One of the City’s leading law firms is teaming up with University College London to offer students from poor backgrounds a better chance to enter the legal profession.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer said that it would offer students from disadvantaged backgrounds bursaries of £10,000 to study law at UCL while also receiving 24 weeks of paid work experience a year at the “magic circle” firm.
The students will be guaranteed an interview for a training contract at the end of their studies and, if offered a job at Freshfields, will be reimbursed the full cost of their tuition.
Freshfields will offer two scholarships for this academic year but plans to expand the initiative to include six places within two years, it said.
Will Lawes, Freshfields’ senior