FAQs: How do I find work experience in the legal field?

Work experience is your opportunity to develop new skills, demonstrate your potential to the firm and find out what the law industry is like. Options available include:

• Vacation scheme - Most common form, usually with a large firm or government organisation, search for law vacation placements.
• Mini pupillage - one or two-week schemes are available. You can apply in advance at any time of year.
• Voluntary work - schemes such as Citizens Advice Bureau , Free Representation Unit .
• Pro bono work - Allowing students to do real legal work, helping those who would not otherwise be able to afford legal advice. See LawWorks  for more information.

Placements with the biggest firms are usually in the Easter and summer of law undergraduates’ penultimate year or the final year for non-law students. Applications need to be plentiful, well researched and targeted meticulously to each firm. To gain experience you could try work shadowing a solicitor or barrister, using your networks to find contacts, or sending a speculative CV.