Herbert Smith Freehills
2022 Pre-Penultimate Workshops (May 2022)
Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne
Opportunity expired
Opportunity details
- Internship, Clerkship or Placement
- Unpaid workshop
- 300-350 vacancies
- Apply by 1 May 2022
- Start date 15 May 2022 - 12 Jun 2022
Workshops available in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth
Herbert Smith Freehills is opening its doors and inviting pre-penultimate students in to learn about careers in commercial law.
In our one day workshops, you will learn about Herbert Smith Freehills, meet our lawyers and develop practical skills to help you in a career in commercial law.
If you’re a pre-penultimate student who is eager to get exposure to the legal profession ahead of clerkships, apply for our Pre-Penultimate workshop today. Events are scheduled over May & June. Spaces are limited.
Applications are welcome from university students who are in the pre-penultimate years of their university law degree (eg First- to third-year undergraduate law students or first-year JD students.)
Hiring criteria
- No experience required
- International Student/Graduate Visa +more
- Law, Legal Studies & Justice +more
- Bachelor or higher
Reviews
My role has, essentially, been to act as a sponge. Take in as much about the culture of the team and the firm as I do about the law and the work. My day to day responsibilities would include managing email correspondence and document management systems, doing drafting or proofing work, and helping out other Brisbane and interstate teams that are stretched with time intensive work in things like document review.
I am responsible as the junior lawyer on a range of matters that I have worked on since I started the graduate program. This allows me to develop client relationships and familiarity with the subject matter. My tasks include emailing clients updates, responding to client queries, amending contracts based on client or partner feedback and attending client meetings. As I have progressed in the graduate program, my responsibilities have increased at a rate that challenges me and allows me to grow.
Graduate role - tasks range from having a first go at reviewing and drafting documents, preparing pitch proposals to potential clients and assisting the team with document management when closing a deal.
About the employer
Herbert Smith Freehills
4.5
1,000 - 50,000 employees
Law
A leading global law firm delivering high-profile work that matters to our clients. We have the ambition to do things differently.
Pros and cons of working at Herbert Smith Freehills
Pros
Learning from the best. Everyone is super smart and invested in my career development. I have felt incredibly supported from day 1.
HSF has great people, great work, and great experience for anyone who comes here, especially for a graduate like myself.
The firm is really flexible with its work-from-home policy and benefits for employees who are required to work late.
The firm's culture is top-notch across the board, everyone from senior lawyers and partners to support staff are so willing to help each other.
The training and development at HSF is unmatched. Hands-on in a challenging environment where you have every opportunity to learn and grow.
Cons
Same as every top-tier firm, if there is a big deal you can be working longer hours. But the sense of achievement provides a lot of satisfaction.
There isn't anything that I can think of - it would be better if the firm invested more in graduate bonding/social events.
Long hours are a common experience in the industry and largely unavoidable given the client-centric nature of the work.
The fast-paced nature of the work means you don't always get to spend as much time as you would like on tasks.
As with all big commercial firms, work hours and pipeline can be unpredictable but that is the nature of working with big clients and transactions.