1 // Contents FORWARD 3 Non-Sponsors Addisons 100 RESOURCES 4 Banki Haddock Fiora 101 Overview of Organisations 5 Brown Wright Stein Lawyers 102 Submitting an Application 6 Champion Legal 103 cvMail 8 Clifford Chance 104 Public Service Jobs 9 Davis Polk & Wardwell 105 Applying for Public Sector Jobs 10 Gadens 106 Selection Criteria 11 Holding Redlich 107 Writing a Cover Letter 13 HWL Ebsworth Lawyers 108 Example Cover Letter 14 Jones Day 109 Writing a C.V. 15 Linklaters 110 Example C.V. 17 McCullough Robertson 111 Attending the Interview 18 Marque Lawyers 112 Individual Interviews 20 Piper Alderman 113 Group Interviews 20 Slater & Gordon 114 Interview Questions 21 Sparke Helmore 115 Clerkships 22 Truman Hoyle Lawyers 116 Volunteering 25 List of Law Firms 117 Practising Internationally 26 Pathways to Practising Law in CORPORATE ADVISORY 119 Canada 27 Sponsors British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta 28 A.T. Kearney 120 Student Profile 29 Te Boston Consulting Group 122 T e People’s Republic of China 30 Non-Sponsors Hong Kong 32 Citi 124 Singapore 33 Credit Suisse 125 South Korea 34 Grant Tornton 126 New York and California 35 Gresham 127 England and Wales 36 J.P. Morgan 128 Practising Locally 38 KPMG 129 PLT - College of Law 39 LEK Consulting 130 PLT - Australian National University 41 McKinsey and Company 131 Going to the Bar 42 Macquarie Group 132 Pottinger 133 LAW FIRMS 43 UBS 134 Sponsors Validus Advisory Group 135 Allen & Overy 44 Profiles 136 Allens 48 Arnold Bloch Leibler 52 PUBLIC SECTOR 140 Ashurst 54 Australian Human Rights Baker & McKenzie 59 Commission 141 Clayton Utz 63 Australian Law Reform Commission 143 DLA Piper 67 Australian Taxation Office 144 Gilbert + Tobin 68 Commonwealth Ombudsman 145 Henry Davis York 73 Department of Foreign Herbert Smith Freehills 77 Affairs and Trade 146 Johnson Winter & Slattery 80 Department of Prime Minister K&L Gates 81 and Cabinet 147 King & Wood Mallesons 82 Department of Police and Justice 148 Lander & Rogers 87 Legal Aid NSW 149 Maddocks 89 NSW Crown Solicitor’s Office 150 Minter Ellison 90 NSW Law Reform Commission 151 Norton Rose Fulbright 93 Parliamentary Counsel’s Office 151 Tomson Geer 95 NSW Public Defenders 152 TressCox 97 2 // Contents SOCIAL JUSTICE 153 ALTERNATE DISPUTE RESOLUTION 177 Aboriginal Legal Service 154 Australian Institute for Amnesty International Australia 155 Relationship Studies (AIRS) 178 Te Arts Law Centre of Australia 156 Te Institute of Arbitrators Te Aurora Project 157 & Mediators Australia 180 Te Australian National Australian International Committee for UN Women 158 Disputes Centre (AIDC) 181 Australian Youth Climate Coalition 159 Australian Centre for International Environmental Defenders Office NSW 160 Commercial Arbitration (ACICA) 182 Human Rights in China 161 International Justice COURTS 183 Mission Australia 162 Supreme Court of Western Australia 184 Marrickville Legal Centre 163 Land and Environment Court of NSW 185 Maurice Blackburn Lawyers 164 Supreme Court of Victoria 186 National Pro Bono Resource Centre 165 Words of Advice: SULS Tipstaves Public Interest Advocacy Centre 166 and Associates Panel 187 Redfern Legal Centre 167 Refugee Advice & Casework Service 168 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 188 Reprieve 169 Salvos Legal 170 Teachabout 171 UNICEF Australia 172 Voiceless 173 Women’s Legal Services NSW 174 Sydney University Law Society 175 Sydney University Law School 176 COPYRIGHT & DISCLAIMER © Sydney University Law Society. Tis publication is copyright. Except where permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), no part of this publication may be reproduced or stored by any process, electronic or otherwise, without the specific written permission of the Sydney University Law Society. Te views and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Sydney University Law Society or Sydney Law School. Although the Editors have taken every care in 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 relies upon it. Te Editors and Sydney University Law Society accept no responsibility for any damage, injury or loss occasioned to any person or entity, whether law student or otherwise, as a result of a person relying, wholly or in part, on any material included, omitted or implied in this publication. Te user of this guide acknowledges that he or she will take responsibility for his or her actions and will under no circumstances hold the Editors or Sydney University Law Society responsible for any damage resulting to the user or anyone else from use of this publication. 