2027 Clerkship - Cairns

Shine Lawyers; Cairns Regional; On-site; AUD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Shine Lawyers is offering a four-week paid Summer Clerkship in Queensland, Australia, from 18 January to 12 February 2027. Law students in their penultimate year (to graduate in 2027) will gain hands-on experience under senior lawyers, learn about Shine, and work on significant personal injury cases.

Applicants should have strong academic results, exceptional communication skills, and a passion for social justice.

Qualifications

• Law student in penultimate year (2026) progressing to final year in 2027.
• Strong academic results; please note your weighted average on application.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Passion for social justice and interest in plaintiff law.

Responsibilities

• Work with senior lawyers to gain exposure to real-life client matters.
• Attend court, client meetings with experts and third parties, and negotiations.
• Assist with drafting legal documentation and memoranda.
• Develop lasting relationships with clients and peers through clear communication and expectations management.

Education

Penultimate year law student (to complete degree in 2027)

Job description

The Opportunity

At Shine Lawyers, we pride ourselves on working tirelessly to pave the way in securing justice for those in our community. And as a participant in our 2027 Summer Clerkship Program, you’ll gain valuable, hands-on experience, within a supportive environment though a four-week paid clerkship program from Monday 18 January to Friday 12 February 2027.

As a law student in your penultimate year of study in 2026, moving into your final year of study in 2027, your four-week clerkship will provide you with opportunities to engage with several of our senior lawyers and learn more about Shine, our clients, and some significant and ground-breaking personal injury cases we’ve run.

With compassion, connection and purpose, you’ll be a true champion of our clients by:

• Working with a number of our leading senior lawyers to gain exposure to real-life client matters.
• Gaining exposure to life in the legal industry, by attending court, client meetings with experts and third parties, and negotiations.
• Assisting with drafting legal documentation and memorandums.
• Developing lasting relationships with our clients and peers through exceptional communication and clear management of expectations.

What you’ll bring

To thrive in this role, you’ll:

• Be a law student, in your penultimate year of studies in 2026, due to complete your law degree in 2027.
• Have strong academic results (please clearly note your weighted average mark on your application).
• Possess exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Have a passion for social justice and a thirst for knowledge in the plaintiff law space.
• Bring diversity of experience, and evidence of extra-curricular activities such as volunteering, community work and being an active members of associations will be favourably considered, as will paid and non-paid work experience in the legal field.

Applications are now open and close midnight Sunday 18th October 2026. Applications should be accompanied by your CV and academic transcript, (please upload your transcript in the space provided for a "practising certificate"), and a cover letter. Late applications will not be accepted.

Queensland Clerkship Locations available in 2027:

• Cairns (Personal Injury)
• Mackay (Personal Injury)
• Bundaberg (Personal Injury)
• Hervey Bay (Personal Injury)
• Maroochydore (Personal Injury)
• Brisbane CBD (Head Trauma)
• Brisbane CBD (Personal Injury)
• Stones Corner (Personal Injury)
• Helensvale (Personal Injury)
• Southport (Personal Injury)
• Ipswich (Personal Injury)
• Toowoomba (Personal Injury)

Shine Lawyers: A place for you. It means more here.

At Shine, purpose really matters.

• It’s our clients, who summon the courage to stand up to injustice.
• It’s the communities we are part of and support every day.
• It’s our team, who champion what’s right and make this place what it is.

We’re an ASX-listed organisation, and we've been standing up for the rights of everyday Australians for more than 50 years. We’ve achieved a lot but you’ll find no airs and graces here. We’re humble yet relentless. We don’t pretend to be anything other than ourselves. And together, we’ve created a place for you to thrive.

Here are some of the things we hope you’ll love about working with us:

• Connect and be you:Get the benefits you need, and work with truly authentic people. And you can enjoy the security of a large, well-established firm that treats you as a person, not a number.
• Achieve and grow:Start your Shine journey with our in-house learning programs, where you’ll find immediate connection and be set up for success. You will be provided real opportunities to step up and grow - within your role and beyond.
• Challenge and be challenged:We’re not here for “easy”. We want you to take your place at Shine and make a real impact. Question and challenge - that’s how we grow.

Excited to join us and stand up to injustice? Make Shine Justice a place for you.

As part of The Circle Back Initiative, we want you to feel supported through our recruitment process, which means that you will hear back from our friendly team – no matter the outcome.

We are committed to making Shine Lawyers a place for you by encouraging and supporting our people to bring their authentic selves to the workplace, and as a result, we know you’ll put your best self forward while righting wrong for our clients. We’re passionate about maintaining a diverse and inclusive environment here at Shine that celebrates all of our differences with age, disability, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, to name a few, and we encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates. You bring you.