6.00 AM
A number of alarms go off before I finally muster the courage to leave my bed. By 6.10 am, I am out the door, grabbing a banana on the way out, and heading towards the train station.
7.15 AM
I indulge in a 45-minute hot yoga session at my gym (particularly satisfying during the cooler mornings). After an equally hot shower, I finally feel awake and swap my activewear for my corporate attire (lately, my black culottes are my go-to work pants). Luckily, the walk to the office takes less than five minutes.
9.00 AM
I arrive at the office (usually accompanied by the first caffeinated beverage of the day) and proceed to level 16, which I call home as part of my third graduate rotation in Corporate. I might add that level 16 is conveniently located below the firm’s reception and café, which offers coffee, snacks, lunches and even kombucha. After greeting my ‘pod’ pals and colleagues, who tend to be early birds, I check my outlook inbox and reply to any emails and voice messages.
9.30 AM
My mentor, the special counsel in my corporate team, calls me into a breakout room to discuss a number of new tasks that I will need to tackle today. She tells me that I will first have to check whether any new documents have been uploaded into the data room. I will then need to review some corporate documents uploaded by our client in preparation for a sale of a portion of their business. I am particularly excited about this deal as it is a high-profile client.
10.00 AM
I login to the relevant data room via Ansarada so that I can review the company’s newly uploaded corporate documents. During my review of the documents, I notice that some of the share certificates and share registers don’t accurately reflect the most recent share transfers involving the client. I outline all of the issues that I have spotted in an email to my supervisor.
11.30 AM
It’s time to start preparing for a call at 2:30 pm with another client and the counterparty to discuss changing the structure of the deal from a share sale to an asset sale. While this client is based in Australia, I often participate in calls with international clients and other stakeholders based in the UK and the US. The ‘Time and Date Meeting Planner’ is a particularly handy online tool for figuring out suitable conference call times with international clients.
12.30 PM
I can now treat myself to lunch! During particularly busy days, I like to get a bite to eat from the café on level 18, but given the nice weather, I will take a stroll outside to the Italian courtyard café near the Domain, which is a favourite of mine during sunny days.
2.30 PM
I ensure that I am in the breakout room a few minutes before the call starts so that I can dial-in via BlueJeans. My supervising partner leads the call with the client and the counterparty. During the call, I take a detailed file note of everything that the participating parties have said, which I will later upload to our cloud-based document management system.
3.30 PM
I ‘jabber’ (i.e. send a message via our internal version of instant messenger) my buddy, who is a fellow corporate lawyer, to see whether he is free to grab a coffee downstairs. He responds with a thumbs-up emoji. Today, we choose Bond for our coffee fix. That’s now two caffeinated beverages consumed, but who’s counting?
4.00 PM
My supervising partner asks me to research an issue that came up during the conference call. I defer to my trusty sources – LexisNexis, Westlaw and CCH. After finding some good commentary and suitable case law, I draft my findings in an email for my supervising partner’s perusal. She is happy with my research and instructs me to insert what I wrote into our existing memo for the client.
5.30 PM
Now that the office starts to quieten down, I turn my attention to some HPLS (Homeless Persons’ Legal Service) work that needs to be done. This includes finalising some hard copy client C&A (contact and advice) forms from last Friday, when I attended the Newtown Mission with a fellow lawyer to meet with a number of clients.
HPLS is a free legal service to individuals who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of being homeless. Corrs has a longstanding relationship with PIAC and assists with HPLS by seconding lawyers to PIAC as part of the Corrs Sydney HPLS Program. HPLS provides a great opportunity for junior lawyers to get involved with pro bono work, meet with clients face-to-face and take instructions, and have independent carriage of a variety of matters such as debts matters, Centrelink issues, neighbourhood disputes, and consumer law claims.
6.30 PM
After ensuring that all my timesheets are up to date and submitted, I pencil in a rough checklist in my notebook of everything that will need to be done tomorrow as there are currently a number matters on foot, including a number of due diligence tasks. Organisation is the key to not becoming confused or overwhelmed at work. It’s time to leave the office.
7.30 PM
It feels great to be home and take off my work heels. After having some pasta and red wine for dinner, I decide to unwind by reading ‘Girl, Woman, Other’, which is the book that we’re currently reading for the Corrs book club organised by the grads.
11.00 PM
After watching some Netflix and a few YouTube videos, updating my likes on Spotify, and catching up on social media, I finally climb into bed. Tomorrow will be a busy day!