3 // Foreword Te Sydney University Law Society’s Careers Guide has been pare the many different career paths a law degree can offer. an indispensable asset for law students throughout its many years of publication. We also have focused on personal recounts as to provide an understanding of the organisation beyond the basic facts, so Navigating the many choices and opportunities you will have that you may find a career that aligns with your own personal when entering a career in the legal profession is a challenge, values and interests. In addition, we have completely revised and with this guide we hope to set out the variety of options the international section of the guide to be a more compre- available. Beyond this, we hope to provide you with the re- hensive and current resource to cater to the growing interest sources and information to help you make this choice. in practising overseas. For students entering the final years of their degree, this Tis could not have been achieved without the dedicated Guide offers information on all aspects of the clerkship and and enthusiastic editorial team- thank you to Amy MacKin- graduate processes. For those in younger years, the guide acts non, Ferdous Bahar, Laura Armenian, Luca Moretti, Stepha- as an excellent introduction to the legal profession, and sets nie Chan and Tim Wright for their invaluable work both in out ways for you to become involved in organisations prior to compiling and editing the Guide, and bringing their passions your penultimate year. and ideas to it. Tanks also to Joss McCay and his team for researching such an expansive section on practising interna- We have built on the solid foundations of previous guides, tionally. and expanded many sections of the Guide to complement the changing legal environment and, by extension, the changing Te beautiful design and layout of the guide is thanks to the interests of the Sydney Law community. hard work of Design Director Erika Nguyen and Publications Director Justin Pen. Law students are increasingly more diverse in their interests and career paths, and we have responded to this through a Further thanks goes to all the organisations and people fea- greater focus on Social Justice, Alternate Dispute Resolution tured in this guide for taking the time to contribute content. and Public Sector organisations. Once again, these sections have been incorporated into the Careers Guide as we feel that We are delighted to present the 2014 guide, and hope that it it is beneficial for students to access this information closer to will provide direction and insight as you move from univer- the beginning of the year and have the opportunity to com- sity to your career. Rebecca Brown James Kwong Editor-in-chief Vice President (Careers) // 3 4 // RESOURCES 5 // Overview of Organisations LAW FIRMS PUBLIC SECTOR Summer Clerkships Government departments and agencies generally recruit can- Summer clerkships provide the perfect opportunity to under- didates through a graduate intake selection process, and most stand how the commercial law world operates, and may be do not offer summer clerkships (notable exceptions including the opening for a graduate position. Clerkship programs are the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the NSW primarily offered over the university summer vacation period Department of Attorney General and Justice). from the beginning of December until February. Depending on the performance of summer clerks, many firms offer sum- Application procedures involve stages such as interviews, mer clerks graduate positions at the end of the period. group discussions, and psychometric and aptitude testing. Interviews are usually formal and in a question- answer style. Te clerkship interview process begins with many of the do- mestic law firms attending the Law School to present infor- mation regarding their summer clerkship programs. Te ap- plication process for summer clerkship programs commences COURTS AND ADR via ‘cvMail’ or on the firm’s website. Law students are, by their nature, interested in the process, Te process may include first and second round interviews, judgment and resolution of legal disputes. Careers in the events such as information nights, cocktail evenings and Courts and in dispute resolution are therefore an attractive group discussions. Subsequently, offers will be made to suc- option for many. Application processes to be Judge’s Associ- cessful applicants with a short period of time to accept. Most ates and Tipstaves vary greatly – see the Courts section of the firms make offers to students on the same date. Te process Guide for this. Alternate Dispute Resolution organisations itself is competitive with firms often receiving up to a thou- provide training and workshops for those interested in pursu- sand applications. ing ADR. See the individual organisations’ profiles for infor- mation on participating in these. Graduate Programs Many law firms may not participate in a graduate program, as they prefer to recruit graduates through their summer vaca- CORPORATE ADVISORY tion intake. See individual firm profiles to find out which ones have separate graduate recruitment programs. Most other corporate firms request online applications through their respective websites. Application procedures International Law Firms include interviews, psychometric testing, problem questions Applications for vacation programs overseas generally close and group activities. Accounting firms and investment banks earlier in the year than summer clerkships and the process usually take summer clerks in addition to graduate recruits.