Changes to LIV Traineeship & Seasonal Clerkship Guidelines for 2010
The changes to the Traineeship and Seasonal Clerkship Guidelines for 2010 have been officially released by the LIV.
- LIV Seasonal Clerkship Guidelines 2010 (PDF, 419KiB).
- LIV Traineeship Guidelines 2010 (PDF, 346KiB).
There have recently been significant changes to the LIV Guidelines for Seasonal clerkship and Traineeship recruitment, in particular to the key dates. This change was initiated by law firms who are signatories to the Guidelines. The Victorian Council of Law Student Societies (VCLSS) representatives were involved in the consultations and also support the changes.
Ultimately, the changes will benefit students and make the process a lot more transparent. One of the key benefits to students is that they will no longer have to apply blindly to firms unsure of whether firms are actually offering any places over and above priority offers. Under the new Guidelines, priority offers will be made first, and firms will then open applications to the open market—a significantly more transparent process. Students will also have one more semester of marks to present to employers.
The new Guidelines push back the recruitment by 6 months. Under the current system penultimate year students apply for seasonal clerkships in March and undertake them in July (Winter) and December of their penultimate year and January of their final year. Under the new system, they will apply in July/August of their penultimate year and undertake the clerkships in December (of their penultimate year), January and July of their FINAL year. Applications for Traineeships will follow after the July (Winter) clerkship in the final year. Offers will be made around October to begin a Traineeship in the following February/March.
Next year will be a transition year and as a consequence there will not be any Winter clerkships. There has been some anxiety among students that throughout the transition they will have reduced opportunities to undertake clerkships. This, however, is not the case. While there will not be a Winter clerkship offered in 2010, those penultimate year students will have the opportunity to do a Winter clerkship in 2011, their final year.
- 2009 penultimate year students undertake their Winter clerkship in July 2009 (of their penultimate year)
- 2010 penultimate year students will undertake their Winter clerkship in July 2011 (of their final year)
So going forward, even through the transition period, students will still have 3 opportunities to do a seasonal clerkship.
Current schedule (2009 LIV Guidelines)
- 2009 Penultimate year students applied for seasonal clerkships in March 2009.
- They can do a clerkship in July 2009, December 2009 and January 2010.
- They apply for a Traineeship over the December 2009/January 2010 holiday period.
- They undertake a Traineeship in February/March 2011.
Transition schedule (2010 LIV Guidelines)
- Student who will be in their final year in 2010 will apply for Traineeships for 2011 over the December 2009/January 2010 period.
- 2010 Penultimate year students will apply for seasonal clerkships in August/September (offers made on 13 September 2010).
- Students can do a clerkship in December 2010, January 2011 and July 2011 (final year).
- They apply for Traineeships in August 2011 (directly after completing their Winter clerkship).
- They undertake a Traineeship in February/March 2012.
New Schedule (2011 LIV Guidelines)
- 2011 Penultimate year students will apply for seasonal clerkships in August/September.
- Students can do a clerkship in December 2011, January 2012 and July 2012 (final year).
- They apply for Traineeships in August 2012 (directly after completing their Winter clerkship).
- They undertake a Traineeship in February/March 2013.
Want more information?
The Careers Office has arranged for the Law Institute of Victoria to visit the Law School on Thursday 20 August at 1pm in G08 to present a seminar on the Guidelines and the new schedule. Please make an effort to attend this session so that you are clear how the changes may affect you. The seminar will be i-lectured and will be available from the Careers Office website.
Further details will also be included in this year’s Careers Guidebook, and next year’s Seasonal Clerkship Guide.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Alexis and Rebecca, the LSS Careers VPs.