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The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is the world's largest organization serving the professional and business interests of attorneys who practice in the legal departments of corporations, associations, nonprofits and other private-sector organizations around the globe.

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Why your in-house legal team needs a law student clerk

clerkship

2019 Clerkship Training Day. “Our clerks receive intensive in-house legal training before they start, so they are ready to hit the ground running and can add value to your team from the get-go.”

Would you like to host a law student clerk within your in-house legal team, but perhaps don’t have the time to train them? Do you need energetic young talent to help out on those research tasks or innovation projects that you know you have to do, but don’t have the time to do? Do you want to give back to the legal profession and mentor the next generation of lawyers? Maybe you need a law student clerk from our clerkship program!

After the success of our pilot program in 2019, ACC Australia and The Learned Crew have partnered together again to provide this in-house legal clerkship program in H1 2020, and we would like to invite all Sydney-based legal teams to participate in this unique opportunity.

Why should you participate?

  • Our clerks receive intensive in-house legal training before they start, so they are ready to hit the ground running and can add value to your team from the get-go;
  • Our clerks can help you with legal tasks such as legal research, editing and other legal tasks;
  • Our clerks can help with big projects and initiatives that you may not have time to do - like preparing presentations, training materials and tip sheets; converting complex documents or policies into helpful visual aids; preparing your team intranet or ‘wiki’ pages; process mapping; innovation projects; and other business or team development projects;
  • It is an opportunity for your team to develop mentorship, people management and delegation skills;
  • The clerkship may also create a potential pipeline of talented and engaged future in-house counsel; and
  • The clerkship will help raise the profile of the in-house legal profession, and your legal team as a potential future employer.

Don’t take our word for it!

The legal teams who participated in the 2019 pilot included The Iconic, Origin Energy, VMWare, amaysim, Challenger, MNF Group and Magellan. They had some amazing things to say about our program, and we’ve included some of them here!

  • amaysim was delighted to take part in ACC Australia and The Learned Crew’s pilot clerkship program. Having never run a clerkship process in house, it was a great test case for us and we’ll be looking to participate again! We’d love to see the program grow as this will ultimately benefit all in house teams. Get involved!” – Andrew Medlicott, Senior Legal Counsel, amaysim.
  • MNF Group was delighted to take part in ACC Australia/TLC’s inaugural in-house clerkship program. The program was really well organised. The preliminary training gave our intern useful basic skills and set expectations well. Our intern was a pleasure to have in our team and assisted us with research, simple contract reviews, drafting simple advices, compliance related policies and tip sheets. We welcome the opportunity to provide law students a taste of the in-house experience through this well run program” – Helen Fraser, General Counsel, MNF Group.
  • The Learned Crew presented us with three very highly qualified candidates and a hard decision to make. They made everything else about the program easy!” – Lori Middlehurst, Associate General Counsel (Employment and Immigration), VMWare.
  • “Our clerk has been fantastic! Enthusiastic, skilful and intelligent and has been a really great addition to our team. We have offered her an extension because she is doing such a great job. The Learned Crew should be commended for running such a great program – helping link graduate talent with business needs” – Andrew Goldstein, Head of Legal (Product), Challenger.
  • I commend The Learned Crew on running a very efficient and effective corporate clerkship program. Our clerk was a perfect fit for our team and made a valuable contribution. We plan to participate again next year.” - Daniel Krutik, Head of Legal Corporate), Origin Energy.

What is involved?

We take all the headache out of running a clerkship by reviewing applications, shortlisting candidates, running training, and providing ongoing coaching and support so that your clerk is ready to work with you when their feet get under the desk. We even give you suggestions for law student tasks and a clerkship schedule. The exact tasks and the timing of the clerkship are completely up to you!

The cost is low too. You pay your clerk directly, and there is a one off fee of $1,500 plus GST (for ACC members) which covers all of the above administration, training and support.

We would love for you to be part of this unique opportunity. For more information on how to get involved, or to download an information pack, and sign up, go to https://www.acc.com/chapters-networks/chapters/australia/careers/in-house-clerkship-program or email hello@thelearnedcrew.com.

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