Chambers called 7 Bedford Row in London. The opportunity was advertised via our UTS Online platforms and our student emails. The application process was fairly straightforward.

The written component involved responding to a number of questions. The questions covered things relating to my experience and motivation for applying for the scholarship. From here, a small group were shortlisted for interviews. My interview was in front of a panel of three members of the UTS Law faculty, including Professor Lesley Hitchens, the Dean of Law, and Michael Whitbread, who arranged and fundraised for the scholarship. After my interview, I received a phone call that very same afternoon to notify me that I had been successful and I was going to London!

What did a typical day on the job involve for you?

Every day was different. Typically, I would receive an email in the afternoon from a clerk outlining what my schedule would be for the next day. My tasks varied from reviewing briefs and attending client conferences to attending courts and tribunals for hearings. Most of my time was spent in different courts across the Greater London region with various barristers.

I attended hearings relating to everything from family law and clinical negligence, to criminal fraud and human rights. While I was in London I was also lucky enough to attend the Seven Bedford Row summer party, hosted in one of the Barrister’s beautiful historical homes on Greenwich Park, to celebrate the warm weather and watch England in the World Cup Quarter Final.

How did this internship differ to your experience working as a paralegal to a Barrister in Australia?

First of all, the structure of the profession is slightly different in the UK. While, in Australia, lawyers will typically practise as a solicitor for a number of years before going to the Bar, law UK graduates will immediately pursue a career as a Barrister if that is their career path of choice. This meant that, unlike in Australia, it was not uncommon to see Barristers as young as twenty-five. This was quite refreshing and unusual for me. Further, I was exposed to very different areas of law in the UK compared to my work in Sydney. Here at home, I work predominantly in the commercial sphere, so having the opportunity to engage with work across various non-commercial practice areas was a huge change of scene for me which I really valued.

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What was the most rewarding aspect of the internship?

The rich legal history in the UK, and London specifically, was very special to be a part of.

Being able to explore the Inns of Court and Royal Courts of Courts while working or on my lunch break was quite surreal. For example, on one lunch break, I visited the dining hall of Gray’s Inn where Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt first met in 1918. The fact that these institutions were right on my doorstep in the London legal precinct was incredibly exciting. Immersing myself in the traditional legal history of London reinvigorated my love for the law and reminded me why I pursued this vocation in the first place.

Do you have any advice for UTS Law Students who are interested in pursuing this kind of opportunity?

Be proactive about embracing every opportunity that UTS Law offers, and never underestimate your odds. When I applied for this scholarship, I never dreamt that I might actually be the person they would select. If you are a proactive law student at UTS with a passion for what you do, that alone makes you a very persuasive candidate. So why not throw your hat in the ring!

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International Clerkships and Graduate Roles: Is it right for you?

Daria Konnova Linklaters London Clerk

Background A clerkship is the primary gateway to a graduate position at large domestic and international commercial firms, which, in my experience, often makes the application process daunting and time-consuming. However, the reward of a graduate position at the end is often well worth the risk, which cannot be truer for the international clerkship opportunity offered by Linklaters LLP. In this piece, I hope to assist those considering international careers in commercial law through the lens of my experience as an international clerk in the Linklaters London office in November-December 2017.

To provide some context, Linklaters is an international firm with 30 offices in 20 countries spanning across Europe, North and South America, Africa, the Asia Pacific and the Middle East. The firm boasts strong strategic alliances in Australia, Africa and India, which extend its reach and give it access to truly international and complex work. The firm is headquartered in London and is part of the elite top tier ‘magic circle’ of UK firms.

What is the Linklaters International Clerkship?

The firm has a huge commitment to diversity in everything it does, which is why they invest significantly in recruiting the best in class candidates from all over the world. The London and Hong Kong offices, in particular, run international clerkship programs that allow them to recruit students from places such as Australia where the firm is only represented through their alliances. Clerkship applications for the London clerkship open in late March/early April, giving penultimate Australian law students the opportunity to apply ahead of the clerkship season.

If successful in the application process, the firm takes the clerks over to London where they work for a month and experience all that London has to offer. All clerks are eligible for a training contract (graduate program) interview at the end of their clerkship.

The graduate program is two years long and allows you to commence your legal career directly in London. The program involves 4 six months rotations through the firm’s different practice areas, with one of the rotations normally taking place in one of Linklaters’ overseas offices.

