How Top Law Firms Really Choose Their Graduates (And What They’re Paying for Them)

Top law firms are shifting away from traditional grades-focused hiring. Instead, they’re quietly testing soft skills—like how grads treat receptionists and whether they can hold a decent conversation at a cocktail event. EQ is the new IQ in legal hiring.

Every year, top law firms quietly cut some fresh-faced graduates before they’ve even finished their coffee order. Probation periods come – and go – and not every new hire makes the cut.

While transcripts, psychometric testing and polished interviews still matter, they’re no longer the whole story according to an article in the Australian Financial Review about recruitment practices among Australia’s top law firms.

Enter: the Receptionist Test, the Milkshake Mixer, and the M&A Olympics. It turns out, what happens outside the interview room can matter even more than what goes on inside it.

The Salary Stakes

First, let’s talk what law firms are paying.

The top-paying law firm in Australia? Arnold Bloch Leibler tops the list with grads pulling in $118,000+. Others like Herbert Smith Freehills, White & Case, Gilbert + Tobin, and A&O Shearman fall in the $110K–$120K bracket, according to The AFR Partnership Survey.

Even firms paying “less” – like Hamilton Locke and HWL Ebsworth – still clock in around $90K–$100K, and that includes super.

So yes, passing the tests pays off. But what are the tests?

The Receptionist Is Watching

At Hamilton Locke, the receptionist isn’t just taking calls – they’re quietly judging. Gabriella Kalyk, the firm’s head of talent, says how grads treat non-partner staff can be telling. “A significant amount of assessment occurs subtly,” she says.

It’s not paranoia, it’s policy. This year, the firm increased its grad hires by 70%, from 20 to 34. When that many new lawyers walk in, cultural fit matters.

Small Talk Over Milkshakes

Forget wine and cheese. Hamilton Locke’s Brisbane office offers grad hopefuls milkshakes – yep, really – while watching how they mingle.

Social fluency matters. Can you hold a conversation? Ask smart questions? Not monopolise the room or retreat into your shell? Those traits, says HWL Ebsworth CEO Kris Hopkins, often matter more than your GPA.

HWL hired 113 grads this year – a 19% bump from last year – and their “Head Start with HWLE” events give them a front-row seat to candidate character. “The ones who stand out,” Hopkins says, “are thoughtful, inclusive, and not just out to impress the partners.”

M&A Meets MasterChef

Meanwhile, at Kain Lawyers, a boutique firm with transactional focus, the recruitment process starts before the grad program. The firm runs M&A competitions at the University of Adelaide to identify talent early. Those who shine often find themselves clerking – and eventually employed – without ever applying in the traditional sense.

Kain isn’t looking to hire 50 to keep 10. Managing director Michael Garry says, “We bring on all our clerks with the intention they’ll stay.” For a firm of 80 staff, one bad hire hits hard.

To avoid that? They run cocktail events, include brain teasers in the application, and ask curveball questions like:
👉 “If you could shadow anyone for a day, who would it be – and why?”

It’s about finding the person, not just the law student, so be awake to whast might be happening.

Real Talk from a Real Grad

Amanda Hsi, now a Kain clerk and former M&A comp winner, says the feedback was eye-opening: “They don’t want a legal processing robot – they want someone who adds value.”

Her advice? Lean into your side projects. “Hobbies help you connect.”

Time to Shut the Textbook?

The takeaway? Once you’ve hit a decent academic standard, more study may not get you across the line. At that point, personality, curiosity, and even cocktail chat become the tie-breakers.

So maybe skip that fourth case summary, and pick up a novel. Or better yet, practice your milkshake banter.