Arnold Bloch Leibler

When you join ABL as a graduate, you will immediately experience our firm's point of difference. ABL is well known for being the go-to firm when it matters. We pride ourselves on providing strategic guidance and solving complex problems related to our clients' commercial interests, legal position and reputation. This means that our legal staff are exposed to interesting and varied work where they can fully utilise their skills and potential. We do not try to be everything to everyone - rather, we strive for excellence in our chosen areas of expertise.

We encourage our employees to bring their whole selves to work each day, recognising that diversity of thought, background and life experience all contribute to our distinctive culture and the solutions we deliver for each of our clients.

Clerkships

We run a formal clerkship program in Melbourne, where we usually take approximately 45 clerks over three intakes that coincide with university holidays (November/December, January/February and June/July) for four weeks each. We aim for around 15 clerks in each intake, so you won't get lost in the crowd. Candidates from Sydney are welcome to apply for a clerkship in our Melbourne office, and would be considered for Graduate positions in Sydney for the following year. Alternatively, expressions of interests in roles in Sydney are able to be submitted year-round as we may hire on an ad hoc basis.

Students can apply for our seasonal clerkships via our careers website (www.abl.com.au/careers). Applications for clerkships open 3 July 2023 and close on 13 August 2023 with interviews to occur in September 2023.

We keep things simple in the application process - you're asked to upload your CV, transcript and a covering letter. When it comes to the interview, we only hold one round. Our interviews are informal as we feel it's the best way to get to know you. After your interview, we provide you the opportunity to have a coffee with one of our graduates. We can arrange to hold both the interview and the post-interview ‘coffee’ via Zoom for candidates applying from Sydney.

As we are a signatory of the LIV guidelines, we only consider students in their penultimate year.

What are the qualities the firm looks for in clerks?

We look for exceptional people who are seeking, and can provide, something extraordinary. We value good grades and intelligence, as well as life experience, lateral thinking, imagination and a passion for the law. Work experience and extra-curricular activities show your ability to manage your time. We look for people who know how to use initiative and accept shared responsibility for their career development. The other personal qualities we consider are a willingness to learn, sense of humour and preparedness to assume responsibility.

What responsibilities and tasks can a clerk expect to take on?

Essentially, our clerkship program is a condensed version of our graduate experience - you'll be immersed in our culture, be given real work, real responsibility and real contact with partners and clients in meetings, calls and court hearings. We offer legal advice and support to a diverse range of clients; however we are best known for advising entrepreneurial businesses (ASX-Iisted, family owned and international) and for our work with private clients. We also work with international corporations with interests in Australia and enjoy long-standing relationships with a select group of other professional advisors - including accountants, private equity firms, insolvency practitioners, private bankers and overseas-based specialist law firms. While you will be placed in one team for your clerkship, our teams work together fluidly, and we work closely with our colleagues in our Sydney office. You'll also have the opportunity to try out working for other practice groups.