For example, as a future trainee, I am considering completing one of my graduate rotations in Moscow.

My experience During the clerkship, I rotated through Mainstream Corporate (M&A) and Competition practice groups, with each rotation being two weeks long. The program also allows clerks to attend a multitude of seminars to learn about the different practice areas of the firm and their relation to one another.

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What did the clerkship involve?

In the space of a month, I learnt more about the relationship between the different law firm departments, and commercial legal practice more generally, than I had during my two years as a paralegal in Sydney.

Linklaters also treated us to lavish social outings and organised activities such as Christmas ice-skating at Somerset House and escape rooms. Although incredibly exciting, I had to balance the activities and seminars with tasks from my supervisors and other members of my teams as well as projects assigned to me by the firm. This made for a challenging but rewarding experience that allowed me to build repour with my teams and understand both the level of intensity and excitement that I would experience if I chose to take up a graduate position at Linklaters.

What makes an international firm like Linklaters stand out from Australian firms?

What really shocked me about the firm was how truly international it was. This was both reflected in the diversity of the firm’s employees and the multijurisdictional nature of its work. I had the opportunity to research in Russian, work on a bid for Finland’s second-biggest electricity distributor and complete a research note on complex US antitrust regulations in collaboration with a lawyer from the Linklaters New York office. Importantly, I am confident that these tasks constitute genuine examples of the day-to-day work performed by Linklaters’ trainees.

During the clerkship, I had coffee with a lot of Australians who had chosen to start their career overseas. When I asked one of them why he chose to accept an offer with Linklaters rather than a firm in Australia, he told me; ‘the work that Linklaters does simply does not exist in Australia.’ Australian firms can provide you with interesting tasks that will challenge you as a legal practitioner but they will not allow you to experience transactions of the same scale or complexity as those experienced by Linklaters’ trainees. As a junior lawyer at Linklaters, you will be involved in coordinating multijurisdictional transactions whilst lawyers who are at the same professional level in Australia will most likely only be involved in the Australian side of the deal. In my opinion, these experiences finetune your project management and teamwork skills and help make even the most mundane work interesting.

The ‘perks’ and culture Although it would be ill-advised to pick a firm based on the perks on offer, they are nevertheless significant at Linklaters. Out of the five magic circle firms in the UK, Linklaters invests the most into its employees, offering everything from an on the premises doctor to an incredible subsidised canteen that turns into a cocktail bar on Thursdays. Linklaters makes is very easy for you to move overseas, pays for your Practical Legal Training (PLT) and its equivalent in the UK, provides you with a PLT maintenance grant and gives you bursaries to learn languages.

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However, for me, the biggest perk of them all was the brilliant culture at Linklaters. I was a little worried about the differences in the law, as well as firm culture, between Australia and the UK but the clerkship program made the transition quite seamless. With excellent knowledge databases and precedents and attentive supervisors and buddies, I felt very supported and encouraged throughout the whole experience. Linklaters calls itself a ‘feedback firm’ and during my time there I genuinely felt that my supervisors, buddies and the HR were very invested in my development and provided me with great feedback both during and after the clerkship. For me, this is something that distinguished Linklaters from a lot of other Australian firms and made me appreciate the quality of training and the level of support that I would receive there as a graduate.

The application process The Linklaters application process is vigorous and differs from that of other Australian firms.

Linklaters requires you to submit a standardised form available on their website (no resume or cover letter required) and to complete the Watson Glaser critical reasoning test online.

Linklaters has also been using the Rare system for a number of years, which allows the firm to take your particular circumstances into consideration when reviewing your application.

If successful, you will be invited to a test day interview that will take place over the course of five hours on one single day. The test day involves a case study exercise and two 45-minute interviews, one with a recruitment partner and one with an HR representative.

The case study forms the basis of your partner interview.

The process is designed to test your critical thinking and reasoning skills, as well as your commercial knowledge and ability to cope under pressure. Although incredibly stressful, the process gives you a good idea of the demanding yet rewarding culture of the firm and ensures that emphasis is placed on your skills and knowledge rather than the personal preferences of partners or the font of your resume.

I would strongly encourage all interested in the clerkship to give the application process a go. Even if you are ultimately unsuccessful, the experience teaches you a lot about your skills and competencies and prepares you for the intensive June clerkship process.

