APPLICATIONS FOR CLERKSHIP
Advice for law graduates on how to thrive
Now, more than 20 years later, I have worked at some of the best law firms locally and internationally
There is a huge demand — but a short supply — of articles of clerkship (the compulsory practical training of one or two years that law graduates must do to qualify as attorneys). My company gets two or three applications a day and I am sure the bigger firms get many more. Many graduates do not find articles and become very disillusioned. At this time of the year, final-year law students and recent graduates have probably sent out applications for a clerkship. They may have already received a few rejection letters and are worried about their future. I see them. I have been there. They should take heart. In May, I marked the fact that I have been practising as an attorney for 21 years. I am a partner in a specialised commercial law firm that I co-founded 14 years ago. I applied for articles to more than 30 law firms when I started out, and every one of them had a reason not to hire me. I kept all the letters I had received rejecting my application or giving reasons why I could not get...
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