Fresh-minted graduates entering major law firms can no longer expect a broad range of experiences in the workplace. Within two years, they will be locked into a practice group and heading towards specialisation.
Meg Graham DLA Piper Asia director of HR, Meg Graham acknowledges that this is the way top-tier firms have evolved, but says it’s the best way for graduates to learn about an area of law and develop the skills they need to be a top lawyer. “The idea behind rotation is that graduates get to sit in a particular practice area where they are trained by partners and senior associates and can learn the technical skills of that practice area,” she said.
Most graduates go through three 4–6-month rotations before settling on a group of their choice. After that, it can become increasingly hard to change.
“Most lawyers, within their first year or two, will find out whether or not they like an area. The number of requests we get for people to move after that time is pretty low,” said Graham. “When we do receive requests to move, we try to accommodate the request with the needs of the firm. We’ve invested a lot in the graduates and the skills they have acquired are still need by the firm even if it is in a different area of practice,” she said.
According to one solicitor ALB spoke to at a different firm, this is in general because young lawyers feel pressure to stay put. “There is no official way to change your practice group,” the solicitor says. “You have to schmooze the partners. It’s all very difficult because people’s feelings get hurt. Also they’ve invested in you, so they don’t want you to become a novice again. There’s firm politics, personal politics; it’s really messy.”
Stephen Woodbury, lead partner at Blake Dawson’s Sydney office, notes that at Blakes there are formal steps you can take if you aren’t happy in your practice group but that it becomes more difficult the longer you wait after starting to specialise. “You effectively would have to go back and start all over again,” he says.
With this in mind, it’s a good idea to know what you’re getting into competition can be fierce for the most sought-after groups. “If you’re after less stress, the prize is litigation,” says the source, “but if you want a better income, choose transactional.” Firms can justify the higher salary paid to lawyers in transactional areas like M&A and banking & finance because these groups bring in more money, but from the individual lawyer’s point of view, working in these areas often means working with unreasonable client deadlines. “There’s more stress and burnout and a high turnover rate,” said the source.
For those looking for a broader, less specialised experience, in-house work can be a sensible option … not withstanding the fact that ALB’s source dismisses in-house roles with disdain as places “where corporate lawyers go to die”.
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