Starting your career overseas: is it right for you?

Although an international career can be exciting and full of incredible opportunities; it is important to note that it is not for everyone. When deciding whether you should pursue an international career, you should consider the following questions: Am I willing to move overseas?

This may seem like an obvious question but you do have to consider whether you are willing to permanently relocate to London (and potentially another Linklaters office as the time

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goes on). Although your training/graduate contract will be for two years, you will not be particularly qualified or employable after two years of rotating through different practice areas. Hence, you need to consider whether you are willing to stay overseas for four to five years to make the most of the training, learning and networking opportunities on offer.

Which practice areas am I interested in?

Linklaters excels in areas such as Corporate and Finance and Projects. Its Dispute Resolution practice group has not traditionally been as strong as the others but is currently on the rise, particularly in the area of regulatory investigations. Although the skillset that you will acquire as a solicitor at Linklaters will be highly transferable, it must be noted that it will be a lot easier to move between countries if you end up qualifying into Mainstream M&A or Banking as opposed to Tax or Dispute Resolution. If your long-term goal is to practice in these areas in Australia, then you should consider whether you are better placed to start your legal career here.

Am I prepared for the Sunday blues?

Potentially the most important question that you should ask yourself is whether you are prepared for some late nights at work and occasional lonely times. A big move can often leave you feeling lonely and homesick and that is something that everyone considering relocating overseas should be prepared for. A firm such as Linklaters will do everything to ensure that your move is as comfortable as possible and the friends that you will make both within your clerkship cohort and at the firm more generally will be some of your best (they were for me!) but you need to be prepared for some rough sailing from time to time.

My decision Ultimately, the decision of whether you should start your career overseas is a personal one and will depend on your long-term ambitions and goals, as well as your personality. The opportunities that a firm like Linklaters can offer you are endless; the training is exceptional and the culture is fun and inclusive. For me, the decision to accept my training contract offer was easy, and this was the case for the majority of my clerk cohort. If you are someone who is ambitious, driven and interested in multijurisdictional and complex commercial work, then I would strongly encourage you not to shy away from the challenge and to apply for the Linklaters clerkship and any other international opportunity that comes your way.

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Part 5

Working in Legal Technology

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Working in a Legal Technology Company Dominic Woolrych CEO of Law Path

How did get to your current role?

I started my legal career as a clerk and then graduate lawyer at Minter Ellison, Sydney. I thoroughly enjoyed my work at the commercial firm however, I became frustrated with many inefficiencies I saw across the entire legal industry. I joined LawPath in 2014 as a Legal Product Manager and slowly made my way up to Chief Executive Officer. Although much of my time is now taken up by management duties, I still really enjoy getting involved in building products that help people complete legal tasks.

How does working in Legal Tech compare to your experience in a traditional private practice environment?

One of the first things I tell people about LawPath is that we are a technology company that provides legal solutions and not a law firm. I think it’s really important to make the distinction between the two. We build software that allows clients to complete legal tasks themselves or connect with a lawyer. We don’t provide legal advice and don’t plan on doing that. We have a marketplace of over 1000+ lawyers that can provide legal advice via our software. We act like a technology company and everything we do is value based rather than time-based.

Fundamentally our goals and business model are different to a traditional firm. We provide low margin legal services as high volume whereas a traditional firm typically provides higher margin and low volume services. What we will see in the legal industry in the coming years is specialisation or commoditisation. Neither one is the ‘correct’ model, just different offering for clients to choose.

What do you think are the most significant changes currently happening in Legal Technology?

I think you can split legal technology into two parts, technology that creates efficiencies for lawyers and technology that creates efficiencies directly to clients. Right now, we are seeing a huge explosion of start-ups/companies that create efficiencies for lawyers. Specifically, artificial intelligence used in legal research and contract review is gaining wide adoption.

Eventually, I see these technologies being available directly to clients. Don’t worry, this will not replace lawyers however dramatically change how they work.

If you had one piece of advice for students looking to break into Legal Technology, what would it be?

You have to think outside the box and not undervalue yourself. Much of the growth in the legal tech space is attributed to new technology and new ideas being borrowed from other industries. It is not just core legal skills that will help you succeed in Legal Technology but

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also skills that you have picked up and learnt in other industries and areas. Students are often well placed to add immediate value to Legal Technology companies as they are familiar with technology and what it can achieve.

