Clerks@Gadens

Gadens is excited to offer clerkships in our Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane offices. During our program, Clerks have the opportunity to get to know our people, our clients and our practice groups by participating in a range of work and activities designed to give you insights into private practice in your preferred area of the law. As well as gaining practical experience through working directly with Partners and experienced Lawyers, who are leaders in their field, a dedicated Mentor and Buddy will guide and support you during your rotation. You will also learn more about our firm, culture and how we support the wider community.

Applications

Gadens is a signatory to The Law Society of New South Wales Graduate and Clerkship Recruitment Program Guidelines, the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV) Seasonal Clerkship and Graduate Program Guidelines and the Queensland Law Society Guidelines and will comply with their application and offer dates. We will be accepting applications from students in their penultimate and final year of the JD or LLB.

Sydney

Clerkships take place across one intake, between November 2025 and February 2026.

Melbourne

Clerkships take place across three intakes, each four weeks in duration, in the university holiday periods in November 2025, January 2026 and June 2026.

Brisbane

Clerkships takes place over four weeks in the summer one period, from November to December 2025.

Application details

You need to apply for clerkships directly through our website and will be required to upload your CV, cover letter, and academic transcript, as well as responses to some short questions. You will not be required to complete any psychometric testing as part of our recruitment process. Successful clerks will be invited to attend an information session prior to interview, to learn more about Gadens and meet some of our people. Interviews will be held in-person in our offices with a Partner and member of the People and Development team. A networking evening will take place in each office prior to offer day. We look forward to receiving your application.

For any further information, please don’t hesitate to contact our team: earlycareers@gadens.com.

Application dates for Clerks@Gadens

Sydney

• Applications open: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
• Applications close: Sunday, 13 July 2025
• Offers made: Thursday, 11 September 2025

Melbourne

• Applications open: Monday, 7 July 2025
• Applications close: Sunday, 10 August 2025
• Offers made: Thursday, 16 October 2025

Brisbane

• Applications open: Monday, 14 July 2025
• Applications close: Friday, 8 August 2025
• Offers made: Tuesday, 9 October 2025

Grads@Gadens

Gadens recognises that our graduates are the future of the firm and the legal profession. Once on our Grads@Gadens program, you will immediately receive challenging and varied work with a high level of responsibility. Grads@Gadens is based on two, six-month rotations through different practice areas. Practice areas in the rotations include:

• Banking and Finance
• Corporate (including Tax Advisory)
• Disputes and Investigations
• Intellectual Property and Technology
• Real Estate and Construction
• Workplace Advisory and Disputes

Spending time in different practice areas means you have the opportunity to make an informed decision about your chosen specialisation. With our practical on-the-job training and working directly with partners you will develop a broad set of skills which you can carry with you throughout your career.

Training and development

Throughout the program we will invest in you and provide comprehensive support to ensure each rotation is a success. You will team-up with a dedicated mentor who will work closely with you to develop your technical skills, allocate work, and provide ongoing feedback.

You will attend multiple workshops each month led by partners and senior members of staff so that you are continually learning and developing. These sessions focus on business skills and technical development and ensure that you are given the support you need to excel in a commercially driven environment.

What we offer

Gadens is a leading, independent Australian law firm, with a clear vision and strategy for the future. We help people achieve their purpose in a complex world, by leading by example, inspiring others, innovating and building something we are all proud of.

We offer:

• progressive and market-leading parental leave support including;
  • 30 weeks’ Paid Parental Leave
  • Superannuation contributions while on Parental Leave, for up to 52 weeks (based on 5 days/week, regardless of your working days)
  • An external coach to support our people through the various stages of the parental leave journey (Launch, Leave and Landing)
  • A supported and staggered return
  • Budget relief for fee earners upon landing/return
  • Support and paid leave for Surrogacy and IVF treatment

• genuine flexibility with Your work. Your way. helping you achieve balance both personally and professionally and a ‘dress for your day’ approach;
• a collaborative, open and welcoming environment, that encourages you to be your authentic self at work and promotes inclusion and diversity;
• Learning@Gadens – our learning and development program provides you with the right learning opportunities to grow the skills, knowledge and behaviours that support your development at every stage of your career and inspires you to be the best you can be;
• regular social events and functions to allow relaxed and fun interactions with your colleagues whilst providing a valuable opportunity to enhance those ever-important networks and business relationships;
• health and wellbeing initiatives through our Wellbeing Committee, such as group sporting events, health seminars, yoga and with a focus on better health and fitness for both the body and mind; and
• opportunities to make an impact on our communities through our Sustainability and Social Impact program which encompasses providing access to justice to those in need; respecting and connecting with First Nations people; acting in a sustainable manner and taking positions on matters of social significance.

This is what makes Gadens a great place to work.

Eligibility

Gadens is a signatory to the Law Institute of Victoria Clerkship and Graduate Program Guidelines, Law Society NSW Graduate and Clerkship Recruitment Guidelines and the Queensland Law Society Clerkship and Graduate Recruitment Guidelines. We will recruit for our Grads@Gadens program through priority offers, in accordance with each state’s Law Society Guidelines. If we open additional market offers, we will follow the dates outlined below.

Priority Offer Dates for Grads@Gadens program:

Sydney

• Offers made to current staff/vacation clerks: 9am Thursday, 20 February, 2025
• Offers made to current staff/vacation clerks must be accepted/declined by 1pm Friday, 21 February 2025

Melbourne

• Priority offers open: 9am Tuesday, 5 August 2025
• Priority offers close: 12pm Wednesday, 6 August 2025

Brisbane

• Offers made to current staff/vacation clerks: Monday, 4 August 2025
• Offers made to current staff/vacation clerks must be accepted/declined by 5pm Tuesday, 5 August 2025

Market application dates for Grads@Gadens:

If we decide to open market applications, we will adhere to the state-based clerk and graduate recruitment dates.