Australia’s next generation of legal stars isn’t coming from the usual marble-hall suspects. According to Lawyers Weekly’s survey of the 2026 30 Under 30 finalists, the most common alma maters are Macquarie University and UTS. Not the sandstone aristocracy, nor the old-money pipeline.
It’s a quiet rebuke to the myth that only a handful of elite campuses produce elite lawyers. This cohort tells a different story. The rising stars of Australian law are coming out of institutions that prioritise commercial literacy, hands-on training and early exposure to real legal work. In other words: graduates who can actually function on day one.
The 30 Under 30 list spans private practice, in-house, government and the bar. What unites them is not pedigree but performance. The dominance of Macquarie and UTS suggests the profession is finally rewarding capability over crest.
Firms complain endlessly about “practice-ready” graduates while still fetishising a narrow band of universities. This Lawyers Weekly data says the market is already voting with its feet. The schools that teach students how to draft, advise, negotiate and survive in the wild are producing the lawyers who rise fastest.
The takeaway for students is blunt – choose a law school that trains you for the job you want, not the dinner-party story you want to tell.
The takeaway for firms is even more blunt – the future of talent isn’t hiding behind ivy. It’s walking out of lecture theatres in Macquarie Park and Ultimo, ready to work.
