Jason Corbett

What motivated you to study this degree?

For me, I made a choice to study at UTS as an institution rather than a choice to study any particular degree at first. I didn't really know what I wanted to study leaving high school, but I was pushed into studying a double degree of Business and Law out of practicality by my parents. Overtime, I have come to appreciate and cherish studying Law at UTS. I have felt welcome from my first day here, and the Law faculty is very open in showing that they care about who their students develop into in their time at university.

What is it like to study at UTS:Law? 

UTS is a wonderfully supportive study environment. UTS has a particular focus on teaching students how to engage with their materials in a practical manner, so essentially all course work is structured around teaching students to apply the law they learned to problem questions that mirror practice. There are also some assessment tasks which are performance based such as mooting and negotiation, both activities of which have facilitated my learning remarkably well by letting me engage in them as a practitioner would. But the studies, of course, come with a very vibrant social life. UTS has social clubs aplenty, and every week there is a party, meet-up, or event of some sort on.

Where would you like your degree to take your career?

My hope is that my degree will take me into practice as a lawyer in a commercial law firm with a global outlook and strong social justice conscience. I genuinely find commercial work (particularly transactional work) to be interesting as I am currently working in it, and this is where I see the bulk of my future heading. Time and time again we see that the law does not always protect those most vulnerable, so working for a firm with a strong pro-bono practice and significant community involvement through charity programs and the like is important to me.

Are you working while studying?  What does your job involve? Is it related to your degree?

I currently work as a legal associate to an independent international commercial arbitrator. I find my job very interesting and engaging. It's an incredibly unique field of work which involves resolution of large-scale commercial disputes from the arbitrator's point of view. My work is closely related to that of a judge's tipstaff, only my work is more flexible and far more international, often involving disputing parties not just from different countries, but entirely different legal systems (civil law v common law). As an alternative dispute resolution procedure, my work as a legal associate to an arbitrator will commonly entail drafting tribunal communications with the parties, sifting through and researching submissions made by the parties, and contributing to my boss's business development practice.

How do you manage the competing demands of university and work?

A lack of sleep and an tidal wave of coffee every day. No but seriously, you just do it. All good opportunities will necessarily take time to involve yourself in, but the value of being a part of these opportunities is far too significant to pass up simply because you can't envision yourself being as busy as you'll need to be to keep everything together. Everything is important, but I prioritise the commitments according to what is due and when they're due, and work to that schedule. After all, you'll only ever be able to experience university at this stage of your life once, so you will always find a way to manage competing demands to get the most out of the experience. 

Have you been involved in extra-curricular activities such as the Mentoring program, Brennan program, Mooting, LSS? How has this experience aided your career/personal development?

The most enjoyable and most practical extra-curricular activity I have been involved in are the variety of skills-based competitions available. In negotiation, my partner and I competed at the national level in Hobart. We were fortunate enough to win on behalf of UTS, and we have since been invited to represent Australia at the International Negotiation Competition to be held in Oslo in 2017. In mooting, I have competed nationally through the law faculty in Melbourne as part of the UTS Gibbs Constitutional Law Moot team, and now prospectively internationally in the Price Media Law Moot to be held in Oxford University in 2017. These were never on my mind when I first began competing, but they're a nice bonus to everything. 

The Brennan Justice and Leadership program is another extra-curricular I have cherished by a part of. I graduated the program by earning my leadership hours through my involvement in the LSS and volunteering for the Law Faculty.

In 2017, I will be embarking on the inaugural Allens Neota UTS Law Legal Tech Challenge for Social Justice. This is the second of its kind in Australia, and I will be part of a team working alongside NGOs such as Anti-Slavery Australia and RACS to develop an app for a social justice objective of the NGOs' choosing.

What would your advice be for someone who is looking at studying Law at UTS?

What's commonly said is "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take", and I think that's entirely true. Put your hand up to be involved in every opportunity that arises, and worry about the logistics of your schedule later. University is always about what you put in, no matter who you are, where you are from, or where you are going. Your experience and development as a student, as a professional, and as a person, depends on your exposure to the wide variety of opportunities available to you. Don't waste this chance. Start from day one and give yourself the opportunity to enjoy university. 

Is there anything else you’d like to add about your experience at UTS:Law, or the University as a whole?

Throughout my entire degree, UTS has taught me so much about the world around me, the people who fill it, and the role I can have in its future. For this, I will always have so much gratitude for UTS and the people in its walls.