AFTER a long, hard slog, late nights and studying by the book, Newcastle's newest lawyers were admitted during a ceremonial sitting of the NSW Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Andrew Bell on Friday.
Among them was graduate Elke Wallace-Smith, who's already doing commercial and property work at a local firm.
"I was really interested in working in courts initially, as I started law I began focusing more on the commercial aspect of it," she said.
"I'm really interested in advocacy, and I'm passionate about arguing so I'd say that had a lot to do with it.
"There's a lot of late nights, the pandemic created extra challenges with a lot of it going online."
The ceremony was one of the first in the last two years to be conducted in-person since the outbreak of COVID-19.
Chief Justice Bell had some sage advice for the new graduates.
"The law touches every part of our society, and it can and will lead you all in many different directions and career paths," he said.
"Whether you work in private practice, at the bar, in a community legal centre, a crown law office, a government department or agency, or in an entirely different field, you should be known for your honesty, your integrity and your commitment to justice - and you must strive at all times to uphold these cardinal values."
Close to 70 students were admitted on Friday, and University of Newcastle School of Law and Justice dean and head of school professor Tania Sourdin said this cohort faced unique challenges.
"It's been tough, not just because they had two years of disruptions from time to time ... but it had a big impact on students because a lot of them weren't able to work casually, so that had an impact on them financially," she said.
"It's really exciting to see them from beginning to end and how they develop, they're all bright young people who really care about the community as well."
Danial Cornall planned to jump straight into it - starting a new job on Monday.
"I work better at night so there were a lot of 2am nights," he said.
"But I like the difference that you can make with law.
"I'm starting in commercial law, I think because I had a background in commerce it's putting the two together, and there are a lot of pro bono initiatives in commercial law as well, so it's the best of both worlds."
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