Careers in the Legal Profession

The knowledge and skills gained from a law degree at Bond University provide a solid foundation for a career path within the law, equipping graduates with the ability to analyse, reason, negotiate and communicate with people from all walks of life. It will enable you to analyse both sides of complex problems and to devise an effective and equitable solution, skills which are highly sought after by today’s employers. About half of all Bond law graduates become solicitors in Australia or overseas, (see below), with the remainder pursuing other legal careers including: 

• Solicitor in your own private practice
• Legal practitioner in a multinational firm
• Barrister
• Judge or Magistrate in the court system
• In-house Counsel
• Government lawyer or legal advisor within the Attorney-General’s Department, AusAid, Australian Defence Forces etc.
• Lawyer in a community legal centre
• Legal aid lawyer or Legal Policy Developer
• Legal Publishing
• Academia
• A variety of roles in the corporate sector, such as a CEO

Even if you decide not to pursue a career in law, you will be armed with the knowledge and skills to take up one of the many other career options available to legal graduates.

Solicitor (including Barrister and Attorney)

A legal Practitioner is a person qualified to practise law, and can either be a Solicitor or a Barrister.This is a casual everyday term recognised by the public to describe members of the legal profession.

Solicitors are a class of legal practitioner, generally responsible for advising clients on legal matters, preparing legal documents, representing clients in summary matters and instructing barristers in relation to more complex advocacy work.

An attorney is someone appointed by another person to represent or act in place of that person. Most attorneys in Australia work in intellectual property and patent work. They often have a dual background in law and engineering, bio-tech or science.

Barristers are a class of legal practitioner who is by law or custom limited to advocacy and advisory work, in any field of the law. They also may be referred to as “Counsel” and are admitted to the “Bar.”