updated on 09 October 2019
The LawCareers.Net team will be attending the below law fairs in Autumn 2019:
University of Law (Moorgate) - 4 September 2019
University of Law (Birmingham) - 17 September 2019
University of the West of England - 30 September 2019
University of Bristol - 3 October 2019
University of Manchester - 8 October 2019
University of St Andrews - 9 October 2019
University of Bristol - 10 October 2019
University of Leicester - 10 October 2019
Newcastle University - 14 October 2019
University of Liverpool - 15 October 2019
University of York - 16 October 2019
City, University of London - 16 October 2019
University of Nottingham - 21 October 2019
Queen Mary - 21 October 2019
University of Sheffield - 21 October 2019
King's College London - 22 October 2019
LSE - 22 October 2019
University of Sussex - 23 October 2019
University of Winchester - 23 October 2019
Cardiff University - 29 October 2019
University of Kent - 30 October 2019
University of Reading - 30 October 2019
University of Hull - 30 October 2019
University of West London - 31 October 2019
University of East Anglia - 6 November 2019
BPP (Waterloo) - 6 November 2019
University of Oxford - 9 November 2019
Oxford Brookes University - 19 November 2019
University of Wolverhampton - 20 November 2019
Lancaster University - 20 November 2019
University of Exeter - 20 November 2019
Royal Holloway, University of London - 21 November 2019
London Law Fair - 27 November 2019
Nottingham Trent University - 21 January 2020
Law fairs offer an important opportunity to see firms face to face. They are your chance to meet trainees, associates and partners, as well as graduate recruiters, to quiz them about their firms and get a sense of what they are like.
These conversations are also a chance for you to make a good impression, so people at the firm remember you. They're also useful for non-law students who are considering a career in law and need to learn more about how to make that happen.
Law fairs take place at most universities across the country in the autumn term, so look out for posters and careers service emails to find out about yours. When it arrives at your university, the law fair will commandeer a large space like a sports hall or conference centre. Firms will bring large exhibition stands to grab your attention and quirky (or not so quirky) freebies to seduce you. At law fairs, everyone's a winner: you get to chat to recruiters and lawyers to find out what they really want in candidates and they get to take an initial look at you, all within a relatively informal environment.
Here are a few quick tips to maximise your chances of having a successful fair:
Speak confidently to the people on the stand (recruiters and lawyers) and ask interesting questions about their firm – avoid obvious questions which you could simply answer by reading the firm’s brochure or website. The recruiter is likely to remember you if seem like a good candidate.
For more detailed info and advice on how to get the best from a law fair, see our feature "Law fairs: everything you need to know". But if you'd just like some ideas of what you can speak to firms about, try preparing some questions on the:
Law schools providing the postgraduate courses you'll study after your degree also have a presence at law fairs. You might want to ask them about: the percentage of students who complete the postgrad courses but don't have a training contract/pupillage lined up; links with firms and chambers; and whether you can defer the course to take a year out (if you're considering a gap year).
Here's a list of this year's law fairs. As more fairs are announced we will add to this list, so be sure to keep checking back for your university.
You can really benefit from attending a law fair if you do some preparation beforehand. Your interactions with lawyers and recruiters will really benefit you if you have done some research into the firms attending, which will eliminate the need for you to ask basic questions which you could answer with a quick search online, and enable you to have a more interesting conversation and make a much better impression.
When you find out which firms are going to be attending your fair, search for them on LCN and also check our Meet the Recruiter and Meet the Lawyer sections for relevant profiles containing potentially useful insights.