My time at MinterEllison started as a summer clerk at the end of 2021 in the Sydney office. I then worked as a paralegal during my final year at university and started the graduate program at the beginning of 2023. I have been incredibly lucky to meet some amazing people throughout the years at Minters, including some of my closest friends and people who I look up to in the legal profession.
The clerkship process can be at times daunting and scary, but it is really a time to just be who you are and make no apologies for it. Something that I found out early on was that all the people I met at Minters wanted to talk more about who I was outside of having studied law and been to university, and it was really the focal point of every conversation. My advice is to definitely take every opportunity you can, be it to come up and talk to a partner at a networking event or reaching out for coffees or virtual catch-ups. The only way you will really get a feel for a place is by getting to know the people who actually work there!
Before we started clerking, I was asked to help our Workplace team on a matter that needed some assistance for a couple of months, which was a great first exposure to Minters. During the clerkship, I rotated through Transaction Solutions and Insurance and Corporate Risk (ICR), with a particular focus on Medical Negligence. I then went on to paralegal in another part of our ICR team, this time focussing on Government clients. So far in the graduate program, I’ve rotated through Real Estate and back into Transaction Solutions. I’ve really loved getting to try lots of different areas of the firm, from disputes and court work to contracts based teams. You really never know what you will absolutely love, or realise is not your cup of tea, but that is the beauty of the rotations, you get to try a lot of different areas of law!
I’ve been really lucky to dive head first into my rotations, particularly while working in our Transaction Solutions team. Everyone is incredibly busy at the end of the year as clients try to wrap up deals, and I was fortunate to help out with matters that involved parties in the United States, wider North America and Europe! It was definitely an interesting experience, and juggling multiple timezones was a bit tricky to start but it was great to see how everyone worked together across the 24 hours of a day to bring the deal to a close before the end of the year.
There have definitely been a few proud moments, but I would say that seeing my work in the AFR or SMH is something really exciting! You think back to all of the hours you put into a transaction, and also how much learning you have gone through in that process. To finally see what it looks like at the end and that it has made a small impact in the world is really rewarding and definitely something that makes me smile about my work experiences so far.
My outside of work life usually begins with a gym class in the morning, because I am definitely not an after-work sort of exercise person. It’s great because a lot of my friends go to the same gym class which is in Martin Place, so we treat it like a little catch up every time we see each other. I also really like being crafty, but I’m in no way a creative person so I like to do things that come with instructions. My weekends can go one of two ways and either be starting a DIY project that I’ll finish in a half a day, or crocheting a set of dinosaurs which 6 months later I can safely say I have put in the pile of things to finish later.
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