Hey there,
I'm a law graduate from Monash, obtained a FCH and graduated July 2020. Completed by RLT with a boutique litigation firm that's an Asian Legal Business finalist/other awards in Benchmark Litigation/Chambers/Straits Times Survey on Singapore's best law firms, and got retained for a TC midway through my RLT. I sat for and passed Part A of the bar exams in June 2021, and am taking the Part B course currently, due to sit for the exams in December 2021.
I applied for RLTs in October 2019. Might have been a tad late, but I did apply for 3 out of the Big 4 firms. I got rejected by all of them. Maybe it might have something to do with my late application, or maybe the 'impression' that firms have of Australian graduates in general aren't too good. I can't give you a definite answer on that.
However, having a sense of friends who've interned at places like TSMP Law, they've heard partners make comments in passing about the purported 'low quality' of Aus graduates. This spurred many of my friends to want to stay in Aus for as long as possible to seek out graduate roles because of the perceived discrimination against Aus grads vis-a-vis UK or SG grads.
I for one, applied late for RLTs because I actually obtained a clerkship offer at a mid-sized full service firm in Melbourne. (FYI- summer clerkships are basically a one month structured internship program where clerks obtain working experience in law and simultaneously get assessed for their potential as graduate lawyers). I was offered a part-time paralegal role after the completion of my clerkship (together with one of my clerkship buddies who later went on to become a graduate lawyer at the firm). Unfortunately, being an international student and the visa restrictions and uncertainty that goes with it can set you back. COVID struck in early 2020, and my part-time paralegal offer got rescinded due to budget cuts. That set my mind to coming back to Singapore.
I think it's not healthy to think of a law degree as a object with a 'ROI'. My family is pretty middle class, we're not well-to-do, live in a 5 room
HDB in the North. But I'm eternally grateful to my parents for giving me the overseas experience notwithstanding that the total costs of my education did rise to the 200k figure thereabouts.
What's important is that your nephew truly has a passion for the law. Perhaps start out with doing legal internships at the various government ministries/private law firms. That can give him a taste of what legal practice is like. If your nephew is also someone keen on current affairs and public policy, I think law is a perfect degree to nurture those interests. Granted, one can do a degree in Political Science or Sociology at the local universities, but hey with a law degree you can effectively do similar jobs, if not more. I know that's what spurred me to do law in the first place.
By way of further background, I obtained a UES of 83.75/90 for my A Levels. Not too shabby but not the best either. I did not get offers from
NUS Law or
SMU Law, but was offered Business/Economics/FASS instead. I followed my heart and decided I'd do law anyway. And I have my parents to thank for being supportive. I had offers from Birmingham and Nottingham as well, but ultimately chose Monash because I had family in Melbourne who lived near to uni (10 mins drive).
I enjoyed my 4 years at Monash and will look back on that period as the best time of my life. I found the motivation to study, and yet found time to balance it out with road trips, brunches etc. I took interest in my subjects because of engaging tutors and how the modules spoke to my inner interests.
As for my other friends in Aus, I know one who graduated from Murdoch with a FCH. Got rejected for all the TC apps he sent in. But he didn't let that affect who he was and his capabilities. Today, he's a Solicitor at the State Solicitor's Office of Western Australia, giving legal advice to Mark McGowan's WA government. I think that's impressive.
Don't let anyone tell your nephew what he is or isn't capable of. But tell him to follow his heart. I can't say I'm a success per se, and am still finding my feet and place in the legal industry here in Singapore. But I'll try to keep the flame that spurred me to do well in uni alive, and carry on that passion in practice. Hopefully I'll survive long enough.
I'm also grateful that at my firm, I have partners who were Australian-educated and are role models in my eyes. They are performing exceptionally and are living proof of the fact that while where you graduate from is important in making that first step to a dream job, what keeps you going long-term after isn't the qualifications. It's the skills, humility and willingness to learn and fight in the trenches. There are also quite a few Aus partners/senior associates/associates in the industry, albeit not as many as the local/UK-educated ones.
I hope this answers your question with some personal experiences of my own.