Law firms want diverse range applicants
28/11/2007(13:53)
Legal firms in London are looking for applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds, it has emerged.
Usually recruiting from the Russell Group of universities, which includes institutions in Manchester and Bristol, the legal firms are trying to encourage graduates to apply from different universities who may not have considered a career in law, Legal Week notes.
Substantial sums of money have been contributed by 13 firms to help push this recruitment drive, with the intention of creating a summer school at Imperial College London over the summer.
Companies involved in the initiative include Allen & Overy, Ashurst, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith, Linklaters, Lovells and Slaughter and May.
Senior partner at Ashurst Geoffrey Green said that companies want to see candidates that they would not usually meet.
"There is a real untapped source of intelligent people at new universities who we simply do not get to see," he told the news source, adding: "We need to change this."
A Hughes-Castell report noted that newly-qualified lawyers can start on as much as £64,000 a year, the Independent recently reported.
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