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NSW government graduate cohort admitted to Supreme Court
The cohort of students who participated in the NSW government’s first legal stream of its graduate program, requested by the public sector’s general counsel group, has been admitted as lawyers to the state’s Supreme Court.
Naomi Neilson
The NSW government’s first legal graduates have been admitted to the Supreme Court after competing against 1,000 applicants for six places in the new, highly competitive program. As part of the legal stream, the new lawyers completed three rotations in different government sector agencies, including policy and litigation.
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Program graduate Alexis McShane said the legal stream stood out to her as a unique opportunity to “gain experience across policy, litigation and advice in several diverse areas of law”, while she and the other five from the cohort completed their Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice over the course of the 18-month program.
“I have gained invaluable experience during my time as a legal graduate with NSW government, and have been able to work with diligent, knowledgeable and supportive colleagues. The experience has been second to none and I can’t imagine having had a better start to my legal career,” Ms McShane said.
NSW public service commission general counsel Sarah Sandstad said it is important that they are attracting, nurturing and retaining “high-calibre legal graduates” to safeguard the future of the state government lawyers, senior lawyers and leaders.
“Experienced government lawyers know that government legal practice offers a great variety of high-quality, interesting legal work, often in collaboration with other agencies, and an opportunity to make a real contribution to the public sector and public interest,” Ms Sandstad commented.
“The graduate program offers graduates an excellent opportunity to develop their interest in government law and the building blocks and networks to progress their career in their government.”
Due to the successful implementation of the legal stream, the NSW government’s 2022 legal stream is doubling in size and accepting 20 new graduates.
