A-level students offered virtual “work experience” at Linklaters

A-level students will be offered virtual work experience at magic circle firm Linklaters after lockdown saw 18,000 undergraduates enrol on the firm’s digital internship programme.

With limited work experience opportunities available to students as a result of lockdown restrictions, the programme aims to increase diversity in the profession as the first scheme designed specifically for school leavers.

Available to students aged between 16 and 18, the programme will involve a number of tasks, including advising a client on insolvency issues, identifying key arguments in a dispute resolution case, and helping the Linklaters team during the early stages of an M&A transaction, the firm revealed.

Fionnghuala Griggs, trainee recruitment partner, said: “We are passionate about increasing access to the City to students of all backgrounds and enabling young people to learn more about what it means to be a commercial lawyer. We want to offer this free experience to young people from anywhere in the country to inspire students, regardless of their background, school, or location, that a career in law is open to them.”

In August 2019, the firm launched a ‘virtual reality internship’ aimed at university students studying either a non-law or law degree in an effort to widen access to the profession.

The magic circle firm also revealed a ‘race action plan’, acknowledging its lack of Black racial diversity after the death of George Floyd in the US and the global movement that followed. The firm said: “When perspective shifts, actions should follow”.