Updating Results

Gilbert + Tobin

4.3
  • 500 - 1,000 employees

Rohan Barmanray

7.30 AM

Toto’s ‘Africa’ wakes me up every morning so I’m always ready to make the most of the day. I usually run into work while racing my housemate for some extra motivation but this morning is a little different as I have to head into Court to view a directions hearing.

9.00 AM

I head into the Supreme Court to view a hearing which my team’s client has an interest in. After passing through airport-style security I inconspicuously sit up the back of the court to take notes. Our client is in the process of purchasing a business with valuable IP licences and a foreign entity is refusing to consent to the licence assignment. As the case concerns tight commercial deadlines, the Judge orders both parties to mediation and to come back in a week if they cannot come to an amicable agreement.

Gilbert + Tobin Rohan Barmanray at the Sumpreme Court to view a hearing

10.00 AM

After heading back to the office and re-enacting what happened at court ‘Judge Judy style’, I jump onto a call with a lawyer and our Philippines counsel. Prior to completing a deal we need to legalise documents for Philippines legal reasons. I organise for a paralegal to cross the Wild West that is the Sydney CBD to find a Public Notary, DFAT’s offices and the Philippines Embassy to legalise the documents.

10.30 AM

We have a monthly Corporate Advisory morning tea. This is a great opportunity to hear about what other teams in Corporate are working on, celebrate those who have birthdays in the month and catch some of the NBA playoff action. The lamb sauso rolls are a treat!

11.00 AM

I jump in a cab and travel to another law firm to assist a lawyer with a different completion of a deal. Attending completion involves the lawyers exchanging numerous executed documents including share transfer forms, share certificates and corporate records. Once the legalities have been dealt with, we were able to give the okay to our client to hit go on the bank transfers which finalises the deal.

Gilbert + Tobin Rohan Barmanray assisting a different lawyer

3.00 PM

Back at the office, I’m attending a specific Corporate Advisory training session for graduates. This session is designed to teach us the nuts and bolts of drafting a share purchase agreement and is run by one of our Melbourne partners using agreements that he had drafted. It’s invaluable hearing about how he negotiated the agreement first hand.   

4.00 PM

My mentor pops over to my desk and asks if I want to join her for a coffee. It’s great to be able to have a chat about what sort of work I’d like to be involved in for the remaining 6 months of my practice group rotation.

Gilbert + Tobin Rohan Barmanray talking with his mentor

4.30 PM

After the coffee I return a missed call from a lawyer from a different team. The lawyer needs help to complete an urgent due diligence report for a major oil company. In this case, due diligence exposes and helps our client manage the risk associated with a new purchase. Here, I’m required to review supply agreements, specifically focusing on change of control clauses which sometimes allow the supplier to terminate the agreement if the ownership of the purchaser changes.

7.00 PM

Whilst I’m reviewing the agreements, my partner asks if she can brief me on a research task that she’d like completed by the following afternoon. We take a meeting room and my partner explains the issue she needs me to investigate: surrounding statements that a purchaser of a public company makes to the public. I’m asked to check ASIC guidance, Takeover Panel decisions and our own firm’s research.

7.30 PM

For those working in the evening, the firm puts on a delicious buffet dinner for everyone. It’s great to chat to other graduates over dinner and hear about what they are working on. With Practical Legal Training exams coming up in a few days, we also use the opportunity to bounce difficult questions of each other.

Gilbert + Tobin Rohan Barmanray drinking coffee while reading the newspaper

8.00 PM

After completing the remaining reviews, I make a start on the research project. I’m unsure about some aspects of the task so I chat to my partner for clarification on the task. She points me to specific parts of the ASIC guidance notes that she wants researched, which is great as it reduces the scope of what I originally thought I had to research.

9.30 PM

After emailing my preliminary findings to my partner, I check with my team if they need anything else before heading home for the night.