Aitken Partners’ Law Graduate wins top employment award

A law graduate with Melbourne law firm Aitken Partners, Kate Oaten, has won the prestigious Freehills Prize for the top student in Employment Law at Melbourne University for 2009.

Kate was presented with her award at Melbourne University last night.

“I was thrilled to win an award for my studies, to finish top of my year in Employment Law is a real honour,” Kate said after collecting her prize.

“I worked one day a week at Aitken Partners during my final two years of study so I think that might have given me an advantage over some of the other students. During that time, I worked with Stephen Curtain (Aitken Partners’ Workplace Relations partner) to understand the finer points of the Fair Work Act.”

“Working as a paralegal at a firm like Aitken Partners while completing my studies was the best thing I could have done. When I began my Traineeship program a few months ago, I already knew what to expect in terms of the corporate law world. I had been exposed to real work with Stephen in Workplace Relations, and Catherine Jenkin in Family Law, and I was able to deal with real issues and real clients and that is true of my work today.

“I think smaller law firms are great for graduates. There are some fantastic people to learn from at Aitken Partners, and now I am doing other rotations I am able to work with some extremely qualified lawyers in areas such as property law, commercial law, wills and estates and litigation.”