PLT Repayment Schedules @ Top Tier Firms & The Corrs Graduate Rotation Shocker

Whether you’re in an accounting firm or a law firm, a major bone of contention among junior staffers can be the fine print associated with higher learning. A good example is found in our recent post on HWL Ebsworth in which the firm apparently threatened to dock the pay of a departing employee. Well, it seems like the law graduates of today have very little choice but to expose themselves to potential repayment obligations to firms and this post looks at the reasons why.

that'll be 2 years of your life thanks

According to ALSA:

• College of Law: Professional Program (costs $7,500 Australia-wide for Australian residents)
• University of Newcastle: Diploma of Legal Practice (we couldn’t find the course fees)
• University of Wollongong: Practical Legal Training Course (costs $6,500 for domestic UoW students)
• University of Technology Sydney: Faculty of Law Professional Program OR Master of Law and Legal Practice (we couldn’t find the course fees)
• University of Western Sydney Macarthur: Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (costs $10,170 for domestic students)

• Leo Cussen Institute – full time program (costs $7,950 for Australian students)
• Leo Cussen Institute – online program (costs $7,750 for Australian students – gee thanks for the generous $200 Leo!)
• Monash University – full time program (we couldn’t find the course fees)
• College of Law (Victoria) – online program (costs $7,500 Australia-wide for Australian residents)

So how long do grads need to stick around? To answer this, we wrote the following email on Monday to the media teams at Mallesons, Minter Ellison, Freehills, Clayton Utz, Corrs, Norton Rose, DLA, and AAR (except it bounced back – meaning they’ve either blocked our emails or Jason Silveri no longer works there):

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: College of Law Repayment Schedule
Date: Mon, 02 May 2011 20:42:19 -0400
From: <news@firmspy.com>
To:

Hi,

We’re currently compiling a story which profiles the circumstances under which graduates working at major Australian firms will be absolved of the liabilty to pay for their Practical Legal Training Course (in most circumstances being provided by the College of Law).

Consistent with our approach to reportage this year, we wanted to give your firm an opportunity to clarify how long the relevant grad must stay at the firm to avoid paying the hefty CoL bill. Are you able to advise?

If the CoL bill is amortised over a certain period, we would also welcome guidance on its schedule (eg grad pays 50% of CoL if leaving the firm between 1 and 2 year PQE).

We look forward to hearing from you. We’re sure grads will also appreciate clarification in this regard, instead of just relying on LSS hyperbole.

Regards,

FS

The only firm to write back to us was Freehills and we are certain that graduates appreciate the transparency of this firm. For graduates wondering about the merits of a career with Freehills, we ask them to read yesterday’s post regarding the severing of the firm’s ER practice, but to do so in the light of its track record with juniors. Onto the Freehills PLT repayment schedule:

All new graduates employed by Freehills (who are yet to complete the College of Law) are informed of the firm’s policy by a clause in their letter of offer.

Freehills will pay 100% of up front course fees for graduates who have completed their LLB or other qualifying degree and are undertaking the Freehills in-house College of Law program for their admission to practice in NSW, Qld, VIC or WA.

If a graduate leaves the firm whilst completing the admission training program, they will be required to repay 100% of the fees.

If a graduate or articled clerk leaves the firm within 2 years of completing the admission training , the firm requires the graduate to refund a portion of the expenses dependent on their length of service. The repayment requirements are set out in the following table.

Length of service after completing admission program	Percentage of fees to be repaid
0 – 6 months	75%
7 – 12 months	50%
13 – 24 months	25%

Anecdotally, we’ve heard that most firms also amortise CoL repayment liabilities over two years, however it is broken up into yearly, 50% blocks (unlike the half-yearly 25% blocks at Freehills). We have also heard that Minter Ellison originally had no repayment obligation, but had to amend this because several grads gained admission and immediately left the firm. We ask that grads at all firms email us at news@firmspy.com to clarify the nuances of the repayment regime at their firm.

Meanwhile, over at Corrs, an anonymous spy admonishes “caveat emptor Corrs Chambers Westgarth graduates”:

Corrs Chambers Westgarth (Corrs) widely advertises that graduates receive four days study leave per subject for Practical Legal Training (PLT). The firm fails, however, to tell future graduates, that once you sign you will be advised that they recommend only 1 study day per subject. Any leave over that requires a written explanation and would have to be for ”extenuating circumstances”. Corrs further expresses that they would ”be suprised” if graduates needed more than 1 days leave as no one in the past has ever taken more.

Further, in the Corrs’ sales pitch graduates are offered the opportunity to do a rotation in a Public Interest Clearing House. What Brisbane HR fails to mention is that Corrs has actually decided to permanently post a research clerk to the Queensland Public Interest Clearing House, eliminating the opportunity for a QPILCH graduation rotation. Why? Because graduates can be charged out at a higher rate, so it is more economical for the firm to send a research clerk who charges out at a lower rate.

Why then does Corrs continue to advertise opportunities for graduates to be involved in public interest assistance? It seems Corrs is more interested in getting its pro bono advertising as cheaply as possible sending staff who are not yet qualified lawyers.

We asked the Corrs media contact for comment on the opportunity to rotate at PILCH and whether it truly existed. Much like the broader email we circulated regarding the CoL repayment schedule, we received no response.

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