Employment

Bristow Legal offers law students the opportunity to work as paralegals and to gain experience in all aspects of working in a busy legal practice. Our paralegals are given extensive training, and assist with research tasks, preparing chronologies, drafting and reviewing contractual documents and considering and summarising new legislation. Our lawyers also take a mentoring role, and explain the context of the tasks that our paralegals perform. 

Because we operate a boutique legal practice, paralegals benefit from being closely involved with a wide variety of matters and clients. You will not spend weeks preparing lists of documents, or only working in very narrow legal areas. We are also very flexible and make sure you always have time off to study, and for exams. As a bonus, you can also drive to work, and park for free, and we have a great coffee machine.

We are delighted and proud that past paralegals have gone on to be appointed as associates to Federal Court and High Court judges, and to obtain scholarships to study law at Oxford and Cambridge.

Here is what Tom Pappalardo, now a graduate at King & Wood Mallesons, has to say about working at Bristow Legal:

‘I started my legal career as a paralegal at Bristow Legal whilst completing my final years of study as a full-time law student. Bristow Legal is a fantastic place to work and I cannot think of a better way to have started my career.  As a paralegal I was exposed to a variety of different matters and areas of law, and received an abundance of guidance and training from Gillian who is widely considered to be the ‘go-to’ advisor for Transport Law in Australia. All the practitioners were extremely knowledgeable and dedicated to assisting in the development of paralegals and junior members in the practice. At Bristow Legal I developed a particularly strong understanding of contract law, which I have found to be foundational and applicable to every area of law I have worked in since. Gillian was also extremely flexible and accommodating with regards to my university deadlines and personal commitments. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Bristow Legal as a place to work’ 

Some further comments from Nicholas Buntain, now in his final year of study and a paralegal at Corrs Chambers Westgarth:

My time as a casual paralegal at Bristow Legal was, to say the least, an incredibly rewarding experience. I started working with Gillian at the beginning of my third year in law school, having never worked in a commercial law firm previously. Gillian was extremely patient and understanding as I came to grips with the complexities of contract and property law in their application to heavy vehicle operations, and always made sure that I left the office having learnt something new – whether it be how to best review a standard  form contract or how to avoid the common pitfalls in drafting limitation clauses. At Bristow Legal, I received significant exposure to contract drafting – something I have since found exceedingly helpful throughout both my studies and working life. But most importantly, it was always a pleasure to come into work with the Bristow Legal team – the work environment was extremely positive, and Gillian always made sure that I prioritised my academic and personal commitments. Gillian has had a profoundly positive impact on my professional development, and I am sure that I would not have learnt as much (or had such a good time) at any other firm as a junior paralegal. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Bristow Legal.