[hfis]

Originally Posted by RogueAcademic

Hmm... that's a good point. I don't really have much of an idea what goes on in the countryside from a legal point of view other than agribusiness. Did you not come across any agribusiness work while you were out there?

I haven't done much agribusiness, but my firm handles a lot of it. We certainly do a lot of conveyancing and transfer farmland from person-to-person, as well as business arrangements such as partnerships and whatnot. If you're referring to larger import/export deals I haven't come across them yet, but my supervising partner has worked on a few individual contracts of supply between supplier/purchaser.

haha.. what did you do..

Nothing unethical - but I've certainly found that when doing litigation in a small town, conflict of interest checks are vital before establishing a client file. It's difficult to answer the inevitable 'why' when you tell someone that you can't represent them, when the answer's 'because your wife was here earlier'. Also, going out on a Saturday night when your town has 2 popular local pubs and 1 poor excuse for a nightclub isn't the best idea - you often bump into a client or someone from the other side. It's never been a problem somehow though... I think the suit gives me magical powers of deception and that I'm completely invisible when I'm not wearing it.

But you could also easily get to do some hands-on all-round and litigation experience as a Legal Aid lawyer in the urban/city regions. Salary is about about the same (as per the article I posted) but standard if living would be higher of course.

This is certainly true, and I had the privilege of working in a similar capacity while in Wollongong (although I wouldn't say it's as urban as Sydney). The only problem is that a higher standard of living (ie. more to do) means a higher cost of living... I'm unsure which I prefer at this stage. I can see myself moving to the city after gaining a few years of PQE, but by that stage I might have opted for a mortgage on a large country property or something. Who knows! I think every form of practise has its own distinct advantages, and that a lawyer who's flexibile enough to move between all of them will never be out of work. I think it's inevitable that I'll move on eventually, but my experience has been nothing but positive so far.