Liam Hart

What's your job about?

I am a rotating graduate at Hall & Wilcox, which is a full-service corporate firm with quite a large practice area in insurance. I am currently in my first rotation of three. I landed in the Statutory Insurance NSW team. My particular team deals with insurers and assists in resolving personal injury claims arising from motor vehicle accidents, also known as green slip claims.

My working day as a graduate is hands on. I am busy doing real, practical tasks to help resolve damages and injury disputes. Typical tasks include drafting letters; drafting court forms such as subpoenas; reviewing medical documents and expert reports; and even drafting paragraphs in advice.

These are exciting tasks, but they also have a steep learning curve, and require hands-on supervision. Fortunately, as a grad I have been placed with a buddy and a mentor who are both actively invested in my professional development (shoutout to Lawyer Georgia Mason and Special Counsel Barbara Casado). I’m given the time and attention required to be able to take on challenging tasks and develop my legal skills.

I’ll also be expected to attend the many sessions held for lawyers to keep their skills sharp. I’m looking forward to hearing the latest updates in our section’s legal practice, learning about risk management and cybersecurity best practice, and being asked to participate in client interactions and conferences. In short, I am not treated as ‘just a grad,’ I am treated like a lawyer.

What's your background?

My graduate experience pathway has been a little different to many of my peers: I’m older than most of my graduate peers and have come from a previous career in business and marketing. To be honest, I walked into the hiring process worried that these attributes might hold me back; that I didn’t fit the mould or wouldn’t be able to keep up.

I also felt like I didn’t meet what I imagined to be the typical graduate image of a private school kid who went to USYD or UNSW. I grew up in Western Sydney, and I did my law degree at Western Sydney University. I was also unsuccessful in getting into any clerkship programs throughout my studies. I felt that these would be disadvantages.

However, my experience here has shown that I had the wrong idea. Throughout the hiring process I was encouraged by everyone I interacted with to tell my story, to share my experiences in the business world and to just be myself.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Certainly. Hall & Wilcox have a work culture focused on diversity. I am one of 14 rotating graduates of all different ages, ethnicities, genders, class and experience. I came from a previous career in marketing, others have IT backgrounds, and some have relatively little professional experience but have proved themselves through their academic and extracurricular efforts.

This seems to me to be because Hall & Wilcox hires their graduates based on values (as well as talent). The hiring process is really social and many of the questions we were asked regarded what concepts such as diversity, innovation and integrity mean to us. My advice to applicants would be to come with an open mind, have the ability to work with others, an enthusiasm for new experiences and challenges, the confidence to admit when you don’t know the answer and to ask for help. These seem to be values highly regarded at this firm.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

In my current rotation in Statutory Insurance, my team primarily assists insurers in managing compulsory third party (CTP/‘green slip’) claims and Workers Compensation claims. It is a great area of practice with so many interesting components. Here is a snapshot of what I love about working in Statutory Insurance.

1. Your matters involve real people, not just companies. Real people have compelling stories, can be unpredictable and influence your practice. They too are a stakeholder in the matters that come across your desk.
2. Our clients are large, sophisticated entities with skilled lawyers of their own. This enables you to develop serious technical skills and deliver complicated advice to a client who understands and appreciates your talent.
3. It requires you to advise and to litigate; you get to wear both hats. Detailed considerations must be given to advise an insurer on what internal decisions they should make, but there are also disputes which require you to navigate tribunal and court processes.
4. The structured, regulated nature of disputes managed by my team means that the future workload is reasonably easy to estimate. Very rarely does a task appear that is so urgent it requires you to work ridiculous hours, meaning that if you are organised you can have a great work-life balance.
5. Members of the Statutory Insurance team are not only leaders in their field but are a really nice bunch of people. Although some have worked together for 10 and 20 years, they really make newcomers feel welcome and expose the early-career lawyers to all aspects of the file. 

What are the limitations of your job?

Hall & Wilcox is a corporate firm. While the firm services all market sectors and has over 30 different practice groups, these don’t include criminal or family law. This means that those with an interest in other areas of practice such as criminal or family law may feel limited. Also, as a graduate at Hall & Wilcox, your rotations will likely involve some time in a team that does insurance work, which may be a limitation for those who want to do purely corporate or commercial work.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

• Make and maintain some lasting friendships! It is a small world out there and in law it pays to have friends. The job can be demanding and having friends to support you is invaluable. Friends in uni will also help with studies, as you can compare notes when preparing for an exam and run practice papers past each other. As someone currently working with a uni friend, it makes Friday drinks after work all the more satisfying.
• Get some work experience. The people hiring graduates understand that to have a successful career in law, it’s not all about whether you got a High Distinction or a Credit, etc, in your exams. They value work experience, so whether or not your results are amazing, get some practical experience. Working in a professional role requires less rote learning and requires more social and organisational skills. Practical work experience teaches these skills and gives you confidence in a professional environment.
• Find and maintain something outside of work that you love. This helps both your career and your personal life. Having something external to work that gives you confidence and value as a person helps you be resilient when times are tough in your career. Having a social or creative outlet like playing an instrument or a team sport will remind you that you are valuable in so many ways.