7.00 AM

Time to get up and start the day! I am a relatively late riser compared to most so I usually stick with my morning routine and have a quick shower, eat some breakfast and then hop on the train. I always make sure that I have my headphones for the train trip in as I am a big fan of music and podcasts.

8.30 AM

I start off my day by walking into my office, logging into my computer and checking my emails. This is helpful as I like to make a list of all the things that I know need to be done for the day. This list usually changes throughout the day but I find doing this is always handy to plan out my day and know what items I need to prioritise.

9.00 AM

Next is the most important part of the morning…coffee!! At Clayton Utz we have a beautiful café in the building which has stunning views. I will usually rally up a few people within my team and have a quick caffeine hit to start the day. 

9.20 AM

I am currently rotating in Corporate/M&A/Private Equity which means I am working on a number of different matters at one time. A Senior Associate in the team has just emailed me an information memorandum and a link to a data room and asks me to review and chat in 30 minutes. I scan the documents in the data room and review the IM and then write out some initial questions for our discussion.

In our discussion we chat about the structure of the proposed acquisition, the business our client is wanting to acquire and the key issues that we both have identified. Both of us note that there is a lot of documents around property and employment, meaning that we need to link up with the Employment and Property teams to also help us out with the review.

I then pull together a skeleton due diligence report to start populating, some initial requests for information to send to the seller's lawyers and draft an email to the Employment and Property teams to give them some background on the review.

11.00AM

Just as I am about to begin reviewing the documents uploaded in the data room, my Partner calls me into his office and forwards me a confidentiality deed. He gives me some background on the deal and asks me do the first mark-up. He also asks if I can attend a conference call at 1.30 pm and take some notes and then proceeds to forward me some background material for the call.

I decide to prioritise glancing over the documents forwarded for the meeting, as client calls generally have lots of acronyms or terms which I have never heard before…so it is always good to get a bit of a grasp on the background of the call before taking notes. I then review the confidentiality deed, mark it up with my comments and then forward it to the Partner.

12.15 PM

During our rotations as a graduate we have a variety of legal foundation training sessions in the area we are rotating through. Today we have a session on dealing with listed companies and the impact of the ASX listing rules. These corporate legal foundation sessions are great because we are able to hear from seniors in the corporate team on their experiences in these topics and understand what we need to look out for as a graduate!

1.00 PM

Another important time of the day…lunch! We have a great graduate cohort and most of us decide to sit outside on the steps of the Clayton Utz building to soak up some Vitamin D and grab a bite to eat. This is a perfect time to catch up with the other grads and hear about what people have been up to over the weekend.   

1.30 PM

I quickly arrive to the meeting room with my laptop in hand ready to take some detailed notes! The call is about a status update on outstanding items in a large transaction people had been working on even before I was rotating. I type everything and anything people in the meeting are saying. At the end of the call I read over the notes I took, re-format them and then send it across to everyone on the call. 

2.00 PM

After the call I have a mentoring catch-up. Clayton Utz has a great graduate mentoring program and I schedule a coffee with my mentor every few months. My mentor is from a different practice area and when you are going through the rotation process it is always good to have someone to open up to and guide you through decisions you might be facing.

3.00 PM

After my catch-up, I see an email from a Senior Associate in my team asking me to do some research on a niche area relating to directors duties. I firstly grab a cup of tea from the kitchen and then I start off the research by using the online research tools on the Clayton Utz intranet. I then get a bit stuck and decide to email our library for some help. Once I have got all the information I draft a memo and discuss my findings with the Senior Associate.

5.00 PM

My Partner then emails me and wants to chat about the confidentiality deed. We run through my mark-up, I make some final changes and then we send it off to the client. I then decide to get a head start and get back to the due diligence review. After I finish this initial review of some of the contracts in the data room, I check in with my team and make sure no one needs a hand with anything before I head off. 

7.00 PM

I then head to the gym and attend my Pilates class. I always find time to get some exercise in during the day whether that is before or after work! I then hop on the train and head back home and have dinner with my family. 

10.00 PM

The day is over so it is time to hop into bed and catch up on some Netflix.