Career Prospects at DLA Piper Australia

Apart from the fact that the firm has little juniors in the offices, it seems like promotion and career opportunities are strong at DLA Piper, should you wish to stay with the firm

There is no associate level at the firm and senior associate promotions only happen at 5 years PAE. The prospect of being a "solicitor" at 4 years PAE while some of your peers are "senior associates" at that point (and were "associates" at 2 years PAE) is frustrating and out of step with the Australian market. While this doesn't affect me now, I'd like for my level of experience to be accurately reflected in my job title, especially when I'm dealing with clients or an "associate" on the other side.

I think as a Graduate there is uncertainties when it comes to settlement, but historically DLA has boasted a high success rate for settlement.

Hard to answer as a graduate, currently focusing on developing my skillset at this stage to be value add. In saying that, there are many promotions regularly in the company

There is a clear path for most Graduates from the Graduate Program to a settled position in the company.

In order to move up the ranks I think it obviously takes hard work and determination. However, I think specialisation is also important. If there is an area of law that interests you and you want to gain more experience there are many opportunities at the firm to work on these types of matters.

Like any law firm, a person can go from being a graduate at the beginning of their career to being a partner after years at the firm. This means that progression is largely linear; flowing from graduate to solicitor to senior associate to senior counsel to partner. In order to be eligible for promotion, one has to demonstrate that they can contribute to the firms goals and add value to it as a business. This often means finding an area one is interested in and carving out a valuable practice from which the firm can benefit.

It seems as though working here sets you up well to move up in the company or to others. Many of the juniors seem to be working to get promotions and are supported in doing so.