We don’t do standard clerkships. Aspirational lawyers don’t want to spend their summer printing off reams of documents! Our unique Pathways Program for final year law students is the best way to build your legal skills and commercial acumen. It’s your opportunity to dive into large-scale litigation, be mentored by some of the best minds in the business and kickstart your career with a firm that values behaviours that build relationships, excellence, and a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture.

You’ll join W+K as a paralegal, working casually during your last semester or final year of your law degree. You’ll support a champion team of lawyers who are tasked with ensuring you develop the necessary skills to put you at the front of the queue for a graduate position. Wotton + Kearney supports and funds all graduates who are completing their Practical Legal Training. They are provided with paid study leave throughout the year, educational fee assistance and individualised support provided from their seniors, buddies, and peers.

Through Pathways we’ll get to know you and do our best to match your interests, under-graduate degree, other work experiences and preferences into the teams you work with during Pathways. You’ll be doing real work for real clients alongside senior lawyers and partners who are among the best in the business.

If you’re the type of person we’re looking, you have many options. You might think a clerkship is right for you. And it might be. What we offer is something different but, like a clerkship, it’s a direct path to a graduate offer.

What we’re looking for?

You’ve got to want to be a litigator. No point considering us if that’s not in your plan. We aim to be the best and to help every lawyer become their best. That means you need to want that too.

The pathway to becoming the best takes endless curiosity, a commitment to being a life-long learner and to being the type of person clients, colleagues and peers know they can trust. Legal expertise matters a lot but so too does the ability to form and maintain positive relationships and not just with your colleagues and clients but also with your peers, opponents and the broader community.

What to expect from W+K?

When you join us, you’re joining a community that’s much bigger than W+K; it’s a relationship ecosystem of our people, clients, industry groups, professional bodies and the community. It’s all inter-connected, inter-related and of equal importance.

If we offer you a start at W+K, that means we think you’re an exceptional talent and we want to help you fulfil your potential. We are invested in your success. We want you to learn from the best and become the best. The way we help make that happen is by:

• Matching the range, variety and complexity of work to your evolving skillset and interests.
• Enabling client interaction from the outset.
• Setting clear expectations and support to help you meet them.
• Ongoing encouragement and practical, timely and actionable feedback.
• Educating you on everything from insurance law to skills training to mental health and wellness.
• Giving you a “buddy” to help guide you through your first months and beyond.
• Providing flexibility about the how, what, when and where of working.
• Placing a big emphasis on people being comfortable being themselves at work.
• Encouraging you to get involved on community and pro bono initiatives that address tough issues such as inequality (in its many forms), climate change and human rights.
• Together, we’ll help you build the foundations needed to become a great litigator, a lawyer our clients want on their side and the type of workmate everyone enjoys working with.

Who’s eligible for the Pathways Program?

To be successful you must be in the final year of your undergraduate law degree, and either a citizen or permanent resident of Australia with full working rights.