Australia’s big law sector now has a public admission that artificial intelligence is starting to chew into junior legal roles, and graduates are on the front line. MinterEllison is cutting its 2025-26 graduate cohort by almost one-third to 72 positions, and the firm links that decision directly to AI-driven automation of routine work.
Demand for legal advice remains strong, yet the basic tasks that once justified large graduate classes are increasingly done by machines.
MinterEllison explains that client demand is not the problem, and instead the firm points to a structural shift in how legal work is executed. AI tools now handle repetitive lower-level tasks that once filled the early years of a graduate’s career, from document review to basic research.
Firm leadership says it is deliberately reshaping its workforce around this change, adjusting hiring plans rather than waiting for technology to force sudden cuts. The 72-strong cohort reflects a more targeted intake that aims to match the new balance between human lawyers and automated systems.
Executives at the firm argue that so-called responsible AI use boosts efficiency in exactly the “starter” tasks graduates used to learn on, freeing capacity for more complex matters. Work flowing in the door increasingly involves higher-value intricate issues that call for experienced practitioners, not large numbers of junior lawyers.
Graduates who do secure roles are expected to be deployed faster into sophisticated mandates, instead of spending years on basic process work.
