Joining Freehills will allow you to benefit from one of the most comprehensive training and professional development programs in the legal industry. Our Graduate Development Program (GDP) is a two-year national program that will provide you with the necessary skills and knowledge to become a technically excellent and commercially aware solicitor.

The program features:

• a comprehensive orientation program when you join (one to two weeks)
• legal training in transactional, litigious and specialist areas
• skills training in areas such as researching, drafting, communication and time management
• integration of your Freehills training with admission requirements
• the National Graduate Workshop (two days), and
• rotations in at least two of our practice areas.

Orientation Program

Through a series of interactive sessions when you first join the firm as a graduate, the Orientation Program provides you with a starting ‘toolkit’ of skills. It introduces you to Freehills and how we work, and helps you to settle in to professional life.

Core Legal Learning Program

Our Core Legal Learning Program consists of approximately 25 modules. Delivered by partners and senior solicitors, the program is designed to provide you with the fundamental legal knowledge you will need as a solicitor in a leading commercial law firm.

Graduate Skills Program

At Freehills, we believe that developing your interpersonal, client and practical management skills is as equally important as developing your core legal skills. Our Graduate Skills Program includes practical sessions in:

• effective presentation and communication
• time management
• negotiation
• legal research methods (including electronic)
• writing for Freehills
• legal reasoning and problem-solving
• ethics in practice, and
• legal risk management.

Integration with admission requirements

At Freehills, we ensure that all our graduates receive the training they need to gain legal profession admission in the state in which they practice. However, satisfying your admission requirements is only a very small part of your training at Freehills. Our commitment to the GDP ensures that you have access to a nationally consistent training program to equip you for life as a Freehills solicitor.

National Graduate Workshop

The National Graduate Workshop is a two-day event which brings together graduates within their first year from all of Freehills’ Australian offices. The workshop is integral in building relationships across the national firm—providing you with important opportunities to work, socialise and share your thoughts with your peers from around the country.

The workshop is an important part of the Graduate Development Program, providing an invaluable opportunity for graduates to learn, socialise and share their thoughts with their peers, and to build relationships across the firm.

Rotation Program

A new graduate at Freehills is involved in a wide variety of work. Our Rotation Program provides you with the opportunity to spend time and gain experience in at least two areas of practice. During the Rotation Program, graduates are encouraged to gain experience with both litigious and transactional matters. Rotations are determined by assessing the firm’s forecast needs for graduates in a particular
practice group, as well as their expressed areas of interest.

Other development opportunities

As a graduate at Freehills you may have the opportunity to complete a rotation in one of our interstate offices. In addition, as your career progresses you are likely to be offered the chance to participate in a client secondment either within Australia or overseas. The firm also has relationships with major overseas law firms where we are able to facilitate movement of solicitors abroad.