What are the most challenging aspects of your role?

Finding and hiring great team members is one of the largest challenges I face. As we’ve grown it has become very apparent that having a good team will make or break a start-up.

As the saying goes... its 10% idea and 90% execution. Finding young motivated lawyers that want to change the way that legal services are provided in Australia is a challenge. However, I will note that it’s become a lot easier in the last few years as the legal technology industry has grown and universities have started to provide students with access and insights into our industry.

What is the most rewarding?

Being on the cutting edge of technology allows us to currently try and test new things.

Sometimes these ideas crash and burn (we put a legal document on the blockchain last year that no one wanted to use… I think we were a little ahead of our time). Taking the risk to try something new, even if traditional lawyers don’t approve, is how we will move the legal industry into the 21st century. Being part of that is the most rewarding part.

What is the most common misconception about Legal Tech?

People often think that legal technology is all about the technology. It’s not, legal technology is also about questioning the current way or process in which tasks are done and trying new things. Often to create an efficiency in legal all that is needed is a new process, technology plays a part but not all the time.

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Life as a Paralegal in a Legal Technology Firm Eugenia Muñoz Paralegal and Content Creator at LegalVision.

What does a typical day on the job involve for you?

My role as a paralegal at LegalVision is to assist the legal team and the administrative team with any tasks that need to be completed. I am constantly faced with new tasks that push me out of my comfort zone and help me learn. Broadly, my day-to-day tasks entail either legal or administrative work. The administrative tasks range from Officeworks orders to organising meeting rooms for clients. The legal work includes proofing and formatting legal documents, drafting emails and letters for clients, and researching particular areas of law. Recently, I worked on a Managed Legal Services Project. LegalVision’s task was to review over 400 contracts and prepare legal documents amending these contracts in under two weeks. This project has been particularly interesting as it has allowed me to see the benefits technology and process design can bring to large-scale legal projects.

In my time at LegalVision, I’ve also worked with the marketing team on developing content for our growing database of legal articles. I’ve had the opportunity to write and publish over 30 articles on areas of law and business that interest me. Not only has this helped me improve my legal research skills, but it has also taught me how to write about complicated legal issues in an engaging manner, keeping our client’s interests at the forefront of my mind.

How did you come to this role? Did you have any experience in legal tech before applying?

I found myself about to enter my third year of a combined business and law degree and wanted industry experience to understand what being a lawyer really entailed At the same time, I had a growing passion for start-ups and the potential of technology in the legal industry. So, I decided to research firms that could help me bring my passion for innovation and law together. I compiled a list of firms and start-ups that were either developing legal tech software or transforming the delivery of legal services. Many of these (including Legal Vision) did not have open positions, but I decided to cold email them my cover letter and resume because I had nothing to lose. LegalVision got back to me immediately saying that they did not have any open positions but would keep my resume on file for the next paralegal intake. A week later, I got a second email from LegalVision saying that they just signed a new project and needed a paralegal to start asap. Next thing I knew I had an interview and the rest is history.

What advice would you give to other UTS Law Students who are interested in working in legal tech?

Find firms that interest you and actively seek opportunities for work experience.

If you find a firm that resonates with your interests, email them detailing why you’re interested in their work and how you can add value to their firm. Whether it is working one day a week or doing a few weeks of work experience in the holidays, explain to them the type of work

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you are seeking. Many firms working in the legal tech industry are start-ups and are hence highly flexible and open-minded. They don’t usually have overly complex recruitment processes and respond positively to initiative and passion.

Find opportunities at university that help you demonstrate your interest for legal tech and innovation. There are also plenty of extra-curricular opportunities at university that can help you develop your knowledge and understanding of innovation in the legal industry. LSS events such as the legal tech careers panel and the legal tech moot are great to increase your exposure to this industry and understand what about it interests you. There are also plenty of events organised by other societies and associations such as UTS Startups and the Hult Prize that can help you gain a broader understanding of what buzzwords like innovation and design thinking really entail.

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Life in a Legal Technology Start-Up Jackson Kang Legal Analyst, Law of the Jungle

What did a typical day in the job involve for you?

