Alan Grinceri (Australia)
I had previously worked as a chartered accountant at Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers in areas where accounting intersected with law: corporate tax and insolvency. This sparked my interest in studying law to understand and analyse legal concepts.
I chose the Melbourne JD for several reasons. Studying at Melbourne Law School offered the unparalleled opportunity to be tutored by some of Australia’s eminent legal thinkers. I also saw the smaller class sizes as ideal environments, allowing greater interaction with the course instructors.
The Melbourne JD exceeded my expectations. Smaller class sizes allowed for engaging and interactive discussions, and for instructors to adapt their material to the interests of participants. The assessments were practical and many were based on real-life legal problems that arise in practice. I also found the Law School well equipped with the legal and technological resources, taking the legwork out of studying.
Some highlights were mooting against a copyright decision in the Federal Court before Finkelstein J; regular guest lecturers including High Court judges, political and business leaders and persons involved in topical issues at the time such as David Hicks's lawyers; and making new friends, who are now colleagues, in a cohesive cohort environment.
After the JD, I completed articles and practiced as a lawyer at Allens Arthur Robinson in Melbourne in energy law and mergers and acquisitions. I then moved to the London office of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP where I now practice primarily in U.S. securities law. Most of my work involves working with companies seeking to raise funds from U.S. or European capital markets, or representing banks that underwrite such transactions.
Working across a variety of areas of law and multiple jurisdictions requires a developed set of legal skills. The JD provided the foundation for this with its emphasis on legal method. While completing the JD, I learnt much more than the law; I was trained to critically approach a problem, analyse the information involved and develop solutions. In my current position, I constantly draw on these skills in situations as diverse as advising a client as part of a negotiation for a covenant package in a high-yield bond issuance or probing foreign counsel further to ensure there is no latent foreign law issue that could derail a transaction.
The JD should not be undertaken lightly - it is a challenging and demanding course that requires stamina and focus. By the same token, the JD can be an enriching experience that opens doors to many opportunities.