It’s rare to hear a good news story when it comes to the preparedness of law students entering practice, and this one surely takes the cake for 2019.
The Learned Crew and ACC Australia have successfully piloted Australia’s first ever structured in-house clerkship 🚀
And they’re back for more in 2020 with two programs in Sydney and Melbourne, with in-house team applications for the Feb-Jun 2020 (Sydney) due by 22 November.
We spoke with Jessie Porteus (The Learned Crew) and Ingrid Segota (ACC) for the low-down on this year’s pilot:
1. Congratulations on pulling off the first structured in-house clerkship program in Australia! Firstly, Jessie, how did the idea come about? Why do this?
Thank you! This is something that I’m really passionate about (and is one of the reasons I started my business, The Learned Crew). I’ve always thought there was a gap in the in-house sector for clerkships and other work experience opportunities for law students, so I had to do something about it!
I particularly saw the rise in popularity of in-house legal teams and roles over the last few years, but also thought about what the barriers might be for in-house teams wanting to host a clerk, as they may not have the time or resources to train someone. That is why we created this structured program with an in-built training component, so it takes the stress out of it and makes it as easy as possible for in-house teams to get involved.
ACC Australia thought the same thing, so this was a partnership made in heaven 😇
2. Talk us through how the program works? (who, what, when, where etc)
Our program is a turnkey solution to having a law student clerk in an in-house team. Basically, we take all the hassle out for you! We review the applications, shortlist candidates and train the clerks on the fundamentals of being an in-house lawyer so they are job-ready and adding value as soon as they begin their clerkship!
We also support the legal team throughout the clerkship period and can even offer suggested clerk tasks and schedules too. We have made being part of this clerkship program easy and efficient for legal teams, while making sure they get flexibility and value for money.
3. Nice! So what training do the clerks receive?
Our training program, which involves online modules and a 2 day intensive workshop, focuses on the basic knowledge and skills required for in-house legal work, and utilises simulation exercises and active learning techniques based on typical in-house tasks and problems.
The program covers what an in-house lawyer is and what they do, the skills and attitudes required to succeed, the key roles in legal and within a typical organisation, stakeholder management, taking instructions, asking questions, prioritisation and inbox management, innovation, adding value to the legal team, and substantive law concepts including contract law, competition and consumer law, IP, employment law and more, all with realistic examples of emails and tasks that an in-house lawyer might receive on a typical day. We even cover how to do Track Changes!
4. That sounds brilliant. Ingrid, were you able to shape that curriculum according to member needs?
Yes, we invited ACC Australia members to have input on the curriculum, and we are constantly improving the training program to keep up with the needs of in-house lawyers.
“Our program is a turnkey solution to having a law student clerk in an in-house team.”
5. What types of work or projects did the clerks get involved in? Any standout stories?
The clerks from the pilot program worked on a variety of tasks and projects, ranging from your typical legal research and review tasks, right through to pro bono advice and turning complex policies into visual posters using Canva!
The possibilities for clerks to work on are really endless though. We encourage participating legal teams to involve their clerks in a range of things, including preparing presentations, training materials and tip sheets; preparing the team’s intranet or ‘wiki’ pages; process mapping; innovation projects; and other business or team development projects.
It really is an opportunity to have energetic young talent help out on those ‘nice to have’ projects and tasks that in-house lawyers know they have to do, but might be put on the back burner due to the pressures of urgent business as usual work.
6. I see you had companies such as Origin Energy, Challenger and amaysim participating in the pilot program – how many companies all up participated in 2019 and how many clerks?
We were honoured to work with incredible legal practitioners from such well-known organisations for the pilot program in 2019. For the pilot program, we deliberately kept the cohort small so we could focus on developing a quality program. We had seven in-house legal teams from exciting and varied organisations, and we had eight law students. The Iconic’s legal team took two lucky law students!
We had glowing feedback from the teams that participated. In fact, 100% of the teams said they would participate again!
7. What costs are involved?
The costs for in-house teams are quite small for the service you receive and involve the cost to pay the clerk, plus a small program and training fee which covers everything to run the program, including shortlisting applicants, running the intensive training, and providing ongoing coaching and support for both the legal team and the clerk.
8. Is there an expectation of a job offer? Did any clerks continue on with their host companies in some capacity?
There are no expectations of a job offer at the end, unless the individual legal team would like to offer it. During the pilot, one of the clerks obtained an ongoing part-time paralegal position out of it, which was fantastic news to hear.
“Prior to undertaking my clerkship with VMware, I had a misconceived idea about the nature of the role as in-house counsel. Entering into private practice was at the forefront of my mind from the outset! Thanks to the fantastic collaboration of the ACC Australia and The Learned Crew, I was provided the rare opportunity to set foot in the shoes of highly reputable figures in the legal fraternity and learn skills that textbooks nor seminars could replicate.”
9. Any lesson learned from the pilot? Anything you’ll do different for 2020?
We undertook a thorough feedback process after the pilot program with both the legal teams and the law clerks, with the aim of using that feedback to improve the program and be able to roll it out more widely. We were overwhelmed by the positive responses to the program from the participants and from the legal industry in general. The one change we will make is advertising each of the legal team clerkships separately so that the law students can apply directly for a particular legal team.
10. What does the program look like for 2020 and where do we find out more?
We are running two programs in 2020; one in the first half of the year (Feb -Jun 2020) in Sydney (legal team participation is due by 22 November), and the other in the second half of the year (July – Dec 2020) in both Sydney and Melbourne, with the actual dates being flexible and up to the individual teams.
//
For law students and in-house legal departments looking to get involved in 2020, check out the details on the ACC website 👈🏻