My typical day was driven by the client’s needs. Some days, I would work on updating content and uploading content to the program. Other days, I spent the majority of the time managing helpdesk tickets, contributing ideas to improving processes in the process and working on different presentations for the business.

How do you think this role differs from a traditional private practice role?

As I now work in a ‘traditional law firm’, I believe the nature of this role does not differ drastically from a traditional private practice role. At a technical level, the work is undoubtedly different. Instead of working on legal documents, as I currently do, I uploaded content for Law of the Jungle’s service products. This required developing basic HTML skills that aren’t necessarily required in traditional practice.

However, managing client relationships are at the centre of all professional service providers. Arguably, I had more of a responsibility of managing client relationships at Law of the Jungle, as it is a start-up and there weren’t persons of more seniority working there to shoulder such a responsibility. Undoubtedly, lawyers at traditional firms also shoulder this responsibility. However, working at a start-up is quite unique in the sense that you are required to take on more of this responsibility due to the size of the business.

What route did you take to get to this role?

I simply applied on UTS CareerHub. I had one interview and got the job.

What was the most rewarding aspect of working in legal tech?

At university, there is quite a large hysteria that technology is disrupting the legal industry without much context being provided. Working in legal tech, particularly for a ‘disruptor’ company, definitely provides this context. Moreover, working in a start-up definitely forces you to be creative and resilient as you are required to shoulder a significant amount of responsibility.

What was the most challenging aspect?

Adapting to working in an office environment after working in hospitality is quite challenging.

The social interactions are completely different and you are required to exercise your mind consistently over an extended period of time. However, once you get used to this, it is quite rewarding.

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What advice would you give to students who are interested in pursuing a career in legal tech?

Monitor UTS CareerHub for opportunities. Multiple legal tech companies, such was Law Path and LegalVision, offer paralegal and internships through these sites. Additionally, I would sign up for Allens Neota Program and go to any legal tech event. In my experience, many legal tech companies are looking for bright and ambitious law students.

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Life as a Student Intern in Legal Technology Sabrina Ebrahimi Legal Technology Intern at Law Path

What does a typical day on the job involve for you?

A typical day can vary. It can include liaising with staff and clients and drafting documents and publications for the firm. I would also create articles which were published on behalf of Law Path, directed towards prospective and current clients. As Law Path was primarily driven by technology and providing an online library of legal documents and precedents, often documents and other publications required extensive preparation and review prior to being provided to users of the library. There was also a secondary aspect to the business that involved a lawyer marketplace which required system reviews occasionally. My role also involved coding documents prior to publishing.

How did you come to this role? Did you have any experience in legal tech before applying?

I found the role when I was looking at expanding my skills and work experience in the area of legal tech. I found this specific role on the UTS Careers Hub, and Law Path stood out to me as the company had a strong grounding in legal tech. I didn’t have any specific legal technology experience in the past, although, this was not necessary to land a role in the field.

The role required a more diverse skill set such as the ability for critical thinking, excellent communication and ability to adapt in a fast-changing environment. An eagerness to learn and embrace new technology also served me well.

How does this role differ from a traditional private practice paralegal role?

Prior to this role, I had been in a small legal firm and a community legal centre to name a few. For the most part, my role was similar to that of a traditional paralegal role. It centred itself on legal research, drafting and the like. Although, there were a few aspects which stood out in the role. Firstly, Law Path is driven by technology and I dealt with technology as a primary source of my work. Another aspect was the focus the firm had on their clients and ensuring that the legal documents and databases were being utilised to the best of their ability.

User experience was key and central to the company, through reviewing and constantly tailoring its products and services, unlike many other firms I have worked at. This relied on a greater emphasis on back-end technology processes and automated systems that ensured clients were receiving the best response to their legal problems.

What is the most challenging aspect of this role?

Coming from a background where my skills set were in law, innovation and design thinking, one of the most challenging aspects of the role was learning new technology and systems to

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integrate into the work we did. This would cause a slow start at first, but once I had completed similar tasks a few times, this became like any other skill I had acquired and I was able to apply this to many more instances. My earlier skills were indefinitely important as they were translatable and applicable to the work I completed.

What advice would you give to other UTS Law Students who are interested in working in legal tech?

