Burges Salmon's annual Law Information Days were held on 14 and 16 February and were attended by 60 GCSE and A-Level students from 22 different schools. The days gave the students an overview of the legal profession, the career options available to them as well as different routes into law including choosing an apprenticeship.
Students were given a brief overview of Burges Salmon and received presentations by trainee solicitors, who shared their experiences of life at the firm.
Jess Sharratt, Widening Participation and Undergraduate recruitment Officer at the University of Bristol, ran an interactive session on careers and pathways into law on the GCSE day, and Zoe King, Centre Manager at the University of Law, gave an overview of the differences between barristers and solicitors on the A-level day.
The event included interactive group discussions, which proved useful as the students enjoyed meeting other students from different schools. Each group was allocated a trainee solicitor for the day, which the students found of value as they could ask them questions directly and learn first-hand from their experiences. The highlight of both days was the negotiation skills exercise, which students mentioned as being "fun", a "great taster of skills and techniques used", and which "helped with thinking outside the box".
Both days concluded with a careers advice clinic run by Burges Salmon's People team where students were able to obtain information on CVs, applications and apprenticeships.
Overall feedback was excellent, with 94% of students rating the day as highly or very highly noting that they found the day useful, informative, helpful and interesting.
When asked about the impact the day has had on future degree choices, students said:
- “It has inspired me to go into a law career."
- "… allowed me to make a more informed decision."
- "It has made me want to push forward and become the best solicitor I can be."
The firm collated diversity data about the attendees. Of the students who attended:
- 69% were female and 31% male.
- 33% were either on free school meals or the first of their generation to aspire to go to university.
- 77% attended state school while 23% attended independent school.
Catherine Correia, Burges Salmon's Corporate Responsibility Manager, comments:
"Our Law Information Days form part of our 'working with schools' programmes where we provide students with useful and important information for their future studies and the various routes into the profession. It is rewarding to see how much the students get out of these days and credit to the students who chose to attend during half-term."