Bored of Studies - View Single Post

Loko · 10 Jun 2009, 1:07 PM

I clerked at one of the top 3 firms and had interviews with 7 firms all up (5 top tiers, 2 mid tiers) last year. Not sure about all your questions, but hopefully I can help.

1. Each firm will have a different cut-off, and some may be more flexible about this. It's pretty impossible to find out what the cut-offs are, and they would probably vary from year to year depending on the number of candidates. Either way, don't believe anyone who says you need an HD average - ridiculous. In my case, I had a D average (basically just sitting on a distinction) which was enough to get me plenty of interviews (well plenty for me, but lots of people I know had over 10 interviews first round which was ended up being way too much to handle!!).

2. I assume you mean weekly salary for the clerkship period, and not as a gradulate. I'm not sure about the mid-tiers, but last year Clutz said they were offering $870 pw before tax, Corrs offered around $900 and the firm I clerked at offered around $950. It was a while ago though, so not too sure about those numbers - they may have changed anyway.

3. Legal experience is definitely not a prerequisite. I had about 2.5 years worth of working as a paralegal at a few firms and I found that gave me something to talk about in interviews and helped me figure out what sort of law I want to practice. It also meant that I could prove that a) I was comfortable in a (sometimes v stressful) legal environment; and b) that I could do the job required. That's just me though - it helped me but others may totally disagree.

4. Firstly, you need good marks to get through to an interview at one of those firms. That is a given. There is often talk about people with very low averages but great extracurriculars getting. I think that's possible for a mid-tier, but there is heaps of competition for top-tier clerkships and the firms really need to differentiate between candidates on paper - marks is basically the only quantitative way they can do that. Other things obviously include a very well written cover letter catered to each firm individually (though I worked from a template which I just changed for each firm), work experience (not necessarily legal, but just to show you can work and study at the same time, have worked with other people etc) and some extracurriculars. Once you are through to the first round of interviews, though, it is mainly down to how you perform in the interview itself, which can be hard. I had trouble predicting if I would get through to a second round - there was one interview I thought I'd aced, but didn't get through and some I thought I did TERRIBLY in, but got through. Anyone's guess really!

5. I knew a few people who were 2nd year lawyers in a couple of the firms. I didn't drop their names into interviews, I think that would've been inappropriate. In saying that though, I could demonstrate that I had a fair idea of what working in a commercial firm would entail, from my paralegal work and from friends who were lawyers so maybe it was useful in that respect. Probably much more useful if you're family friends with a partner...if you want to go down that route.

That was a long long reply! Hope it helped. I think - and this is just my opinion - there'll probably be more competition this year for clerkships and government positions, with things the way they are. Good luck!

10 Jun 2009, 1:07 PM	#2 (permalink)
Loko New Member HSC: 2001 Gender: Female Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 2 Last Activity: 17 Nov 2009, 6:14 PM	Re: Summer clerkships 2009/2010 I clerked at one of the top 3 firms and had interviews with 7 firms all up (5 top tiers, 2 mid tiers) last year. Not sure about all your questions, but hopefully I can help. 1. Each firm will have a different cut-off, and some may be more flexible about this. It's pretty impossible to find out what the cut-offs are, and they would probably vary from year to year depending on the number of candidates. Either way, don't believe anyone who says you need an HD average - ridiculous. In my case, I had a D average (basically just sitting on a distinction) which was enough to get me plenty of interviews (well plenty for me, but lots of people I know had over 10 interviews first round which was ended up being way too much to handle!!). 2. I assume you mean weekly salary for the clerkship period, and not as a gradulate. I'm not sure about the mid-tiers, but last year Clutz said they were offering $870 pw before tax, Corrs offered around $900 and the firm I clerked at offered around $950. It was a while ago though, so not too sure about those numbers - they may have changed anyway. 3. Legal experience is definitely not a prerequisite. I had about 2.5 years worth of working as a paralegal at a few firms and I found that gave me something to talk about in interviews and helped me figure out what sort of law I want to practice. It also meant that I could prove that a) I was comfortable in a (sometimes v stressful) legal environment; and b) that I could do the job required. That's just me though - it helped me but others may totally disagree. 4. Firstly, you need good marks to get through to an interview at one of those firms. That is a given. There is often talk about people with very low averages but great extracurriculars getting. I think that's possible for a mid-tier, but there is heaps of competition for top-tier clerkships and the firms really need to differentiate between candidates on paper - marks is basically the only quantitative way they can do that. Other things obviously include a very well written cover letter catered to each firm individually (though I worked from a template which I just changed for each firm), work experience (not necessarily legal, but just to show you can work and study at the same time, have worked with other people etc) and some extracurriculars. Once you are through to the first round of interviews, though, it is mainly down to how you perform in the interview itself, which can be hard. I had trouble predicting if I would get through to a second round - there was one interview I thought I'd aced, but didn't get through and some I thought I did TERRIBLY in, but got through. Anyone's guess really! 5. I knew a few people who were 2nd year lawyers in a couple of the firms. I didn't drop their names into interviews, I think that would've been inappropriate. In saying that though, I could demonstrate that I had a fair idea of what working in a commercial firm would entail, from my paralegal work and from friends who were lawyers so maybe it was useful in that respect. Probably much more useful if you're family friends with a partner...if you want to go down that route. That was a long long reply! Hope it helped. I think - and this is just my opinion - there'll probably be more competition this year for clerkships and government positions, with things the way they are. Good luck!