Legal technology and innovation is an emerging area in the law, so there is not a lot of people who have experience in this area of practice. Not only is it relatively niche it is also becoming increasingly relevant and employers look favourably upon any experience in legal tech. The best way to start gaining legal technology experience is to take whatever role you can in a law firm or department driven by technology and get as much hands-on experience as possible.

Nominate yourself for work and you will get the fullest experience possible and gain the greatest and most diverse amount of skills.

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We believe our people are our greatest resource We believe our people are our greatest resource William Roberts staff are motivated, innovative, talented and committed to excellence.

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SYDNEY MELBOURNE Level 22, 66 Goulburn Street Level 4, 7 Jeffcott Street SYDNEY MELBOURNE SYDNEY NSW 2000 Street MELBOURNE VIC Street 3003 Level 22, 66 Goulburn Level 4, 7 Jeffcott t +61 2 9552 t +61 3 9321 9111 SYDNEY NSW2111 2000 MELBOURNE VIC 3003 +61229552 95522111 1911 +61 3 t f+61 tf +61 3 9321 9321 9100 9111 f +61 2 9552 1911 9321 9100Sector Careers in Government: Overviewfof+61 the 3Government

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Part 6

Alternative Corporate Careers

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Life as a Paralegal in an In-House Team Nicholas Ruff Group Paralegal in the in-house legal team at Goodman, a global industrial property group.

What does a typical day on the job involve for you?

A typical day at Goodman will vary from day to day and largely depends on the workload of the lawyers in the team. So far at my time at Goodman my roles have varied from drafting Board minutes, maintaining the company and trust registry, to reviewing contracts, drafting resolutions, maintenance of Group-wide trademarks, Corporate governance policies (such as continuous disclosure obligations and securities trading policy) and preparing compliance audit documents. Goodman’s Legal Counsel and Company Secretary positions are combined, so I often work within both arms of the Company.

How did you come into this role, and what was the application process?

I came across this position on a job advertisement on Seek. The application was relatively straightforward; I submitted a cover letter, CV, and academic transcript. Goodman conducted a blind review of applications, meaning that name, address, and university were taken out during the initial stages. I then had an informal telephone conversation with HR and was then invited to attend an interview. The initial interview compromised of two members of the legal team and the second round interview consisted of the remaining two members of the team.

How does an in-house paralegal role differ from a traditional in private practice?

The greatest difference that I have realised is that your client is your employer, so you are required to know every intimate detail of the inner working of the company. I have also found that working alongside numerous other teams, such as IT, Risk, Marketing, and Treasury provide different experience, knowledge and perspectives to a scenario. In house-team are typically smaller which means that you worked closely with the entire team on larger tasks but also have your assigned tasks for smaller matters as well.

What advice would you give to UTS Law Students who are interred in pursuing a career in-house?

I have found that as a student it is rare to discover opportunities to work in-house. However, my advice to students aspiring to gain experience in-house whilst studying would be to stay abreast to job boards, especially UTS Careers. If you are considering in-house down the track, I have discovered in my time at Goodman that there is no pre-determined pathway to an in-house career; some of my team comes from a corporate law background while others come from more diverse backgrounds. My advice for aspiring in-house lawyers would be to stay in tune with corporate law and company governance as they are essential skills required to work as an in-house lawyer/company secretary. I would also recommend staying close to the industry you hope to work in, such as keeping up to date with industry developments and trends.

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Clerking with a Big 4 Accounting Firm Ethan Tudjman Vacation Clerk, KPMG Global Transfer Pricing Services Team, Summer 2017/18.

Undergraduate, KPMG Global Transfer Pricing Services Team 2018

As a Vacation Clerk with KPMG, what was a typical day on the job? Has this changed now you are working as a Global Transfer Pricing Undergraduate?

The KPMG Vacation program is an eight-week, full-time program designed to expose Vacationers to the dynamic workplace of a top-tier accounting and advisory firm. The first few weeks of the program focuses on assimilating into the KPMG culture and way of life.

There is a big focus on a flexible and agile work environment. For example, KPMG endorses the use of ‘hot-desking’, where employees do not have assignment desks or spaces, enabling greater opportunities for networking and interaction with a greater variety of people.

The Vacation program was a fantastic experience that from the start provided exposure to real-world clients. I was allocated to the Global Transfer Pricing Services team in the Deals, Tax and Legal department. My role provided me with the ability to work on client engagements throughout the whole program, allowing me to develop specialist knowledge and improve my communication skills with both fellow employees and clients.

