Corporate law can evoke images of towering glassy skyscrapers, fast walking, fast talking and deal making. Even the mountains of paperwork and late nights are made to look glamorous against a backdrop of twinkling city lights. Well, actually, behind the shiny marble reception, if you’re not careful or if you’re too willing, corporate law will take more and more of you, fostering what can be quite a sad existence.
This is how it happens. (more…)
I have to say, having worked in both law firms and corporate environments, I find the politics in law firms particularly more precarious. I was hoping to avoid the politics and just get on with things, but alas I received an early induction. (more…)
I’m currently in the last week of serving out my notice period at my current workplace. The kicker? I’ve only been with this firm for 9 months. Yes, I did what I never thought I’d do and took a new job having been in my current role for less than a year. (more…)
A few months ago, I wrote this post speculating on the proposal by a new Adelaide based law firm, Adlawgroup to charge newly admitted Lawyers $22,000.00 for a job. At that stage, I was speculating on the remuneration structure, but it has been confirmed that the Lawyers would not receive a base salary, but rather a commission.
In this article which was posted a few days ago, The Australian has confirmed that the Fair Work Ombudsman has inquired into the business model but is taking no action. Further, Law Society of South Australia president Rocco Perrotta is quoted saying that he expected a review into the business model to be completed within weeks and that the Law Society had no regulatory powers and could not prevent the firm from proceeding. Apparently 25 applicants are lined up and ready to begin. (more…)
Hello to my new legally inclined followers, thank you so much for signing up. My previous article on this topic took off on Facebook after it was shared by the awesome site, Survive Law. I thought I would continue the theme and follow up with 5 more lessons learned as I make my way up the ‘new lawyer learning curve‘. (more…)
Today marks the end of my first three months in private practise so I thought I’d mark the occasion by reflecting on some lessons I’ve picked up during this time. Despite probably having been taught some of these concepts during my practical legal training, it wasn’t until I had experienced working in a law firm myself that these lessons revealed themselves to be so critical.
The problem
In Australia, law graduates are required to either complete a supervised workplace training program (generally with a law firm or an in-house legal department), or a practical legal training program offered by an accredited educational institution in order to become admitted to practise law, i.e. It’s the next major step after graduation to qualify as a lawyer. Supervised workplace trainees are paid a graduate salary, whilst practical legal training trainees pay around $10,000.00 in course fees, though there are also hybrid arrangements. Once admitted, new lawyers, particularly those who completed a practical legal training program and therefore may not have accumulated significant experience with a potential employer, face the challenge of seeking supervised employment. A newly admitted lawyer must be supervised for two years as a condition of their restricted practising certificate.
It is well-known that there is an oversupply of law graduates and new lawyers in metropolitan Australia, significantly increasing the competition when it comes to supervised workplace training programs and subsequently, first-year positions. It has been estimated that Australia is producing 12,000 law graduates a year, however there are only 60,000 working lawyers in the country. Of course, this includes students studying double degrees and post graduate degrees etc. who may not necessarily have ambitions to pursue careers as lawyers; however the number still leaves me incredulous.
I experienced this competitive environment myself during practical legal training in 2013; the proportion of trainees that had secured legal roles was definitely outweighed by the proportion that hadn’t. It is indeed a catch 22. Most positions advertised sought a lawyer with 2-3 years post admission experience yet graduates couldn’t get their foot in the door to rack up the same. Even now at the current firm that I work at, I was told that there were over 300 applicants for 1 supervised workplace training position. First year lawyer positions are even more of a rarity. Clearly, it is a buyer’s market and the firms have all the bargaining power when it comes to having graduates and new lawyers jumping through hoops and being able to select those who are perceived as being the cream of the crop.
A controversial ‘solution’
With this in mind environment in mind, I was amused however not surprised when I came across this article about a new Adelaide based firm, Adlawgroup, proposing to charge newly admitted lawyers $22,000.00 for a two-year “employment and mentoring program“. (more…)
It’s a small world and with the widespread use of websites such as LinkedIn, it’s getting much smaller. It is therefore not advisable to drop the ball in terms of your behaviour as soon as you resign from a role, no matter what you think of your employer.
These are my tips on resigning gracefully and ensuring that your final weeks with your employer help, rather than hinder your career.
The above message is prominently displayed on the jobs webpage of one of my favourite clothing labels, Everlane, and I love everything about it. I love the idea of an organisation who dares their people to break rules and question, because with that comes creativity, innovation and better ways of doing things. I love that they acknowledge that you can be smart, driven and succeed in the educational system without actually conforming to the educational system. And of course, I love that these are the type of people they want to hire. Not just willing to hire, but actually wanting to hire. (more…)
Sometimes a decision to change jobs or careers is really easy. For example, when you absolutely hate your current working environment or when you are going for your dream job. However, there are times when the pros and cons of the decision are much more subtle, or where there are different factors pulling you in opposite directions. For example, when you really enjoy your current role however a new job is offering you more career progression. Or when you are giving up a well-paying job for a much lower paying job that is in your dream industry.
I have certainly grappled with this tough task over the previous month, or more accurately, over the previous year. I had qualified as a Lawyer back in February 2014 but had opted not to practise law in favour of working in the Risk & Compliance team of a large, well known national group of companies. I found that over the last year, the thought of practising law was always in the back of my mind, causing me to constantly doubt and second guess my career path. An opportunity presented itself for me to work as a Lawyer in a mid-tier law firm and I had to very quickly decide whether I was willing to embrace the change.
I considered the following factors, however they are definitely not equally weighted. I downloaded a weighted pros and cons app so I could assign the appropriate ‘level of significance’ to these factors. Though the financial and lifestyle differences were quite large cons (it must be one of the best kept secrets that many Lawyers don’t actually make that much money!), the benefit of actually practising law (and thus avoiding future regrets and uncertainty) was too great and dwarfed all other setbacks, particularly at this early stage in my career. However, this list was still very helpful as it allowed me to conduct my due diligence in a methodical manner, so there would (hopefully) be no surprises as to what I what I was getting myself into. (more…)
That Career Girl 