The Legal Explorer Programme

Heather McKendrick, CSR manager at Addleshaw Goddard, introduces the firm’s Legal Explorer work experience programme for year 12 and S5 students – and three of its Scottish ‘Explorers’ share their thoughts on taking part.

I remember being 16 and undertaking work experience – it took me until about day four to have the confidence to start asking questions and the week ended just as I was getting comfortable in the office environment. This was in the forefront of my mind when we were developing our Legal Explorer programme. We wanted to create a new programme aimed at fifth-year pupils who meet certain social mobility criteria. Moreover, we wanted to include work experience, as that is what students always tell us they want, but we wanted this element to be the culmination of a longer-term relationship with the students we worked with.

Our thinking was that this would maximise the potential and increased confidence of these incredible young people. We also aimed to do what we could to make the experience as fair as possible, by helping to remove barriers that sometimes prevent people from being able to take part. So we provided every student with a laptop to keep, along with access to data to reduce the digital divide. We also provided expenses and a bursary to cover the students’ time, as many of the students took time away from paid employment to undertake our work experience. Finally, we helped students build their network, both in person and online, by offering a professional headshot and personal brand training, along with assigning a mentor to everyone taking part.

The PRIME network promotes social mobility in the legal profession and they advised us on matters such as bursaries and payments, along with how best to identify suitable students. We also worked with Causeway Education, which specialises in helping students perform strongly in UCAS applications, and they delivered training to the mentors and a workshop to the pupils during an insight day.

The adventure begins

2023-24 was the first year of the programme and we planned to learn from it – to find out what worked well, and where we could make changes for the future. While we had anticipated broadly how it would work, what we had underestimated was the sheer talent and enthusiasm of the students themselves. We conducted informal phone interviews with all the students who met the social mobility criteria and completed an application. This was time consuming but it was absolutely a return on investment. The students were engaged, attendance was high and cameras were switched on during all the online sessions. I have worked with students long enough to know this isn’t always the case! We really appreciated their efforts.

In terms of what we learned, taking the time to do the phone interviews worked really well and was absolutely time well spent. Also, ensuring students were near enough to one of our offices for it to be practical to attend after school – that face-to-face time with a mentor was central to the programme. For those further afield we have the option of our Legal Access Week, which is a virtual programme that runs each February. We also learned that nothing compares to high-quality work-shadowing opportunities – the students really want to see what life is like as a trainee or solicitor, so we plan to expand those opportunities further next time.

We have just launched this year’s programme and are excited to have included students from Aberdeen and Dublin, taking us to 30 students this year. Having met some of the students already, I feel confident we will have a great year and work with more engaged and enthusiastic young people. We are also staying in touch with the cohort form last year; we’re keen keen to see how they progress and develop.

We would love to see more students from Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen) apply for the 2025 programme. For those from further afield, applications for the Legal Access Week is now open. And for those involved in the delivery of work experience programmes, social mobility and early careers, we are hosting a roundtable and networking event on 20th March at Addleshaw Goddard’s Edinburgh office. Please email me at heather.mckendrick@addleshawgoddard.com to find out more.

Legal Explorer key stats

• 23 students supported
• 70% female
• 100% attend state school
• 78% first generation of their family to attend university
• 43% eligible for free school meals
• 9% part/full-time carers
• 50% ethnic minority backgrounds
• 91% felt their confidence improved
• 100% now feel a career in law is possible for them pursue 

Zohaib, sixth-year student, Glasgow

“I applied for the Legal Explorer programme because it’s not every day you get an incredible opportunity like this. It gave me the chance to gain legal experience, get my foot in the door and explore whether law is truly for me. The highlight was definitely the week of work experience – working with a supervisor on various tasks and living the life of a ‘lawyer’. I think Scottish students should apply because it shows you can access opportunities like this locally in Scotland, with expenses covered, without needing to go to London.”

Lana, sixth-year student, West Lothian

“I applied for the Legal Explorer programme because it was clearly tailored to people like me who have had working class upbringings and have faced different social barriers throughout their education. I had never come across an opportunity like it, that would allow me access to the legal world, and so when I first heard of the programme I knew it was a chance I couldn’t let go to waste. 

“The week of work shadowing at the end of the programme was the highlight for me as I got a fantastic insight into what the day-to-day life of a lawyer looks like. I got the opportunity to take part in hands-on research tasks, mock interviews and presentations, all of which have built my self-confidence and professionalism. All this experience combined completely cemented my desire to pursue a career in law. 

“Given my lack of prior experience, the legal space seemed quite intimidating to me at first, which allowed personal worries about the work shadowing that takes place at the end of the programme to manifest. However, having the opportunity to speak to a mentor monthly throughout the programme, someone who understood themselves how initially daunting it can be to navigate the legal sector, was the exact support I needed to ease my stress.  

“Not only was the programme the perfect opportunity to gain experience and build on various legal skills, but it also allows participants to meet and connect with lawyers from various areas of legal practice. I felt so welcomed by everyone at Addleshaw Goddard, which was incredibly helpful to me personally as my social background can at times make me feel out of place in the legal world. If other students looking to apply feel that same way, then I can assure them that this programme would be perfect for alleviating those fears.”  

Aimee Moir, sixth-year student, Edinburgh

“I was never wholeheartedly sure as to what I wanted to do with my career, although I knew I had an interest in the law. I wanted to explore my interest and discover if law was really something which I wanted to pursue. I came across the Legal Explorers programme as a teacher in my school mentioned it to me and I’d never seen any law work experience like this. Knowing this programme was accessible and long term really appealed to me. I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to explore my interest of law. Something which really stood out to me in the programme was being assigned my own mentor. It was invaluable to have the opportunity to build that connection with someone working in the industry and have them to guide me through my own law journey. I was assigned tasks by my mentor, exposed to legal jargon and her day-to-day workload. Most importantly to me, my mentor conducted a mock interview with me similar to the ones first-year trainees undertake. This experience provided me with confidence to face similar interviews in the future and gave me an insight on how best to articulate myself in high-pressure situations. 

“Going into the programme I was nervous that my confidence in new settings was going to be an issue. However the programme really brought out a new side to me which excelled in confidence; it showed me how I should believe in myself and how even though I’d never been in a professional environment like this before, I have all the necessary skills and motivation to excel at it. Employees of the firm were always so eager to help me find ways to better myself and were very positive and complimentary of my efforts within the programme, which only boosted my confidence to pursue a career in law even further.

“Opportunities as good as this don’t often come up. Even if you are not entirely sure if law is definitely for you, this programme is all about exploring law and building your own personal portfolio and skill set. Everything you put into this programme you get out of it. I made such good connections by networking with people from all over the UK, which is an experience I am so grateful for. To be in an environment like this from such a young age and have the opportunity to participate is something which shouldn’t be passed up. This programme will not only grow you professionally but personally as well.  

“My experiences with Addleshaw Goddard put me in a brilliant position for university. I have received three unconditional offers so far for law at university, one of them being a top-three law school in Scotland.”

Written by Heather McKendrick, CSR manager at Addleshaw Goddard