At the conclusion of my Vacation program, I was approached to stay on part-time until I start my Graduate program. KPMG was flexible and allowed me to work around my university obligations, meaning I was able to continue my education and development in my role at the firm whilst also finishing my Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Business degree.

What was the application process for the Vacation Clerk program?

KPMG has two windows for application throughout the year in a range of roles from Deals, Tax and Legal, to more business-orientated roles such as Audit, Assurance and Risk and Management Consulting.

The process begins by formally applying for the advertised roles on the KPMG website. KPMG requires you to answer a few questions about yourself, your education and work history to develop a greater understanding of your background (accompanied by your CV). To complement your application, KPMG requires you to undertake a problem-solving exercise that analyses your decision-making in a limited period of time.

Successful first-round applicants are then required to complete a video interview.

The final step of the application is a formal interview at KPMG’s head office in Barangaroo conducted by senior employees of KPMG.

How does an in-house clerkship role differ from a traditional in private practice clerkship programs?

My role as an Undergraduate in the Global Transfer Pricing Services focuses on the international tax obligations of multi-national firms. Essentially, the main focus of my work is assisting businesses that earn over AU$1 billion revenue globally meet their tax obligations (otherwise known as Significant Global Entities - or “SGE’s”). The basis of SGE’s obligations is ensuring that all transactions with their related parties are conducted at arm’s length, to prevent tax avoidance or profit-shifting to tax jurisdictions with less strenuous tax rates.

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My role at KPMG is assisting our clients to demonstrate to the ATO that they are conducting their related-party transactions in accordance with the ATO’s requirements. This includes preparing compliance documents to the ATO that evidence all related-party transactions, and preparing documentation that all transactions are completed at arms-length per the ATO’s regulations. By preparing this information on behalf of the client, we are able to establish a ‘reasonably-arguable position’ that their organisation is adhering to the tax regulatory framework.

This role differs from traditional practice, as there is a greater focus on encouraging our clients to be proactive and safeguard their organisations from potential penalties and legal action from the ATO. Although there is a heavy focus on the regulatory tax environment, the role also requires a sound understanding of the nature of the business. The Global Transfer Pricing Services industry is rapidly evolving and revolutionary sector that aims to address the growing concern held (by politicians and commentators alike) that subsidiaries of large companies are attempting to avoid their tax obligations in Australia.

What advice would you give to UTS Law Students who are interested in pursuing a clerkship/graduate position?

I would advise other law students to keep an open mind when applying for clerkship and graduate positions. As someone who was never particularly interested in going into practice, it has been a fantastic experience that demonstrates that there is a wide variety of opportunities available for people undertaking study in the legal profession.

The most important thing I could recommend to fellow students would be to keep an eye open for when firms such as KPMG participate in career events at UTS. Networking is crucial to gaining an advantage over your peers. Furthermore, these events can provide you with invaluable information that you can later use in interviews and the application process to demonstrate your knowledge of the business you are applying for.

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My Experience as a Paralegal in a Big 4 Accounting Firm Katya Shliapnikoff Paralegal at Ernst & Young

What does a typical day on the job involve for you?

In an average day, I undertake Similar tasks to any usual paralegal at a firm. This may be reviewing a contract, legal research, amending documents, writing articles and general administrative work.

How did you come to this role? Did you have any relevant experience before applying?

I had a friend who put me forward for the position who had previously worked there! I had about half a year’s worth of legal experience as a law clerk at a small boutique law firm.

How does a role with an accounting firm differ from traditional private practice positions?

Working in a large accounting firm like EY is different from traditional practice positions because of the exciting opportunities and multi-disciplinary approach that EY uses. EY has many teams in the firm that provide different services, so as a paralegal at EY you get exposed to how a large accounting firm can provide many different services to large well-known multinational clients at the same time!

Do you think a business degree is necessary for your role?

Definitely not! Anyone can do this role!

What advice would you give to UTS Law Students who are interested in pursuing in-house paralegal positions?

I would encourage anyone interested in positions like this to get a bit of experience under your belt wherever you can and watch out for advertisements on the university job boards to keep an eye out for any opportunities that arise!

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Careers Guide 2018 UTS Law Students’ Society

Careers Guide 2018