Questions about placements

Work experience is an essential part to your admission to the profession. Most of the Piddington PLT cohort complete their hours for admission by volunteering in community legal centres, many progressing to paid employment there or elsewhere.

Got more questions? Check out our FAQ’s on the course and applications, or email us at plt@pidsoc.org.au.

What is involved in doing the PLT Work Experience Placement?

Piddington PLT requires graduates to complete 80 days of supervised work experience, which can be done full time or part-time (at least 2 days per week).  This is intentionally a substantially higher number of days to the 15 days minimum requirement the national standards in order to allow graduates time to learn and develop their skills over the course of the placement.

We believe that the most fundamental aspect of “practical legal training” is learning and developing skills through doing, not sitting in lectures or reading. The coursework component provides a structural framework necessary to confirm Graduates meet the requirements to be admitted.

Each work placement will be different, but during the PLT Work Experience Placement, Graduates will practice developing the core transferable skills that are set out in the following components of the course:

  • Ethics and Professional Responsibility

  • Lawyer’s Skills

  • Problem Solving

  • Work Management

As part of the course, Graduates are required to provide self-reflection about the progress of their development in these areas through their placement by way of discussion groups and reflective writing activities.

How are the 80 days comprised? Is it in a Community Legal Centre only?

No, you don’t have to do your 80 days in a CLC or as a volunteer. We have grads complete their 80 days in paid roles CLCs, private firms, as associates (and other judicial support staff) and in a variety of legal roles. Often, grads complete their 80 days in a mix of roles volunteering two days a week in a CLC and working in a paid legal role for the remainder of the week.

We have some requirements around our placements to ensure that you are not being taken advantage of or in roles that don’t meet regulatory or legal compliance.

How do I get a placement with a CLC through Piddington PLT?

The supervised work experience placement is the most important part of your PLT program.

For applicants who don’t already have a graduate role or a confirmed placement with a CLC you’re already volunteering at you can nominate CLCs as part of your application. Once we have your details we work with our CLC partners to match up graduates for volunteer placements. 

Each CLC does different kinds of work, so we encourage applicants to nominate CLCs they’d be interested to work with. We then connect applicants with CLCs for interviews. Confirmation of enrollment in the PLT course is dependent on confirming the placement.

What are your partner CLCs?

We’ve had grads do their PLT placement with:

  • Aboriginal Legal Service WA

  • Albany CLC

  • Consumer Credit Law Service

  • Environmental Defender’s Office WA

  • Fremantle CLC

  • Mental Health Law Centre

  • Peel Community Legal Services

  • South West CLC

  • Street Law Centre WA

  • Tenancy WA

  • The Humanitarian Group, 

  • Women’s Legal Service WA

  • Wheatbelt Community Legal Centre

We are always seeking new CLCs to work with, particularly in regional areas so if you have a particular CLC in mind please let us know as part of the application.

Can I do a PLT placement with Legal Aid WA?

Applicants interested in doing a placement with Legal Aid WA need to apply separately for their PLT program. Legal Aid WA typically offers a 20-day volunteer program, so you should also apply for a CLC placement for the remainder of the 80-day requirement.

I’ve been volunteering with a CLC while at law school - can I do my PLT placement with them?

Yes! If you’re keen to keep volunteering and your CLC is happy to have you continue as a PLT volunteer, you can fast-track the application process for the course.

You just have to make a note in your application form that you already have a confirmed CLC placement and then get someone at the CLC to email us so we have their contact details, and we will be able to confirm your place without any further interviews.

Do I have to do my placement at a CLC?

A special part of Piddington PLT is that we support law graduates to meet the vocational work-experience requirements for practical legal training by connecting them to community legal centres (CLCs) for volunteer placements.  

Our course was born out of a recognition that new law grads need pathways to admission and CLCs, which are an amazing place to develop legal skills, need more support to continue their vital work delivering specialised legal services across Western Australia. Most graduates completing the course complete their workplace in CLCs. Piddington PLT is the only course that is designed to support access to justice 

While most of our Graduates do their placement with CLCs, over the years our alumni have completed their PLT Work Experience Placements while employed as:

  • as graduates or clerks with small firm;

  • paralegals with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions

  • clerks for barristers

  • associates and ushers*, where applicable, and suitable for PLT placement at courts or tribunals

  • Legal support officers with government agencies.

We welcome applications from law students already secured employment or graduate / PLT roles - make a note in your application and we can fast-track your enrolment.

You can also let us know if you secure such a role after you’ve already applied and we will be able to confirm your place in the course. 

* Ushers will need to get approval from their Judge that their duties will be suitable to meet the requirements for PLT placement.

Can I do unpaid work experience with a private firm or a barrister?

