A clutch of
London’s leading law firms have committed around three-quarters of a million pounds to an initiative that aims to increase diversity in the legal profession.
Thirteen members of the City Solicitors’ Educational Trust (CSET) have set aside £250,000 for next year to finance the new project — aimed at encouraging students from a wider range of universities and backgrounds to consider a career in law — with similar totals expected for 2009 and 2010.
The school — which will start this summer at London’s Imperial College — will target students who think they may fall short of the academic requirements for a career in law because they are not studying at the right university.
The 13 existing CSET sponsors include City giants Allen & Overy, Ashurst, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith, Linklaters, Lovells and Slaughter and May.
Macfarlanes, Penningtons and Watson Farley & Williams also represent the City, while Hammonds is the sole national player involved in the programme. US firm Faegre & Benson completes the line-up of sponsors.
However, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Mayer Brown have already signed up as sponsors for 2009, while senior partners from existing members are understood to be in discussions with an additional 10 potential member firms.
Ashurst senior partner Geoffrey Green (pictured right), who hosted this week’s event to launch the project, said: “There is a real untapped source of intelligent people at new universities who we simply do not get to see. We need to change this — the main challenge is to get these people to put the likes of Allen & Overy and Linklaters on their shopping lists in the first place.”
Most of the leading City firms take their trainees from the Russell Group of universities, which comprises 20 leading higher education providers, including Manchester, Bristol and Newcastle universities, in addition to Oxford and Cambridge. The summer school will be open exclusively to students from providers outside the Russell Group, with Bournemouth and Kingston universities among those to have expressed an interest.
Organisers expect around 1,000 applicants for the week-long residential course, with that number to be whittled down to 100 through a mix of online and face-to-face assessments. Each student attending will also have access to individual guidance and mentoring for the remainder of their time at university.
The project complements the work of the Sutton Trust and College of Law ‘Pathways to Law’ scheme, which encourages disadvantaged children to consider law as a career.
Ashurst corporate partner and CSET board member Roger Finbow told Legal Week: “We decided last year that we needed to partially re-think how we spent our cash, and the outcome is the launch of this summer school. We want people to come out feeling more confident and not rule out the highest possible aspirations just because their university isn’t one that people normally recruit from.”
CSET management committee member Jonathan Scott of Herbert Smith added: “There is a real problem in identifying those who may have underachieved at school but who have got the talent to come through. Collectively we can achieve far more.”
CSET is also reviewing its funding arrangements, with the contribution that each firm pays per trainee set to rise from £300 to around £400. However, a cap may be introduced so larger firms do not feel they are contributing too much.
StudentsSpring2008
Wow! Finally someone appreciates the fact that just because you didn't study at the best university and your life circumstances are a bit different to other 'typical law students' that you actually may have the bottle, intelligence, drive and deterimination to make a sucess of yourself in the legal field. I am 29, I have a child, I went to a normal university (Salford) my parents are basicially working class and i have funded every penny of my studies at law school whilst working full-time and paying a mortgage. I have intellect and practical working experience. Well done to those law firms joining the scheme to realise that prototype, typical features don't always make the best working qualities.
How sad that the industry thinks that this is promoting diversity. There are some amazing people out there who can't get a look in because of an obsession with academia, which is unfortunately self-perpetuating.
I find this parallel between 'diversity' and poor academic performance quite insulting. I come from a working class 'non traditional' background and attended a (low performing) state sixth form college. I worked my butt off to get the grades I needed to get into a Russell League uni and, a few years down the line, I've qualified in a magic circle firm... Nobody 'mentored' me at any stage! If you want it badly enough you find a way to get it, irrespective of your social circumstances.
I couldn't agree more, I attended absolutely appalling state schools throughout my education but worked hard enough to end up at a top five university, where I again worked hard and secured a training contract with a magic circle firm.
All done off my own back - if you really want it then there is nothing stopping you. It’s a joke that people at worse universities are now being given preferential treatment – another example of political correctness gone mad!
I have successfully achieved a place at the CSET summer school and feel insulted that some people may feel we are having "preferental" treatment. I too attended an awful state school and unfortunatley did not gain the A-levels i hoped for. No excuses granted, but i was solely caring for my grandparents at the time and feel justified in saying that i probably worked as hard as most to achieve as highly as possible, 100 students a year is a small percentage of students in comparison to how many students from Russell Group universities achieve trainee contracts in top law firms. why should there not be equality among us students from "lower" universities, who may infact, be just as determined and as driven as you, yet falls short from a fatal weakness of academic results? I for one have always admitted, i may not always know the answer, but i damn sure will work through to find it. Over 900 applied to the summer school, 100 of us recieved a place through an online test and a phone interview, do you not think we must be doing sometihng to right to achieve this?
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