Answers from Laurie Finlayson (HR Director) I am applying for a law clerk position. Under the University of Canterbury column there is an N/A recorded in the interviews row. Does this mean you are not looking to interview Canterbury students? Good question! We do interview at Canterbury when we receive enough great applications to send in one of our interview teams. In the years when this doesn't happen, we arrange for Canterbury applicants who match our needs, to come to either Wellington or Dunedin for an interview. We will have a better feel for what will happen this year, after applications close and we read every application. Answers from Laurie Finlayson (HR Director) In relation to applying for the Summer Clerk and Graduate positions at KensingtonSwan, could you please provide me with further guidiance on matters of the following: 1. Would a reference letter from a flatmate be appropriate? 2. Would a reference letter from the Community Law Centre, or the Law Office I worked as a summer clerk in the previous year would suffice as an academic reference? 3. Are academic references compulsory, or advantageous in any way to the application? To answer your queries: references are valuable to demonstrate how you've applied the skills or gained the experience documented in you CV and covering letter. So unless your flatmate is someone you've worked for, their reference would be of lesser value than from someone who supervised your work at the Community Law Centre, or Law Office. Accademic references should be from someone at the University who has marked your work. Accademic references are not mandatory in your application, so would suggest you only attach this if you are described as outstanding. However your accademic results would usually show the papers you've achieved. There is no need to attach an accademic transcript with your application unless you want to. Instead you could record your degree papers and marks on your CV. We would then ask you for an authorised copy of your accademic transcript if you are invited to interview. Good luck with you application. Kind regards Laurie Answers from Laurie Finlayson (HR Director) I am an Auckland University law student interested in applying for a graduate position. I note that the Auckland positions are filled but that positions in Wellington are available. If applying for a Wellington position (which I am keen to do), would that entail having to travel down to Wellington if I were successful in gaining an interview? Great to hear you're interested in working with us! Although the law clerk positions are only available in Wellington (as we've offered our summer clerks most of the law clerk positions), it is likely you could interview in Auckland - with interviewers from Wellington. If you get through to an offer, we would fly you to Wellington to check out the people and work environment there, before you need to accept the offer. Hope that helps in your decision on whether to send your application to us. Answers from Laurie Finlayson (HR Director) With regards to your summer internship programme, I was wondering what year you accept/prefer your applicants to be in university? I have been told that it is usually in the 3rd year of law degree, but my degree is 5 years instead of the usual 4. It can get a bit confusing when described as year levels, so for summer clerk positions, we usually describe the time for law students to apply, as in their penultimate year of their law degree. Hope that helps you decide if now is the right time to get your application in to us. Answers from Laurie Finlayson (HR Director) Are you just looking for students with top grades? Definitely not! While those are important, we’re looking for people with more than just good grades. Colleagues and clients prefer to work with talented all-round people. You will relish the prospect of trying new things, enjoy interaction with others on common objectives, and seeing how far you can go. You will probably have faced challenges and successes in your work or life experiences. Answers from Ben Wakely (Summer Clerk, Wellington) From your experience as a recent Summer Clerk, why should I consider Kensington Swan? The whole summer has been rewarding; the work, the support and encouragement, the culture, and social events—the list goes on. It is a really well balanced firm. I have been challenged to work to a high standard on interesting, complex work, but with a supportive and enjoyable environment to achieve in. Answers from Clayton Kimpton (Chairman) How will you advance my career? One of the key differences is the long-term approach we take to developing Summer Clerks. You start with a three day program to help you get to know us and our practices. You’ll have regular coaching on the job from skilled solicitors, partners, and your assigned buddy. To add to the many one-on-one opportunities, an ongoing, quality training program will extend your legal knowledge and your skills in business management, marketing, and leadership. Flexible work arrangements can be customised to help you achieve personal goals or post-grad study commitments. Answers from Laurice Avery (Solicitor, Wellington) Will I actually get to meet clients? Yes, Summer Clerks do meet with clients—sometimes even on the first day in your team. You’ll work with a partner, their team, and their clients on real commercial work. You will get to know how different clients like to operate, adding to your own commercial acumen. It is always a great feeling to see your legal opinions included in advice to a client! Answers from Carl Hey (Summer Clerk, Auckland) What types of cases could I be working on? Summer clerking has been a great way of gaining insight into the practice of commercial law. While I clerked in the Corporate and Tax team, I was able to broaden my knowledge by receiving varied work from other teams. I hear few stories of similar opportunities elsewhere. Answers from Natalie Amos (Solicitor, Auckland) Why did you choose to work for KS? Was it a hard decision? One stand-out thing for me was the culture. People genuinely caring about each other, and while work is really important, it was a reassuring feeling that life outside of work was valued, so I had no trouble deciding to accept an offer here. Answers from Laurie Finlayson (HR Director) Does every Summer Clerk get a Law Clerk offer? Yes. We do intend for all our Summer Clerks to become Law Clerks. We provide this by taking a smaller number of Summer Clerks than most large firms, and by working closely with you to make sure law clerking will be good for you and us. It is rare that we say goodbye to someone at the end of summer.