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How to secure legal work experience

How to get law work experience

I am often asked by students how to gain law-related experience that can boost their vac scheme and training contract applications. 

There are – if you’re willing to put in the work – so many avenues you can pursue to boost your CV, but it can feel a little “chicken and the egg” in the beginning. If you need experience to secure experience, then how are you supposed to get started?

Well, first off, if you’re overly concerned about the “quality” of the experience that you’re trying to secure, do keep in mind that the primary point of work experience for aspiring lawyers is to demonstrate motivation, not ability. 

Recruiters won’t believe that an open day or casual work placement has equipped you with the skills to draft complex legal documents or close cross-border deals. The types of tasks that can develop those skills will very rarely be delegated to interns or work experience students (who tend to be junior and inexperienced, without proper supervision, and often not under contract or fully covered by the firm’s professional indemnity insurance!). It also tends to take years to properly cultivate these capabilities.

You don’t need to have secured months’ worth of heavyweight in-person experience at large law firms. You simply need to demonstrate that you’ve taken active steps to learn about the career, and liked what you saw.  Using your free time in this way is a good indicator that you’re genuinely interested in the role. And this is important. Ultimately, a firm will want to know that you have at least some idea of what you’re potentially getting yourself into. If you don’t, then you’ll be seen as more of a flight risk further down the line.

So how can you get relevant legal experience, aside from office-based formal work experience programmes at City firms? Well, consider virtual work experience, work shadowing at high street firms, law-related volunteering roles, attending career fairs, employer presentations and industry networking events, completing online courses and reading books, writing legal articles, and so on.

With this in mind, we’ve compiled a list of ways that you can try to secure legal experience.

Non-selective virtual work experience

Nowadays, anyone can complete a whole range of non-selective virtual work experience programmes. Whilst this means that doing so won’t necessarily help you to stand out, if you lack other work experience and also haven’t taken the opportunity to complete such virtual programmes, it won’t look good. After all, there’s no excuse! Where can you complete these programmes?

Other work experience opportunities and workshops

There are so many opportunities out there to apply for work experience outside the typical formal law firm application processes. Just be sure to get your CV and LinkedIn profile up to scratch first, as these opportunities can still be very competitive. How can you learn more about these?

  • Your network: ask mentors, lecturers, tutors and university career teams if they can arrange coffees or work shadowing. Many have worked in industry in the past and have great networks that they may be willing to share.
  • Social mobility organisations: apply to participate in bespoke law experiences (and programmes that include work experience) arranged by organisations such as SEO London, Rare Recruitment, GROW Mentoring, Uptree, upReach.
  • Law firm social mobility programmes: some law firms run programmes specifically for students from diverse backgrounds (see Freshfields and Macfarlanes for example).
  • Small firms: send cold emails / make cold calls to boutique and high street law firms, asking for work shadowing or casual experience. Use Google, LinkedIn and legal directories as your starting point for identifying smaller firms that are local to you. You may find more firms like Blacks, which offers work experience to students all year round!
  • University societies: some university societies arrange private open days for their members at the offices of sponsor firms, which tend to be much less competitive than the firms’ own public opportunities.
  • Young Professionals: work experience and apprenticeship opportunities.
  • Capital-placement: international paid internships, including corporate law opportunities.
  • The Intern Group: remote law internships.
  • Internships at law-related organisations: even if not at law firms, these can still demonstrate your interest in a legal career, and that you’ve developed your understanding of what the career can involve. Perhaps look (or ask!) for internship opportunities at organisations such as Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 and Practical Law Company, legal technology businesses (e.g. Avvoka, Legatics), the support teams of law firms (business development, knowledge teams etc.) and so on, as these could involve working alongside law firms and learning about how they operate.

Volunteering and pro bono

Volunteering can offer unparalleled opportunities for aspiring lawyers to get involved in real legal work that is often far more substantive and hands-on than you’re likely to pick up during open days / short placements at large City firms. This work can include interviewing clients, carrying out research, putting together notes of advice and discussing these with supervising solicitors, supporting with case administration, and even relaying advice to clients. How can you get involved?

  • University law clinics: many universities have in-house pro bono clinics or links with external pro bono clinics, which can make it easy for students to get involved.
  • Local authority legal advice centres: local authorities tend to have dedicated legal advice centres, which offer free legal advice to the general public on areas such as welfare, housing, employment, debt, immigration and consumer law (I gained amazing practical experience during a 3-month pro bono secondment here). You can also search for clinics via LawWorks.
  • Citizens Advice: this can include helping people online, over the phone, or in person, offering great opportunities for real client-based experience (see here).
  • Free Representation Unit: free legal advice, case preparation and advocacy in tribunal cases for those who could not otherwise obtain legal support (information on volunteering). 
  • AdviceNow/Law for Life: an online employment law advice service that needs volunteers for a range of tasks, including reviewing and drafting guidance.
  • Bail for immigration detainees: an independent charity that exists to end immigration detention in the UK.  

Career fairs, employer presentations, and networking opportunities

Attending an event that enables you to interact with law firms and lawyers is another active step you can take to demonstrate your interest in the career. Networking in this way can also help you to pick up specific insights into what makes certain firms unique, which you can then draw on when discussing your firm motivation in applications and interviews (it’s usually fine to name check someone you’ve met and quote what they’ve told you). Do make sure that you take notes however, as you’ll likely otherwise forget which firms you spoke to, who you spoke to from those firms, and what you were actually told. 

Where can you meet firms?

Commercial law-related online courses and webinars

Completing online courses that focus on what lawyers do, and what the various practice areas involve, can be a great way of demonstrating your interest in the career and the steps you’ve taken to learn more about it. Moreover, if you’re applying to firms with particular specialisms (e.g. private equity, shipping, sport etc.), completing courses on these areas can help to evidence your interest when answering “why this firm?”. Where can you find these? 

Other opportunities

  • Writing for university publications: offer to write legal or commercial blogs or social media posts for university publications (e.g. for websites and communication channels run by societies, the careers team, the student union, the law school etc.). 
  • Writing for other organisations: organisations such as Watson’s Daily and The Student Lawyer offer writing opportunities for aspiring lawyers.