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Clayton Utz

3.8
  • #4 in Law
  • 1,000 - 50,000 employees

Lucy Broughton

6.45 AM

Time to rise and shine! I have a quick shower in the morning, get ready for work and then I walk into the office. The walk takes about an hour but it is a lovely walk and I find it very relaxing - I am always listening to some tunes on the way!

9.00 AM 

I head into the office and log into my computer. When this is happening I make my breakfast in the office kitchen. When I get back to my desk I check my emails to prioritise what needs to be done throughout the day.

9.30 AM

I am currently rotating in the Public Sector team which means we are involved in litigation on behalf of the government. We work with government departments, statutory authorities and agencies. This morning I need to prepare a legal advice for the Department of Home Affairs with respect to a judicial review application made by a visa applicant. I have pre-organised to meet a senior associate in the team (who is responsible for overseeing my work on this matter) to discuss the advice. Before meeting with her, I review all of the information provided by the Department and think about some of the key issues that will need to be addressed. When I meet with the senior associate, she helps me to identify the key legal issues in this advice and provides some guidance with respect to the structure of the advice.

Clayton Utz - Young female lawyer meeting with her senior associates.

11.00 AM

Coffee time for me! We are lucky to have a café in our office so I make my way downstairs for a caffeine hit.

Clayton Utz - Young female lawyer holding a cup of coffee.

11.15 AM

I return to my desk to start drafting my legal advice. This requires reviewing relevant legislation, case law and previous legal advices. I have a few questions about this advice, but I ask some of my colleagues for some help and they point me in the right direction. 

1.00 PM

I usually catch up with my graduate cohort for lunch, and if the weather is dull we catch up in one of the social hubs throughout the office.

Clayton Utz - Young female lawyer having lunch with a graduate.

2.00 PM

I receive a telephone call from my pro-bono client. I am currently working on a matter with Justice Connect Homeless Law. We are advising a client who has been issued a possession order by her real estate agent because she has failed to pay rent. We discuss her prospects of success at a VCAT hearing which is scheduled for next week.

Clayton Utz - Young female lawyer sitting on her desk.

2.30 PM

I attend a pre-arranged catch up with my partner to discuss a new matter. We are assisting a government department with respect to a financial investigation regarding misappropriation of benefit payments. My partner gives me the background of this matter, and she asks that I analyse some of the broad categories of transactions made and whether they are permissible under the department's rules. We are working alongside our Forensic Technology Services team on this matter, as they will be conducting the bulk of the financial analysis.

Clayton Utz - Young female lawyer meeting with a partner.

3.30 PM

I return to my desk (with a cup of peppermint tea) and continue working on the benefit payments matter. I review all the documents that we have received from the client and start working on the legal analysis regarding whether the transactions were allowable. I speak with one of the analysts in our Forensic Technology Services team about preparing an excel spreadsheet of all the relevant transactions over certain time periods.

5.30 PM

One of the senior associates in my team requires help preparing a brief for an upcoming dispute. A brief is a collection of all the important documents required for a barrister to give advice or appear at a hearing. In this matter, we are briefing two barristers who will need to appear at a hearing in a few weeks' time. I sit down with the senior associate to determine what documents are required, and I begin to collate the brief. 

7.00 PM

I head home to have dinner and catch up with my housemates.

9.30 PM

I head to bed and unwind with a book or an episode of television on Netflix.