As a teenager, Nour saw firsthand how our legal system can fail people who need it the most. Now, as Fitzroy Legal Service’s law graduate, she is working alongside community to improve access to justice.
Fitzroy Legal Service’s Law Graduate Program, now running for over 20 years, is a unique opportunity to begin your career in the community legal sector.
Over 12 months, the Law Graduate rotates through a variety of practice areas at Fitzroy Legal Service, including civil and public law, criminal law and drug outreach, family law and family violence, and policy, advocacy and community engagement. LGBTQIA+-identifying graduates also have the opportunity to rotate through Q+Law.
“The whole community benefits from passionate, switched-on, socially-conscious lawyers entering the profession,” says Fitzroy Legal Service’s Legal Director, Amy Frew.
“Law Grads like Nour make an invaluable contribution during their time with FLS. We all remember what it was like starting out, and this position is designed to give law graduates the essential skills and experience to build a thriving, sustainable career in community law.”
This position is generously funded by Allens.
Nour Masqodi: 2026 Law Graduate
This year’s Law Graduate is Nour Masqodi. She holds a Bachelor of laws (Honours) and a Bachelor of Biomedicine, and has recently completed her Practical Legal Training while at Fitzroy Legal Service.
With experience across community legal centres, youth engagement, and advocacy, Nour is passionate about working alongside communities to improve access to justice, not only by meeting people where they are, but by also challenging the systems that keep them there.
Outside of law, Nour enjoys painting and writing poetry as creative outlets. In 2024, she was honoured to win the Takeover Melbourne Competition for a poem reflecting on both the beauty and tragedy of her motherland, Afghanistan.
What inspired you to study law?
“I originally did not plan to study law. For most of my early years, I imagined myself pursuing medicine, because I have always been drawn to helping people. But my experience with the legal system reshaped my understanding of what helping people can look like.
My journey into law began at home. When my mother, a migrant woman, sought help from community legal centres, with limited English, no money for a lawyer, and no culturally safe support to rely on. Disempowered by the language barriers and unfamiliar systems, she faced the process alone. So, I became her teenage interpreter, translating legal terms I did not yet understand. That was when I first realised how the law can fail the very people who need it most, and that realisation became the catalyst for my decision to study law.
I want to become a lawyer who helps make the legal system more accessible by ensuring people can understand their rights, participate meaningfully in legal process and feel empowered to make informed decisions.”
What are some of your biggest learnings from the FLS Law Graduate program?
“One of the biggest learnings so far is how many areas of law touch a single person’s life. In less than half of the program, I have worked across family law and family violence, tenancy, fines, migration, and more. I now have not only seen how these areas of law can overlap but also how addressing one issue often requires understanding the wider circumstances affecting a person’s life.
For example, a client might come in because fines are stacking up while they are experiencing homelessness. But once they are connected with a lawyer, that trust often surfaces other matters they had not mentioned such as family violence. Previously, I understood that a lawyer’s role extended beyond resolving legal issues presented and involved identifying what support a person needs to address the circumstances contributing to the legal issues. But through this program, I developed the skills to do this effectively. By completing my rotation in different legal teams and being exposed to community and support resources, I have learned how to look beyond the immediate legal issues and consider what and where the assistance can be provided to support the person.
Another learning opportunity from this program has been attending Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court and shadowing duty lawyers in family violence intervention order matters. I watched lawyers support clients who were often distressed, explain complex court procedures into plain language and advocate effectively despite having limited time to prepare. I had always heard about the important work of duty lawyers but being provided with the opportunity to see this in real time was invaluable.
Throughout this program, I have also been trusted with real client work. I have assisted lawyers from the beginning of matters by contacting the clients directly, helping prepare applications and drafting court documents. Following a matter from a client’s first appointment all the way through to the outcome achieved has been one of the most rewarding parts of this program.
I am really looking forward to being admitted because I feel it is an important transition from my studies, through my practical legal training, to now being able to put everything I have learned into practice. I am particularly excited to work with clients, advocate for them, and continue learning and developing as a lawyer.”
What has surprised you in your transition from law student to law grad?
“Despite having completed a couple of placements at other community legal centres, I was genuinely surprised by the gap between the legal theory we learn and how that theory translates into practice. This is something I think I will always emphasise. I felt nervous about how what I had learned academically would actually hold up in the real world. It helped that I had never watched the TV show Suits but, I think adjusting from an academic mindset to real world application is a skill in its own right.
For example, throughout my entire law degree, I had never actually seen a notice to vacate, but as a law grad I got that exposure. That kind of gap between what you study and what you encounter in practice has been one of the most consistent surprises.
Another surprise has been the sheer level of support available from my colleagues at FLS. I think I used to suffer twice: once actually working through a legal task and again from stressing about whether I was doing it right. But I have been grateful to discover that I am surrounded by experienced lawyers who genuinely want to share their knowledge and support me.”
Where do you hope your career in law will take you?
“For a long time, I have been drawn to family law and family violence as an area of practice. In my legal degree, I took a family violence subject and wrote an essay exploring exit trafficking with a focus on intimate partner violence within culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Exit trafficking is an insidious and under-recogonised form of coercive control involving the removal and abandonment of a partner from Australia. In that essay, I wrote,
“…many women do not return to Australia, not because their abuse has ended, but because legal and practical barriers prevent their safe return”.
I hope to keep bringing attention to exit trafficking and build a practice in the family and family violence space. But to be honest, I am also open to wherever the law takes me. Law itself is my real passion, so whether I am practicing family law, civil law or working in policy in ten years’ time, I will be exactly where I want to be, because it is still law.”
What advice would you give to anyone considering applying for the 2027 Law Graduate position?
“My biggest advice is that if you are hesitant to apply for the position, I would say apply anyways. Do not let doubt talk you out of it.
In hindsight, I am so grateful for myself, that when I applied, I did not hesitate, even when I had no previous legal jobs, or paralegal experience or family connections in the legal industry – in fact I am the first woman to graduate within my family and within my extended family. I knew that I worked hard to get to where I am and I carried a real passion for the work community legal centres do. My heart was in law, and my passion was my belief in a legal system that does not just respond to injustice but actively works to dismantle it.
So, my final advice again is to APPLY. If you are not yet eligible but you care about the work that community legal centres do, then I would suggest getting involved. It is almost funny that now as a law grad, I am noticing far more volunteer opportunities than I ever did as a student. But that just proves the point that these opportunities exist, and you have to look for them.”
