Graduate Lawyers Program
A supportive culture is what makes SWS a great workplace
We are seeking candidates who have done well at law school but are also genuinely interested in learning about our clients and what really creates value in their businesses. You will have an enquiring mind, and you will need to apply it to complex problems.
All our principals and partners of the firm have experience at large national or international law firms, at the NSW Bar, or as in-house counsel, and all had the benefit of strong mentoring and training from year one. They value mentoring and make day-to-day on-the-job training a priority for all our graduates and junior lawyers. You will not be left to “just work it out”. Fostering a supportive culture is what makes SWS a great workplace to learn and develop as a junior lawyer.
At SWS we also value work life balance – there is no expectation of burning the midnight oil just to be seen. When the pressure of a transaction or court deadline is looming, we are there for our clients; but all of us at SWS have lives, so we knuckle down at work and keep sensible hours. You can expect to work hard, but also have time to enjoy all that Newcastle has to offer.
About the Program
We are known for our genuine expertise. Clients call on us to represent them when the chips are down, and the stakes are high. Each day presents new and interesting legal challenges.
Our graduate roles do not involve repetitive process work using precedents and talking to a boss who directs you to the method or system that applies to a commonly occurring set of facts. The work you will become involved in is more likely to be ‘one-off problem solving’ that you may not see again for years, and it will demand careful and well-reasoned consideration of the law and its application.
Over the past few years our Corporate Team has worked on several inbound and Australian based Capital Raising and M&A deals with transaction values of between $10m and $200m. We have assisted clients to raise money for critical seed and working capital and completed complex cross-border private equity transactions. We close 8 to 10 M&A deals in a typical year, and we work on complex structuring, financing and shareholder matters for our clients.
Our Litigation Team is continuously engaged in interesting and challenging work. We are proud to offer our clients litigation expertise that means they don’t need to seek out Sydney-based representation. We regularly provide advice on shareholder disputes, intellectual property protection, construction matters and on a wide range of consumer law issues for clients with sophisticated and specialist consumer products.
The SWS Property and Environment Team supports a growing client base that is looking for practical and timely advice to complete property deals, enhance and develop land use, solve complex environmental problems and prosecute arguments. Our lawyers are involved in complex advice and transactional work and work closely with architects, planners and developers to support our client’s projects. And our planning lawyers regularly represent clients in the Land and Environment Court, when a commercial or practical solution does not present itself.
Unlike in big and mid-size firms in Sydney and Melbourne – as a Graduate with SWS Lawyers you won’t be at the bottom of a pyramid under a Special Counsel, Senior Associate, Associates and other Lawyers – you’ll be working side by side every day with experienced Principals who have a genuine commitment to investing in and mentoring you.
Our Graduates will tell you that, from their earliest days, they have had direct client contact and been involved in drafting and negotiating documents and transaction management; briefed and instructed counsel; and participated in site visits to assess complex environment, planning and property law issues. All of this is done with a strong safety net of team and principal mentoring support.
We offer our new Graduates the opportunity to:
- Work on top quality legal work in corporate, mergers and acquisitions, property and planning and commercial litigation.
- Gain invaluable experience working directly with Principals in a small, close-knit team, with client engagement from day one.
- Live and work in the heart of Newcastle.
To be eligible for this role, you will be a final-year law student or recent graduate and available to commence as a Law Graduate in the following February.
We only take a limited number of Graduates each year to make sure each new Graduate gets the support and opportunities to learn quickly and well. Our current team and alumni, who represent a stellar cross-section of the next generation of lawyers, tell us the recruitment process helped clarify whether SWS was right for them and that’s why it is so important to us.
Applications NEVER CLOSE but we typically start to interview candidates from August each year (for a February start). If you apply in the latter part of a calendar year and we have already filled our graduate positions, we will hold your application for the next intake year. We also have opportunities for paralegal work during the year and some of our applicants start as a paralegal during their final year at law school, before transitioning to the SWS Graduate Lawyers Program.
If you’re ambitious but collaborative, you have a strong intellect and a willingness to work hard, and there’s more to you than just good grades, see if you have what we’re looking for by submitting your application via the below online form or by email to [email protected], including:
- a one page letter that tells us why you would be a good fit;
- your CV;
- your academic results (please upload your latest unofficial transcript); and
- one ‘non-lawyer’ referee.
Graduate Program Alumni
I was a Summer Clerk during the 2018/2019 Clerkship Program, following which I had the opportunity to work as a paralegal while I finished my degree. I then started working as a full-time graduate lawyer in the corporate team and had the opportunity to build the foundations for my legal career with SWS. Before applying for the clerkship, I knew very little about SWS as a firm. However, my experience during the clerkship program drew me to the firm for three reasons: (1) the people; (2) the investment in mentoring and developing its young professionals; and (3) the quality of work.
The firm invests a lot of time and effort in selecting the right people. As well as working with people who are talented and interesting, emphasis is placed on fostering a uniquely collegial culture. Seeing my work go to clients and feeling that I contributed to the firm was really important to my experience. The firm is genuinely invested in the development of its young professionals and the feedback and support received during my time at SWS was invaluable. Finally, the quality of work that the firm draws in is fantastic. The clients I dealt with were interesting and the matters I worked on were varied and engaging. As a young lawyer, the opportunity to be exposed to this calibre of legal work (particularly in the corporate space) cannot be matched in Newcastle.
If you are interested in working with brilliant people on challenging and unusual matters, I strongly recommend applying to SWS Lawyers for a graduate position.
From the beginning, it has been made abundantly clear to me that being interested in the work is just as important as aligning with the culture of the firm. Firm culture was crucial to me, and it is evident, from my time here, that SWS Lawyers is committed to developing the legal careers of young students and graduate lawyers whether they stay or move on in a different direction.
During my time at the firm, I was introduced to the world of property and planning law. One notable memory was when I was provided the opportunity to attend a Class 1 Appeal in the Land and Environment Court of NSW. This experience was especially unique as the appeal began on site, outdoors, as opposed to in a court room. I transitioned into a casual role after my clerkship and completed my fifth year of law school. The flexibility of being casual meant I was able to work for all areas of the firm, helping litigation, corporate and commercial as well as doing my own work in property and planning. Every principal, senior associate, associate, lawyer and legal secretary I worked with always took the time to ensure I understood what I was doing and the context behind it. This enhanced my learning as I was encouraged to ask questions (even if I thought they were silly) which in turn gave me insight into the broader meaning of the task.
This support did not waiver as I commenced full time as a legal graduate at the end of 2024 and when I became a qualified lawyer at the start of 2025. I feel grateful for the work I did in the property team as it connected me with everyday homeowners as well as successful and sophisticated business owners. It helped me learn how to tailor advice to the client and their circumstances whilst simultaneously teaching me how to manage third parties in, for example, the sale of land or a commercial leasing matter.