Thomson Geer 2019 Graduate Program

Our Clerkship and Graduate programs

We run summer clerkships and graduate programs in all of our offices. These are designed to ensure that you quickly become a part of our team when you arrive, getting involved in high quality work and working closely with your experienced colleagues, including partners, to learn and develop your skills in a collaborative and supportive environment.

What are we looking for in a potential employee?

We are looking for hard-working and motivated law students who have excelled academically, are client focused, commercially minded, work well in a team environment and are enthusiastic about growing their career with a growing law firm. We are especially keen to talk to students who have an additional technical degree!

We know you're not just a student on work experience.

We want to give you a realistic and stretching introduction to the legal profession. How does this happen? From day one, you'll be an active participant in the team, involved in all aspects of legal practice, and working directly with experienced practitioners. We also want you to enjoy your time with us – there are lots of social events you can get involved in – and what better way for you to get to know your colleagues?

Developing your skills to set you up for a bright future

We will dedicate significant time to your development as an up and coming lawyer in our team: an investment in you is an investment in our future, and the future of our valued clients.

You will find that all of our partners and staff are approachable and always happy to share their knowledge and experience with you. You will have access to a supervising partner, a mentor, and a buddy, to help you navigate through the transition from University to work and begin to build your chosen career. We encourage our clerks, graduates and trainees to get as much exposure to different practice areas and ways of working as they can – this is a reflection of how we work as a wider organisation; a fully integrated, cohesive, national team.

Once you have completed a clerkship with us you are eligible to apply for our graduate program.

This program is geared towards expanding your skills across a range of practice areas. You will be able to express your preference for the areas of practice through which you would like to rotate.

In Sydney and Adelaide the program runs for 12 months and consists of a minimum of two rotations. It's also the ideal way to complete your Practical Legal Training (PLT) with the firm's support.

In Melbourne and Brisbane, we offer our graduates the opportunity to complete a Supervised Workplace Traineeship (SWT). The SWT consists of up to 3 rotations. Graduates are able to express preferences for their placement areas in line with the on the job training requirements. There are no further study requirements when you complete a traineeship – it is nearly all completed as on the job training. All Thomson Geer graduates (whether completing a PLT or a SWT) complete comprehensive training in-house, as well as structured external training which will support you to become well-rounded and technically competent practitioners, fully qualified to gain admission to practice.

Developing your skills to set you up for a bright future

We will dedicate significant time to your development as an up and coming lawyer in our team: an investment in you is an investment in our future, and the future of our valued clients.

We hope that all of our graduates will have long and rewarding careers at Thomson Geer. We support our lawyers with multiple streams of in-house training and development programs throughout their career. Starting as a graduate these include:

• New Lawyer Training series, delivered by senior lawyers within the business – practical sessions like "Preparing for Court", "Client Service Skills" and "Personal Reputation"
• In-house seminars and discussion groups which will help you attain your annual Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) units
• Leadership Development Program, centred around career development and coaching for senior lawyers, and delivered by our Chief Executive Partner and other partners – areas covered include "Business Development" (and networking with in-house counsel from major clients), "People and Management Skills", and "Understanding Firm and Partner Financials"

You may also be eligible to take advantage of our generous Tertiary Studies and Assistance Program should you choose to undertake additional studies.

In addition to formal training and development, you will have the opportunity to learn and stretch your skills by immersing yourself in meaningful work for clients from the beginning of your career. Our partners will work with you throughout your career providing you with feedback on your development and assisting your further development in line with your goals, and with an understanding that no two career paths are the same.