In-House Counsel (Australia)

$100–120/hrrate as listed

Mercor is recruiting Australian in-house counsel with 5+ years' experience to benchmark how two AI platforms answer real questions of Australian law. You run identical prompts through both systems, compare outputs side by side, and score them against a standardized rubric with written justification.

Summary, eligibility guidance and screening preparation are prepared by Sidequest from the platform's posting. Check the source listing before applying.

The work

This is comparative evaluation, not drafting. You receive a set of prompts covering real Australian legal questions — weighted toward commercial and contract matters — and run each one through two LLM platforms. You then read both outputs closely, judge them against a rubric supplied by the client, and write a concise explanation of your scores. The value you add is legal judgment applied consistently: spotting where a model has cited a repealed provision, conflated state and Commonwealth positions, imported US or UK doctrine, or produced advice that reads fluently but would not survive a partner's review.

Expect the failure modes to be subtle. Models rarely get Australian law spectacularly wrong; they get it plausibly wrong — hedging where the position is settled, asserting where it is genuinely unclear, or missing the practical commercial point an in-house lawyer would flag first. Your written feedback is what makes the score usable to the client, so precision in English matters as much as precision in law.

What the screen looks for

Verifiable Australian in-house practice — company, sector, the kinds of matters that actually crossed your desk
Working command of Australian commercial and contract law, tested through follow-up rather than self-assessment
Ability to apply someone else's rubric faithfully, including when you'd have scored differently on your own criteria
Written reasoning that a non-lawyer reviewer could audit

Logistics

Fully remote and asynchronous, done on your own schedule against task deadlines. The initial engagement is around 10 hours with stated potential for more depending on throughput and quality. All work sits under NDA. Pay has been observed at USD 100–120 per hour; rates on Mercor vary by project and are not guaranteed.

What they look for

5+ years as in-house legal counsel practising in Australia
Strong command of Australian commercial and contract law
Precise written English and close attention to detail
Ability to apply a standardized rubric consistently and independently
Comfort working to deadlines in an async, remote setup
Familiarity with LLM tools (helpful, not required)

Before you apply

Would you pass this screen?

Drawn from what this listing actually requires. Answered in your browser — nothing is sent to us, and we do not store your answers.

Have you worked as in-house counsel (employed as a lawyer by a non-law-firm employer) for at least 5 years in Australia?
In-house counsel experience · required
Are you admitted to practice law in Australia (any state or territory)?
Australian law credentials · required
Does your in-house counsel experience include substantial work on commercial contracts, commercial disputes, or corporate transactions under Australian law?
Commercial/contract law depth · required
Do you communicate in clear, precise written English suitable for formal legal analysis and documentation?
Written English standard · preferred
Are you able to sign and comply with a non-disclosure agreement covering all work output and client information related to this engagement?
NDA compliance · required

0 of 5 answered

Included with this listing

Interview prep — 11 questions

Matched to what this platform's screening actually measures. Answer each out loud in 60–90 seconds: claim → concrete example → implication.

What it tests: Verifying the depth and breadth of Australian in-house practice; distinguishing between exposure to Australian law and theoretical knowledge.
A strong answer: Name the industries, company scales, and approximate timeline, with a specific example of a major transaction or dispute you handled that required deep Australian law knowledge.
Where people lose it: Conflating years in a legal role with years specifically as in-house counsel in Australia, or describing roles that were primarily advisory rather than counsel embedded in a business.