6 Game-Changing Benefits of First-Year Law Schemes

Those who attend first-year law schemes offered by law firms have a greater chance of success in securing a training contract.

These schemes, often called first-year insight schemes, offer the opportunity to spend between a day and a week in a law firm. They are increasingly important for both candidates and firms in the training contract recruitment process.

In this post, I’ll outline 6 of the biggest benefits of participating in these schemes.

So, let’s dive in.

Benefit #1 – You gain invaluable insights into life in a law firm

One of the most critical things you need to secure a training contract is a solid understanding of the work done by law firms and their lawyers.

While there’s a vast amount of information available online, it’s often high-level and lacks depth. Having the opportunity to spend time inside a legal environment, seeing lawyers at work and learning from direct experience will help you develop a much deeper understanding.

In particular, these schemes will help you understand some key fundamentals:

• The structure of law firms and their various departments/teams.
• How law firms operate as a business.
• The different practice areas and sectors the firm’s work focuses on.
• The day-to-day role of lawyers in that type of firm.
• How trainee solicitors fit into a law firm and the work they typically do.
• Different aspects that make up a firm’s culture and values.

If you do a scheme at more than one firm it’s also a great way to compare firms and make decisions about which firms to apply to.

Benefit #2 – You will have a competitive advantage in future applications

The insights you gain into life in a law firm will be one way you will gain a competitive advantage.

You will also gain an advantage in a number of other ways:

• Having done a first-year scheme will strengthen your CV/applications for vacation schemes and training contracts and make you stand out from the majority of candidates who haven’t done them.
• You will have more to talk about in your applications and interviews, given the great experience and learning you will get from a scheme.
• Firms are looking for evidence of commitment and motivation towards a career in law, and first-year schemes are great evidence of this.
• Some firms will prioritise candidates who’ve completed insight schemes with them, meaning you can sometimes bypass aspects of their later competitive recruitment process.
• Attending a first-year scheme will give you a chance to impress the firm in person with how you work, your attitude and your strengths, rather than solely relying on a written application form.
• You will learn what it’s like to conduct yourself professionally in a law firm setting, which will help you in future networking, interviews and vac schemes.
• Firms often give structured sessions on how to perform well in aspects of the TC recruitment process, including mock exercises. These tips and practice give you a huge early advantage.

Benefit #3 – You will develop important legal & professional skills

First-year schemes will give you lots of opportunities to use and develop important skills needed to be a successful solicitor.

You will get opportunities to develop these skills through real legal work – for example, legal research, drafting and proofreading.

Also. the schemes often include specific activities designed to help you practice and develop key skills. For example, workshops, exercises and case studies.

Having the opportunity to learn about the skills needed as a lawyer and to use and develop them in a structured setting is invaluable. It will help you to focus on those things you’ll need in the working world that are different to what you’ve been used to in an academic setting.

This is a big transition, so having the opportunity to meaningfully start on this in your first year is incredibly helpful.

Benefit #4 – You will improve your commercial awareness

First-year schemes are a great way to get some of the foundations of commercial awareness in place.

You’ll be immersed in the law firm and see the work it does for its business clients. Additionally, firms often give training and activities that are commercially focused. There is often, therefore, a heap of commercial learning to take away from these schemes.

You will also have the opportunity to discuss things with lawyers and trainees, such as:

• How the law firm operates as a business
• Specific pieces of commercially focused work they’re doing
• Key commercial and legal trends that are affecting the firm and its clients.

You will not only develop a better knowledge of these things, but you will also learn how to think about them.

This is critical as commercial awareness is more than solely knowledge acquisition – it’s about thinking commercially, which is a skill in itself.

Benefit #5 – You get to practice networking and build your professional network

Having the opportunity to network with lawyers and trainees during first-year schemes is a huge benefit.

You will have the opportunity to meet a wide range of people to add to your professional network (having a LinkedIn profile is a must for this!).

You may also find that you’re able to have a continuing relationship with some of them, which can easily and naturally develop into invaluable mentorship opportunities.

As well as developing your networking skills, you can also use the conversations to discuss your own career. They’ve all been where you are now and are usually generous in answering questions and sharing elements from their careers to help you navigate this stage in your own career journey.

Some will also give you great tips on the application, interview and assessment centre stages that can help you stand out in the process.

Benefit #6 – You will clarify your career interests and direction

Perhaps the biggest benefit of a first-year scheme is that it will help you explore and clarify your career interests.

Until you’re able to learn about and identify what you’re most interested in, it’s hard to develop an effective application strategy for vacation schemes and training contracts. Without this, your chances of succeeding in the recruitment process are greatly diminished. Many candidates are rejected for this reason alone as firms can spot it a mile off.

By participating in a first-year law scheme, you’ll be able to explore and decide on your level of interest and preferences around different aspects of the profession, such as:

• Whether you prefer corporate, finance, general commercial, disputes or other work.
• The structure of a training contract – for example, do you want high levels of responsibility and the need to be proactive in seeking out work? Or do you want a more prescriptive and supportive training contract? Do you want to do a client or overseas secondment? What sort of learning and development environment will suit you best?
• What is it about being a commercial lawyer that interests you most (so you can answer the “why commercial law?” question convincingly)?
• What sort of firm culture do you fit in with best? Don’t underestimate how important this is for your career and for your chances of success in the recruitment process.

The clearer you are on the options and which of those suits you best, the greater your chances of convincing a firm they’re the right fit for you.

Do it for you

As you can see, the argument for applying for first-year law schemes is a strong one given these benefits.

Whilst many of these benefits are tied to increasing your chances of success in securing a vacation scheme and training contract, I think the biggest benefit is a more personal one. That is, you will make better decisions about where your best career fit is and have a more considered and strategic approach to your career planning.

This means you will be much more likely to enjoy your training contract and experience early success as a junior lawyer.