Other popular unis included Deakin (9), Macquarie (9), ANU (9), La Trobe (8), Newcastle (8), and University of Queensland (8).

Of the top tier, Allens was the most likely to accept a wide range of graduates, recruiting from 21 of the 29 universities offering law degrees. The next most open was Clayton Utz with 20, and then Freehills with 18, Mallesons and Minter Ellison with 17 each, and Blakes with 14.

However, it should be noted that some firms responded to the above question with a list of universities they have hired graduates from in recent years, rather than specifically 2007, and so the table should be viewed on that basis.

Sadly for James Cook University law school graduates, only Freehills took one of their number in 2007. It is also the case that only 23 of the 29 law schools were listed by the firms when responding to the survey. Of the remaining six universities, graduates from five law schools (Canberra, Southern Cross, New England, Western Sydney, Charles Darwin and Edith Cowan) were not recruited by the surveyed firms, and Edith Cowan’s law school opened only two years ago.

Although our survey covered many major firms in Australia, they are just a small sample of the numerous options available for students around the country.

Four of the firms surveyed have also accepted graduates from foreign universities this year. Blakes recruited from University of Leeds, Mallesons from the University of Hong Kong and City University of Hong Kong, Baker & McKenzie from a German uni and Allens from the universities of Auckland and Otago.