Law firms take more graduates even as AI does the grunt work

Edmund Tadros and Hannah Tattersall

Updated Jun 30, 2025 – 5.15pm, first published at Jun 29, 2025 – 1.40pm

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Law graduates remain in high demand at Australia’s largest firms despite fears that the increased use of generative AI for junior-level work will cost jobs.

The number of graduates employed in the year to June grew by six per cent, to almost 1700, across the 49 law firms that provided year-on-year figures to the first-half edition of The Australian Financial Review Law Partnership Survey. Partner and non-partner fee earner numbers at surveyed firms are also up during the same period.

correction —

After publication Colin Biggers & Paisley corrected that they had hired 15, not 26, graduates in FY24. The data in the table has been updated to reflect this change.

Edmund Tadros leads our coverage of the professional services sector. He is based in our Sydney newsroom.

Hannah Tattersall is a work and careers reporter for The Australian Financial Review and writes about executive education.