A dozen leading UK law firms is sponsoring a far-reaching initiative aimed at helping bright state school students to improve their career prospects.
Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Allen & Overy, Herbert Smith, Lovells, Norton Rose, CMS Cameron McKenna, Berwin Leighton Paisner and Addleshaw Goddard join 30 other organisations sponsoring the event, which is run by independent group Pure Potential Days.
The body aims to boost the confidence of students lacking access to higher education and will highlight career options available to them via a series of one-day events held at universities in Manchester, Southampton, Newcastle, Birmingham, Leeds and London.
Students will be able to talk to lawyers in the consortium firms about life at university and hear about opportunities in the legal sector, gaining advice on subjects including interview technique and application processes in the sector.
Commenting on the initiative, Pure Potential director Marc Zao-Sanders said: “It’s a sad reality that significantly fewer students from the state sector attend the UK’s best universities, despite achieving the same grades at ‘A’ level as their peers from the private sector.”