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How to commit to full-time legal work as a law student
From the moment that she knew she had a strong interest in law, one new graduate looked for ways to get involved. While sometimes this meant administrative tasks, other times it was balancing full-time work while completing a law degree.
Naomi Neilson
Speaking to The Protégé Podcast, Coulter Legal paralegal Alli Taylor said the roles and the experiences she has had come down to the legal work she committed to doing during university. Although at times, this led to a very busy schedule to maintain, it put her a “step forward” from her peers during the application process.
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“Sometimes I wasn’t sure how I managed both, but I did love working so much and gaining that experience so I just found a way,” Ms Taylor said of working and studying full time. “Coulter Legal were so great with it. They gave me the flexibility with study leave when those big assignments and exams came up, but just being able to work in a law firm and learn the ropes while studying was so beneficial.”
Ms Taylor explained that the minute she knew she wanted to work in law, she looked for opportunities to do so. During her penultimate year of high school, Ms Taylor said she spent her after-school hours in the mailroom of a law firm.
“While it was a very basic role, I was just happy to be there and just get to see that very small snippet of how a law firm runs,” Ms Taylor said. “From then on, I was able to end up taking roles in my gap year before commencing my law degree.”
In the episode, Ms Taylor said that although her mailroom job meant emptying bins and other administrative tasks, it was still a way to expose herself to the law and to improve her resume. From there, Ms Taylor secured a job as a legal assistant. That experience, she said, “definitely put me a step forward” when applying for jobs.
“It has benefited me so much. Gaining experience while studying [is something] I would recommend to any law student. Any opportunity that was presented to me or that I could seek out, I definitely did. Even while [working as] a legal assistant, all those little skills I picked up will benefit me in the future as a lawyer,” she said.
Listen to the entire episode here for more on working and studying full time, Alli’s experience as a Women in Law Awards finalist, and working in family law.
If you have any questions about the episode or if there are any topics that you might want us to look into, please reach out – we would love to hear from you!
We’re also always open to new guests, so if you have an exciting story to tell, if you’re standing out as a student or graduate, or if you can offer some tips for our young lawyers, get in touch.
