Graduate and Clerkship Programs

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Kick-start your career

Graduate Program

Our graduates are our future leaders. With that in mind, we offer a robust graduate program to kick-start your career in law.

Barry Nilsson graduates receive the best training, support and mentorship to help shape the foundations for their future legal careers.

If BN sounds like the firm you want to start your legal career, please apply for our graduate program. In some graduate intakes we will fill the positions directly from our vacation clerk program.

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Gain real-world experience

Vacation Clerkships

Our vacation clerkships are held in our Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart offices over the summer and/or winter university breaks. Our programs give clerks the unique opportunity to gain experience and insight into our firm, practice areas and culture.

Working as a vacation clerk with us can often be the stepping stone to an ongoing position with the firm as a law clerk or graduate.

Program Details

  • Brisbane Clerkship Program

    Brisbane clerks undertake a three-week clerkship during which they will rotate through our insurance & health and family law teams. The Brisbane vacation clerkship program is open to penultimate year students.

    • Applications for clerkships open: Monday, 15 July 2024
    • Applications for clerkships close: Friday, 9 August 2024
    • Offers will be made: Wednesday, 9 October 2024
    • Offers to be accepted or declined: Thursday, 10 October 2024
  • Melbourne Clerkship Program

    Melbourne clerks experience a clerkship program within our defendant insurance team. The Melbourne vacation clerkship is open to penultimate and final year students.

    • Applications for clerkships open: Monday, 1 July 2024
    • Applications for clerkships close: Sunday, 11 August 2024
    • Offers will be made: Wednesday, 16 October 2024
    • Offers to be accepted or declined: Thursday, 17 October 2024
  • Sydney Clerkship Program

    Sydney clerks experience a clerkship program within our defendant insurance team. The Sydney vacation clerkship is open to penultimate year students.

    • Applications for clerkships open: Monday, 10 June 2024
    • Applications for clerkships close: Sunday, 14 July 2024
    • Offers will be made: Wednesday, 11 September 2024
    • Offers to be accepted or declined: Thursday, 12 September 2024

  • Hobart Clerkship Program

    Hobart clerks experience a clerkship program within our defendant insurance team. The Hobart vacation clerkship is open to penultimate and final year students. The 2024 Hobart Vacation Clerkship program will run from 18 – 29 November 2024 so applicants will need to be available during this time.

    • Applications for clerkships open: Monday, 1 July 2024
    • Applications for clerkships close: Wednesday, 31 July 2024
    • Offers will be made: Monday, 30 September 2024
    • Offers to be accepted or declined: Tuesday, 1 October 2024
  • Other Cities

    Our Adelaide and Perth offices also have opportunities for Vacation Clerks and Graduates. These will be advertised on an as needed basis on our Current Opportunities page here.

"In the clerkship and graduate programs, I have worked alongside highly experienced solicitors, participated in the progression of complex proceedings and completed tasks which were assigned with an objective of advancing a variety of legal skills.”

Remy Crozier – 2022 Graduate and 2021 Vacation Clerk

Application Tips and FAQ’s

  • Your Application

    Applications for graduate and vacation clerkship positions should contain:

    • a covering letter
    • your resume
    • a copy of your academic transcript
    • any further material you feel may be relevant
  • Application Tips

    Here are some tips when writing your application:

    • Your cover letter is a great way to demonstrate your written communication skills
    • List all of your working experience, even if it isn’t from a legal background. There are always transferable skills!
    • Tell us about any extracurricular and leadership experience
    • We like to see a demonstrated understanding of our firm and what we do.
  • Interview tips

    Here are some tips to help you with the interview process:

    • Have a good understanding of your CV as we like to go through your experience and extracurriculars
    • Show us that you know a bit about the firm
    • Do your best to keep your answers relevant to the question and at a reasonable length
    • We know it’s easier said than done – but be yourself! We encourage, support and celebrate our people being their true selves.

View our current opportunities

Ask us how we can help

Barry Nilsson acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which we conduct our business, and pays respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.
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