Matthijs Snijder
International student, The Netherlands
Master of Commercial Law
Why did you choose to undertake a graduate degree in Law?
Because the laws of common law legal systems apply to many business transactions worldwide, it is of great importance for someone like me, from a civil law jurisdiction, to understand common law. This is the main reason I wanted to undertake a graduate law degree in Australia. It enables me to look at legal problems from the point of view of both systems.
Why did you choose Melbourne Law School?
I wanted to go to Australia because I think it is a great country. Also, I think Melbourne is an amazing city. The Melbourne law school is considered one of the best law schools in Australia (or possibly the best). Therefore it was an obvious choice for me.
Describe your career pathway - what is your current role and how did you get to where you are?
I started my LLM at Melbourne after finishing my undergraduate and postgraduate law degrees in the Netherlands (which are both required for admission to practice law in my home country).
Describe your experience of studying in the Melbourne Law Masters. What have been the highlights so far?
On the one hand, there was a great variety of subjects I could choose from. In these courses they taught me, in a short period of time, a lot and in-depth about the particular areas of law. This has greatly helped me understanding a common law system. Also, because of the many research assignments, my writing, research and language skills have increased a lot.
On the other hand, I have had many holidays and much time off in which I had the opportunity to travel in Australia and enjoy Melbourne. During my degree I have had lots of fun and met many new people, both from Australia as from many other countries around the world.