Digital workshops launched to help candidates from underrepresented backgrounds pursue a legal career

MyKindaFuture will deliver a series of digital workshops across Autumn 2020 – with 23 law firms already signed up to host 25 two-hour workshops – to support students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue a career in the law.

The overlooked-talent specialist was commissioned by PRIME, which is “committed to improving access to the legal profession through work experience”, following a competitive tender process. The launch comes after PRIME conducted a successful pilot in 2019 with Brodies, DWF Group plc, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Pinsent Masons, as well as support from Thorntons.

The workshops will be delivered across the UK to students in years 9 to 11 and S2 to S3 in Scotland, who are living in social mobility ‘cold spots’. They will aim to improve opportunities and awareness of certain sectors and help young people to pursue viable career options by introducing students to the idea of a career in law, as well as the variety of roles. Leading representatives from Brodies and DWF, among other representatives from a number of firms, will share personal experiences, demystify the routes into the profession and answer questions.

Founder and managing director at MyKindaFuture Will Akerman said: “There is so much talent that comes from disadvantaged backgrounds that can only be reached via a targeted approach, which is why we’re so pleased that PRIME has partnered with us to engage with overlooked and hard-to-reach, talented young people, and offer them the opportunities they deserve.

“We believe that engagement with companies is essential for students to develop their practical and employability skills, and the workshops will facilitate this. Our work will also help businesses to connect with a more diverse talent pool at the earliest stage possible, whilst providing students with all the tools they need to kick start an educational journey via work experience, internships and ultimately, careers.”

Highlighting the current circumstances, Akerman said: “At a time when lockdown restrictions caused by covid-19 have stripped young people of many opportunities, we’re delighted to be able to use our experience in virtual events to support PRIME to reach disadvantaged students in the UK’s ‘cold spots’, where opportunities are scarce, to help them believe in a future full of possibilities.”  

Chair of PRIME Nicholas Cheffings said: “I am delighted that PRIME will be working with MyKindaFuture on the roll-out of this fabulous initiative. Now, more than ever, young people from disadvantaged backgrounds need the opportunity to hear about career options and begin to believe that law is a viable one for them. It is so important that we reach students in these cold spot areas where we, as a profession, are simply not getting enough traction”.