[strange_man]

Hi guys,

This is mostly aimed to all those who have a knowledge of the job situation regarding solicitors in Hong Kong.

My question is: I'm going to Australia for university education but have not decided over the following universities:
UNSW
Monash
ANU
U. of Sydney
U. of Melbourne

Is there any order in terms of preference that law firms will look out of those when I apply for the winter placement with them? Sydney, Melbourne and ANU have been highly ranked worldwide...but apparently UNSW and Monash have a reputation in HK regarding Law.

Any help would be really appreciated.
Thanks!

[howill]

Law firms do not just look at the university that you come from.

If you were to be bottom of your class at USyd, UoMelb, or ANU, you'd still have trouble finding a job. It is best for you to get into the best University you can, and ensure that you get top marks in that University so that you can get a vacation placement.

There are only three universities in Australia that you'd really want to get into for law. They are

1. University of Melbourne
2. University of Sydney
3. ANU

I would not recommend UNSW, or worse, Monash University. While UNSW may have a good 'reputation', it is really just an 'international' university made up primarily of overseas students, and you will not get the 'Australian' experience. From my personal experience, I find that Monash University does not teach its students the skills of critical analysis in reading cases.

Good luck!

[strange_man]

Oh really? It's a relief to know that the grades matter more than the Uni!

But I have heard from others that UNSW and USyd are the best in terms of law. I personally love U.Melb and U.Syd myself, so I'm in a quandary!

Furthermore, do graduates from the UK have any advantage in terms of applying to law firms over Australian grads? Does it make any difference?

[MotoHK]

Yale Harvard Stanford NYU in the United States of America have better law programs IMO.

[rollerboy]

There is no doubt that Uni.Melb and Uni Syd are the most prestigious universities in Australia. Further, Uni.Melb law school has always required the highest entrance score for local applicants (although now Uni.NSW or Uni.Syd might take that crown because of the increasing popularity of studying law among the asian population in NSW state). Uni.NSW is a relatively new insitution compared to those two. When it comes to a profession like law, an 'old brick' such as Melb law is certainly more prestigious than a newbie like Uni.NSW.

I agree with one of the earlier post. Uni.NSW is made up of primarily overseas students and hence you will not get a very good 'Australian experience'.

I do have a perception that UK students have an 'advantage' over their aust counterparts because a lot of the partners at law firms studied in UK themselves (since Aust was not a popular destination back in those days) and so are more familiar with the UK System. However, sometimes what's more important is the quality of education you get and this will be reflected in an interview. If you did not gain the necessary skills during your education and is reflected by your interview performance, it does not matter that you are from UK as you will still not be regarded as an excellent candidate. Unless you can get into the top universities in UK (i.e Oxbridge, LSE ), I dont' recommend going to UK over UniMelb or UniSyd simply for the sake of having a UK degree.

If you study in America, you may have to do a conversion course because you can study PCLL. So unless you want to practice in America, it might not be a good option. Having said that, the PCLL entry requirement is about to change so who knows what will happen in the future.

[howill]

I agree with what Rollerboy said.

While there has been a historic bias towards UK law students, this bias is starting to disappear. The reason for this is that most AUS law students undertake a double degree (ie. Commerce and Law (B.Com / LL.B.), Arts and Law (B.A. / LL.B.) or even Engineering and Law (B.E. / LL.B.)) This means that an AUS law student has a more 'holistic' approach to the law, as a result of his studies in other degrees. It makes more sense for employers now to employ AUS grads with both commerce and law degrees, (the learning curve is less steep, assuming that you want to enter a commercial law firm) than a UK student who has merely a law degree, or in some cases, a degree in history/geography.

I do not doubt for one second that Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia and NYU are the best universities for law in the US, but unfortunately, they are mainly postgraduate courses (J.D.), rather than undergraduate courses (like in the UK and AU).

The most important thing for you to concentrate on at the moment is getting the best results you can get so that you may enter a firm of your choice when you graduate - regardless of whatever university you are from (unless its something like University of Wagga Wagga).

Best of luck.

[howill]

Oh, and with regards to your question, go to Melbourne (if you are looking for a more 'commercial' law experience - Melbourne University has a heavy emphasis on commercial law, perhaps related to the fact that Melbourne Business School is one of the best in the Asia Pacific), and go to Sydney if you are looking for more of a public law experience and a future in the public service (most of the High Court judges in Australia graduated from Sydney University).

[methozip]

If you are after the place that will give u the best job prospects go with UNSW over Usyd. I cant comment on Monash or Melb but personally I would rather go with Melb.
Usyd is known as the barristers uni....they teach a lot of black letter law and the range of subjects is not very interesting. however it is more prestigious than unsw in the eyes of aus law firms. not sure how much of a true 'aussie' experience u will get there because there are still lots of asians around.
there are definitely more international students at unsw but i think u will find most asians are local anyway. because of the high proportion of asians, hk firms tend to recruit more out of unsw as many students there intend to work in hk after studying. for example the careers fair for hk firms was held at unsw this year rather than combined with the aus firms as in previous years.
the double degree is an advantage aus definitely has over UK but i am assuming if u are going from hk u will be studying as a graduate student only for LLB so that won't make much difference.

[strange_man]

First of all, thanks to everyone who has replied so far.

I liked UNSW as well, to be honest, but it seems there is some conflict regarding where is the best place.

I think that my first choice is now leaning towards doing a Comm/Law degree in Uni of Syd, based on the fact that I will have a higher advantage if I do so. If I go to Uni of Melb, then it will be to do only Graduate Law.

I am quite confused at the moment, as UNSW and ANU also appear good.

The more opinions the better - so please help me out!

Regards,
Strange Man

[methozip]

I guess if you ask different people where the best place they will each have their own opinions
I would not recommend usyd com/law for the commerce side. It is possible to get a major in finance by doing only 4 subjects (of which 2 are introductory) and potential employers (unfortuanately) pick up on this. However you can do two majors at usyd whereas unsw will only let you do one. So its a choice of whether you want to know a little about a lot of a lot about something very specific. But ultimately if you want to go into law your other degree will not matter that much.
I am a little confused though because if you can do grad law at melb then that must mean you already have an undergrad degree which would mean u cannot do com/law which is an undergrad course?