Join our summer clerk programme to make your mark in the commercial world and help our clients to shape the future of Aotearoa.

Areas of expertise: Full service law firm

Staff: 46 partners and 300+ staff across three offices

Contact: Harrison de Iongh, Talent Attraction Specialist, People and Culture

The opportunity

Join our summer clerk programme to make your mark in the commercial world and help our clients to shape the future of Aotearoa. As a summer clerk, you will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in our many practice areas and get involved in client facing work. You will enjoy learning alongside experts in their field, working with clients from the get-go and having hands-on experience with exciting and stimulating projects. Our programme provides you with the opportunity to get to know us, understand what we do and discover how we work, together. You will also have the opportunity to attend our unique summer clerk academy which runs alongside the programme to gain an insight into the inner workings of a commercial law firm. At the end of the summer, you will feel ready to enter the legal world.

Start your journey

Our summer clerk programme is designed for law students in their penultimate year looking to gain real life experience in a corporate law firm over the university break. Applications for our summer clerk programme will open early in March 2024.

As part of the recruitment process, we will provide you with a range of opportunities to connect and get to know us, while taking the time to get to know you, to ensure we are a great fit for one another. Come and say hello to us at the career expos, employer presentations on campus and sign up to come along to our open day in March 2024 to get a feel for if we are the right fit for you and to take a look around our offices.

When you are ready to apply for our summer clerk programme you will be asked to complete a quiz to provide an opportunity for us to get to know how you think, feel and operate.

Meet Katrina Dickins

Solicitor

“As a summer clerk, I enjoyed being involved in a wide variety of work, to work with those in my immediate team but also those from other practice areas, and the staff at Buddle Findlay are also some of the most accepting and welcoming people I have met. No two days were the same, and you truly get the best of both worlds – you get to start your career in a supportive environment, while also being challenged with the high-value big corporate jobs that most large law firms do.”

Where do you work now? 

I work in Buddle Findlay’s Auckland office in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) team.

What career steps have you taken to get to this point?   

While I was at university, I was part-time at a small, general practice law firm working in a wide range of areas, in corporate, property, litigation and trusts. I really enjoyed the variety of work, and I was looking for ways I could continue to grow after university.

I also did a lot of volunteering and extra-curriculars while at university. I was involved in the Equal Justice Project, PASS mentoring at Grafton Hall, a student member on ADLS, and played a bit of lacrosse. These experiences not only introduced me to a diverse range of people, but also taught me problem solving, collaboration and people skills that have been very valuable at Buddle Findlay. I was a summer clerk at Buddle Findlay in 2021/2022, and returned as a law clerk in 2023.

What kind of work have you been involved with at Buddle Findlay?    

As a summer clerk, I worked in the corporate and employment teams. I enjoyed being able to try both commercial and litigation based-teams and got to be involved in a wide variety of work, from reviewing commercial contracts, to employment disputes arising from workplace COVID-19 vaccination policies, and everything in between.

When I returned as a law clerk, I started in the TMT team and enjoyed it so much that I took a permanent place. I’ve worked with a wide variety of clients across the tech and media spaces, from reviewing reality TV shows and documentaries, providing privacy and marketing advice, and assisting on some health and medical device matters. I also regularly attend client meetings, both in person and online, and it has been great to see how these are run in real life.

I’ve also been involved in the diversity and inclusion committee, where I’ve organised events to celebrate various cultural holidays, fundraised for charities and worked on making our workplace policies more inclusive. I have teamed up with other people at the firm, who aren’t just lawyers, and helped make a positive impact outside of my legal career.

What do you enjoy about working at Buddle Findlay? 

There are two things – the people, and the variety of work.

I know everyone says they love the people, but the staff at Buddle Findlay are some of the most accepting and welcoming people I have met. Everyone is very supportive, both in your work life but also in your wellbeing, and it has made it a great place to start as a junior.

My team also brings in a wide variety work from the tech, health and media spaces, so no day is ever the same. We also work closely with the other teams around the firm, so I’ve been exposed to many other clients, and it’s given me insight into lots of areas of work.

You truly get the best of both worlds – you get to start your career in a supportive environment, while also being challenged with the high-value big corporate jobs that most large law firms do.

What has been the most challenging part of working at Buddle Findlay? 

The most challenging part is the different writing style and stance you have to take, compared to university projects. You spend your time at law school writing academic essays which argue your point of view. At a law firm, you’re advocating for a client, so you are often required to think from your client’s perspective and work out the best options for them – which are more practical than academic. I have found it hard to give a definitive answer to clients, and not just ‘sit on the fence’. There is also an art to getting the right writing style – it’s not as academic as university as the client needs to be able to understand your advice, but it’s still polite and formal.

What is unique about working at Buddle Findlay? 

We really live up to our ‘collaborative’ branding. You truly do get to work with everyone in your own team, but also in other teams and practice areas across the firm. Being involved with such a diverse range of people from all levels really helps us get the best outcomes for our clients, and exposes us to a wide variety of work. The involvement we get with other non-lawyers as well is also great – we can be involved in the various social, environment and diversity committees, and I’ve also been helping the IT team develop AI tools to assist us with legal research and advice.

What is the social life like at Buddle Findlay? 

We have a great range of casual social events like junior kōrero lunches and Friday drinks, and also big formal events like the mid-year ball and Christmas party. A lot of teams will also do team training days and Christmas celebrations, which is a great way to get to know everyone on a personal level. A highlight is the quiz night, organised by the law clerks – it really brings out our competitive spirits! Our social committee also organises social sport teams, including touch and netball. It’s safe to say there’s something for everyone to get involved in.

Did anything surprise you while working at Buddle Findlay? 

How open everyone is to asking questions and helping each other out. The senior partners and associates in my team are always running bits past each other, and it is refreshing to see everyone, even those with 30 years legal experience, so open to asking for help and ensuring our advice is accurate and relevant. It also makes you feel less silly when you’re also asking them a million questions! They are all very understanding and give great feedback – both positive and constructive – which makes it a really nice environment to learn in.

What has been your favourite experience at Buddle Findlay? 

Possibly our TMT team planning day – we all ventured out to Piha to spend the day planning for 2024. It was so nice to get out of the office and be in a more relaxed environment. As a junior, it was also interesting to be involved in conversations about business development, and contribute to the team’s expectations. Being able to have a say in how I would like to see the team work together and support each other was really valuable, and a great way to feel heard and supported.

What is your advice to other students who would like to work with Buddle Findlay? 

Get involved in as much as you can outside of your ‘law’ life – whether it’s a sport, craft, or any hobby, they all build up those all-important interpersonal skills, and will probably bring you much more joy and fulfilment than a good grade ever will. These are also great things to continue while you start working, to give you a break from your laptop screen and improve your wellbeing. Be curious and ask tons of questions – people love to talk about themselves! You are smarter and more capable than you think, and it never hurts to put your name out there and give things a go.