A day in the life of a Summer Clerk Matthew Vermeulen – UNSW

Matthew Vermeulen – UNSW

9:00AM Check Emails and Teams Messages
The first thing I do each morning is check my emails and teams messages to see if there are any urgent updates on work from the previous day. During this time I'll often catch up with some of the lawyers in the team who are in the office.

9:30AM Coffee
After checking my emails, I will usually head up to Level 9 to get coffee and a snack with the other Summer Clerks.

10:00AM Substantive Work
As a clerk within the competition team, I have had the opportunity to get involved in some really interesting matters. At the moment, I am reviewing third party submissions to the Government's Digital Platforms Inquiry and drafting summaries of key stakeholder concerns.

12:30PM Lunch on L9
I head down to the MLC centre to grab a rice bowl before heading either to the Martin Place steps or Level 9 to eat with the other clerks.

13:30PM Clerk Innovation Project
As part of our clerkship, we have been tasked with brainstorming ways to improve the Ashurst clerkship recruitment process. I meet with the other clerks in my innovation project team after lunch to delegate tasks for the new pre-interview guide we are creating.

14:30PM Coffee
I get my second caffeine fix after lunch with my buddy at nearby café Regiment. My buddy will check in on how I am going and answer any immediate questions I may have.

15:00PM Clerk check-in
I hop on a teams call with the other clerks and the Early Careers team as part of a weekly check-in. During the meeting, clerks will share the work they are doing in their respective teams and the early careers team will provide important updates.

15:15PM Substantive work
I continue my ongoing business development work, which involves drafting summaries of Australian and Vietnamese competition law developments over the past quarter for a client publication.

16:00PM Team meeting
Our competition team has an APAC wide meeting where the team meets to discuss important monthly updates and plays a game. During this week's meeting, we were tasked with guessing the Spotify Wrapped of different members of the team.

17:30PM Clerk Social Sports
Every Monday we head to Rushcutters Bay to represent Ashurst at the clerk sports competition, comprising of soccer, touch rugby, volleyball and netball games. Playing sports together allows us to reset after a long day of work and transition into the new week smoothly. After playing sport, some of us head to the Kings Cross Hotel for a well-deserved feed.