Emma Bullen
Lawyer
Perth
Emma.Bullen@aar.com.au
The transition from university student to lawyer has been a smooth one for Emma Bullen.
The Allen Arthur Robinson lawyer, who works in the Perth office's ERI area, said her colleagues had made the transition from university to work very easy.
'I have developed friendships with a lot of the people that I work with on a day to day basis. Most days I actually look forward to coming to work in the morning!'
As a law graduate, Emma combines legal work with practical legal training. This external legal training - in Emma's case with the College of Law - differentiates a law graduate from an articled clerk.
This training component means Emma must combine the demands of a full-time job with those of the training course, which includes exams and assignments.
'I find the course fits in relatively well around my other work and is not too disruptive. As all the law grads do it together we help each other out.'
'It is fun in that you attend the workshops and assessments with the other grads and it gives you a chance to spend some time together and catch up on what everyone else is up to at work.'
As for working at Allens Arthur Robinson, Emma says the diversity of people at the firm made it an interesting work environment.
'There is not a typical 'Allens' type person that the firm looks to hire. This makes the social side of the firm very enjoyable as you associate with a range of different types of people.
'Obviously the high-profile matters and clients also make the work interesting. I have found that I am given a lot of challenging work, with the right balance of support and responsibility from lawyers and partners.'
Emma commenced as a law graduate with Allens in February 2006 after completing a law/science degree at the University of Western Australia in 2005. She was a vacation clerk at Allens in February 2005 and then worked as a research assistant at the firm one day a week through 2005.
As a law graduate she has no specific duties or tasks, instead depending on who she is working with at the time to provide her with work. This work usually includes commenting on agreements and suggesting amendments, and researching and drafting advice on various legal issues for clients.
'My supervising partner makes an effort to ensure that the work that l am doing the majority of the time is interesting and challenging. I feel that senior people that I work with are really interested in the development of my career and wish me to get the most out of my first few years in the legal profession as possible.'
