CLAYTON UTZ - FIRM SPOTLIGHT
- Priyanka Sharma
- Jun 22
- 4 min read
Established: Clayton UTZ was established in 1833.
Size (personnel): Nearly 200 partners and over 1,700 employees across six offices.
Office Locations: Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
Practice Areas: Banking & Financial Services, Commercial Litigation, Competition, Corporate M&A & Capital Markets, Environment & Sustainable Development, Forensic & Technology Services, IP & Technology, Major Projects & Construction, Public Sector, Real Estate, Restructuring & Insolvency, Tax, Workplace Relations Employment & Safety, Pro Bono.
ABOUT CLAYTON UTZ
Proudly Australian. Globally connected.
As one of Australia's leading law firms, Clayton Utz gives confident, innovative and incisive legal advice.
If you're considering joining our team, we want to give you a glimpse into who we are.
The basics are simple: we're one of Australia's oldest and largest law firms, operating across six cities, nearly 200 partners, and offer a comprehensive range of legal services catering to both large private sector companies and government entities.
We deliver advice created by lawyers with different experiences and different views, but united by an entrepreneurial spirit, a can-do attitude, confidence in each other, and pride in helping our clients achieve.
Advice that isn't just a one-size-fits-all solution taken off a shelf, but reflects who our clients are, and what they need.
RECENT NOTEWORTHY CASES INVOLVING CLAYTON UTZ
Our firm provides legal services to many ASX-listed companies across all sectors and Australian Government clients. A few noteworthy deals that we've recently advised on include:
AirTrunk Founder & CEO Robin Khuda on the company's acquisition by Blackstone and CPP Investments: With a deal value of $24 billion, the acquisition is not only Australia's largest in 2024, but the largest datacentre deal globally.
Wyloo, a wholly-owned portfolio company of Tattarang, on the formation of a joint venture with Hastings Technology Metals Ltd (ASX: HAS) for the Yangibana Rare Earths and Niobium Project
Mitsui Fudosan, one of Japan's largest listed property developers, on its acquisition of a two-thirds interest in a premium office development at 55 Pitt Street, Sydney.
Japanese food wholesaler Asahi Shokuhin Co Ltd. on its acquisition of a majority stake in The Fish Factory Australia Pty Ltd, a Brisbane-based seafood wholesaler: The acquisition marked Asahi’s entry into the Australian market and was a sign of strong interest from mid-market Japanese companies seeking growth and investment opportunities overseas.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF CLAYTON UTZ AND ITS PEOPLE
We're proud to be a listed as an (AAGE) Australian Association of Graduate Employers top employer 2025.
Clerking with us also means you would be a part of an Australian Financial Review top 10-rated clerkship program. These accomplishments reflect the time and effort we've continually put in over many years to delivering a first-class graduate program.
For the tenth year running, we were also recognised as a Workplace Gender Equality Agency Employer of Choice for Gender Equality 2024.
Our Chief Executive Partner Emma Covacevich was recognised as Managing Partner of the Year at the Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards 2024.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE AT CLAYTON UTZ?
Clayton Utz is a firm that is trusted for our excellence, authenticity, and integrity. We will continue to build new and strengthen existing client relationships, while providing innovative and strategic legal solutions to our clients' most complex challenges.
We're working on Australia's largest and most impactful deals and projects and supporting clients through complex litigation. We'll continue to provide this support with the incorporation of the newest technological tools into our day-to-day operations. Our people are skilled in the effective use of AI, while our clients are also using our AI tools in their own teams.
Our culture is inclusive and diverse, aligned with our values of authenticity, belonging, collaboration, diversity of thought and entrepreneurial spirit. We look forward to a future in which our teams regularly collaborate and share ideas across offices and practice groups, continuing to build our knowledge and overall capabilities for clients.
HOW DOES YOUR FIRM EMBODY YOUR MISSION STATEMENT?
Our vision is to be trusted for our excellence, authenticity, and integrity. We embody this vision in everything we do. With a genuine commitment to excellent client service, we provide legal advice that is confident, innovative and incisive, deploying the right teams, ideas and tools to create efficiencies and solve client legal challenges.
WHAT SETS CLAYTON UTZ APART?
Clayton Utz provides legal services to governments across the country, ASX-listed companies in diverse sectors, and some of the world's most recognisable global and local brands.
Established in 1997, our Pro Bono practice was the first to be established among Australian law firms, and in 2018 became one of only three law firms in the world with two dedicated Pro Bono partners.
We have established diversity and inclusion programs that many of our people embrace, and we are proud to be the first law firm to create the role of National Mental Health Manager to better support our people.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR LAW STUDENTS AND GRADUATES
The clerkship program is aimed at students who are in their penultimate year of university.
If you're in your final year of study, please outline in your application why you couldn't complete a clerkship in your penultimate year by answering the relevant question.
International students may apply if they are able to work full time during the program and if they are able to apply for the correct visa entitlements to work unrestricted in Australia once they have graduated. Graduates need to independently attain the correct work visa.
The clerkship program at Clayton Utz consists of a four week program over summer or winter. Starting with a local orientation, our clerks are set up for success from Day 1 with support around research training, library training and IT training, just to name a few!
During the program, clerks have the opportunity to rotate through two different practice groups that are aligned with their interests. Our clerks are also involved in volunteering at one of our Community Connect program partners as well as networking at a range of different firm events.