Graduates cannot count unpaid work experience at a private law practice or with a barrister for the required PLT Work Experience Placement days. 

The reason why our PLT program was developed to begin with was in recognition of the challenges law graduates were facing to secure work experience in order to complete their PLT courses. We believe that if graduates are able to volunteer to complete their PLT requirements they should be in placements with CLCs.

Piddington PLT will consider requests from Graduates wishing to volunteer as clerks with barristers on acting on pro bono matters to be confirmed as meeting the requirements for the program. 

Can I do Piddington PLT if I am employed with a private firm or a barrister?

Graduates employed as graduates, paralegals or law clerks at a private law practice can only count days worked towards their required PLT Work Experience Placement days if the terms and conditions of their employment meet the minimum requirements of the relevant employment award that applies to law graduates, including:

  • Minimum rates of hourly pay on a full-time or casual basis; 

  • Maximum hours to be worked per day/week; and

  • Study leave.

Graduates should confirm that the conditions of their employment comply with those requirements prior to commencing their role to ensure that the days worked can be counted towards the requirements to complete the course, as well as confirm study leave arrangements to attend PLT seminar days and intensives. 

If your employer will be paying for your PLT course as part of your employment arrangements, they will need to pay the full amount of your course fees prior to your commencement of the course.

Do I need to volunteer full-time if I do a CLC placement?

All CLCs have different requirements - some may prefer full-time volunteers and some may prefer part-time. Each graduate can set up arrangements that suit them and the CLC.

The requirements of the Law Council of Australia’s PLT Competency Standards for Entry-Level Lawyers are that part-time placements should be at least two days (or 4 half days) per week in order to ensure grads are able to meaningfully engage in the work experience.

Do I need to start my CLC placement in January?

Ideally you’d start your placement after completing the January intensive week, when we go through core practical skills you need to transition from being a law student to being a law graduate. 

It’s possible to start a placement before January if you can arrange this with your CLC during the interview process - you’ll need to confirm this with us before you start.

In other cases, graduates choose to start their placement later in the year; again, you can make arrangements that suit you and your CLC. You just need to make sure you complete the total of 80 PLT Placement days before the date set by the Legal Practice Board of WA for The Piddington Society to certify the graduate has completed the PLT course prior to admission (so for example, if you’re aiming to be admitted in November you’ll need to finish your placement days by mid-October).

Can I do more than one CLC placement?

Absolutely. Again, this depends on you and you and the CLCs can come up with arrangements that suit you all. We encourage our grads to spend significant periods of time at each placement in order to meaningfully engage in the work and work on developing skills. 

The CLCs we work with really do invest a lot of time and effort into the training they offer. Generally, the longer you stay, the better you get as you get to practice your skills. So, for example, we wouldn’t recommend doing a couple of a weeks each by chopping-and-changing with several different CLCs. 

What kind of work will I be doing at my CLC placement?

Every CLC does different kinds of work depending on the area of law involved and the kinds of clients they have. The CLCs will give you more information about what to expect during the interview process.  

Generally, work experience should provide grads with the opportunity to gain practical experience in the delivery of legal services through:

  • Contact with clients of the office;

  • Application of legal knowledge and skills to the resolution of legal issues;

  • Experience of law office procedures and workplace dynamics; and

  • Undertaking and observing tasks ordinarily done by legal practitioners.

Some kinds of work that grads do on their placements include:

  • Completing legal research tasks;

  • Developing CPD and CLE materials and presentations;

  • Sitting in on client interviews/telephone conferences and drafting file notes;

  • Shadowing solicitors in court and drafting court attendance notes;

  • Providing first drafts of legal documents (for example: letters of advice, pleadings, FOI requests, Criminal Injuries Compensation applications).

What if I get a paid job before I finish my placement?

Get in touch with us and your CLC ASAP! You’re there at the CLC as a volunteer and if you get an early job offer, of course you can leave the placement with our blessing. It's best if you give the CLC lots of notice and keep them in the loop of where you are applying. There’s no need to be secretive about your desire to want a job – we all understand!

Giving the CLC lots of notice that you’re looking to finish your placement early means they might be able to get another graduate to come in earlier, and helps reduce any disruption to their service to their clients. 

What if a problem comes up in my placement?

Get in touch with us. We are here to support our grads and where there are any challenges we can help to resolve any issues that arise during the placement. If there’s a mismatch or misunderstanding we’ll do our best to get everyone back on the same page. Graduates do their placements as volunteers and may chose not to attend or to leave the volunteer PLT

placement at any time. Supervisors and other staff at CLCs are committed to supporting grads to develop skills but can also end placement if grads are not following instructions or showing sufficient interest and commitment.