ACC Australia and The Learned Crew In-House Clerkship Program

This is the first of its kind structured in-house clerkship program in Australia, complete with an in-built training component. The program is a turnkey solution that aims to make having an in-house clerk easy, efficient, flexible and value for money. We provide support, we review the applications, shortlist candidates and train law student clerks on the fundamentals of being an in-house lawyer so they are job-ready and adding value as soon as they begin their clerkship.

We started this clerkship program to create new and unique opportunities for law students to gain work experience in a growing segment of the legal profession, and for in-house lawyers to give back to the next generation of lawyers and have energetic young talent to help them within their busy in-house functions. 

After the success of the pilot clerkship program in July 2019, The Learned Crew and Association of Corporate Counsel Australia (ACC Australia) are seeking applications from in-house legal teams to participate in an in-house legal clerkship program for law students in 2020. Find out more about how to do this on the ACC Australia website here. 

For the H1 2020 program, we have exclusively partnered with UNSW! In future we will let you know who the other universities will be that are participating.

Hear what our legal teams have to say about the program

-       “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.

Now hear from one of our law student clerks 

“Prior to undertaking my clerkship with VMware, I had a misconceived idea about the nature of the role as in-house counsel. Entering into private practice was at the forefront of my mind from the outset! Thanks to the fantastic collaboration of the ACC and The Learned Crew, I was provided the rare opportunity to set foot in the shoes of highly reputable figures in the legal fraternity and learn skills that textbooks nor seminars could replicate.

Shadowing Kelly Xiao, our senior associate and finalist of the ACC Corporate Lawyer Awards, I have adapted the polished skills and frame-of-mind of a commercial ‘GP’, capable of navigating complex matters which demands attention to a variety of stakeholders and considerations that private practice cases would not typically contemplate. Similarly, our Associate General Counsel and NSW President of the ACC, Lori Middlehurst, is an exceptional mentor with an abundance of tales and experiences to share.

Both Kelly and Lori have taught me how to use discretion in a multitude of contexts, how to ask the right questions in the right way as well as how to exercise integrity and respect as part of our broader legal responsibility, especially when managing people. Most importantly, had it not been for the clerkship and my eventual part-time position at VMware (shout-out to Lori for making it happen!), I would not have learnt that the quintessential doctrine of lawyering in the 21st century is that it is all about being more than just a lawyer.  

- Jasmin Mantoufeh, in-house legal clerk at VMWare