If you love a law student, give them something free: the best law fair freebies 2017

It’s everyone’s favourite time of year. While some get excited by the darkening nights and sparkling lights of impending yuletide festivities, here at LCN we look forward to our annual tradition of judging and scoring the haul of firm freebies from the 27 university law fairs we attended.

This year’s box of goodies included the usual range of mugs and water bottles, headphones and post-it notes, as well as some freebies ranging on the stranger side: a mini-deck chair for your phone? Thank you Blake Morgan! A fidget cube from Morrison & Foerster? Why not! Read on for our review of the best and worst of this recruitment season.

Are firms mugging you off?

Are you even an aspiring solicitor if you don’t have at least five firm-branded mugs knocking around in the back of your kitchen cupboard? The LCN team counts itself expert in the art of not only excessive tea and coffee-drinking, but also in judging the shape, feel and, most importantly, capacity of a good free mug. LCN’s Matt has been favouring the Cleary Gottlieb mug from the start for its nice colour and size. The Goodwin Proctor offering too was deemed a ‘good corporate mug’, while we all fought over our favourite Bristows’ multi-coloured and nicely-branded cups.

Did someone say coffee?

Undeniably a trend for 2017 was the overflow of firms offering travel cups to fuel the over-caffeinated and under-slept student. The best of the bunch were definitely the official KeepCups from Dentons and Linklaters, which were immediately shot-gunned by an equally over-caffeinated and under-slept Beth. KeepCups are sustainable and high-quality reusable cups that retail at at least £10. Good for the environment and good for the bank balance – a win-win situation and certainly a winner for the LCN team! Cheaper alternatives were offered by Berwin Leighton Paisner and Clyde & Co, among others.

Watery world

If you’re coffee averse and keeping hydrated is more your thing - like LCN’s saintly MD Sinead - there was the usual abundance of water bottles at this year’s fairs. From bottles to put fruit in, DWF’s freebie included, and a strange water pouch thing for avid hikers from Ward Hadaway, to a beautiful flask from Vinson & Elkins which had the panellists oohing and aahing in delight. The winner for Matt, however, was the simple Osborne Clarke bottle with a straw which he claims is single-handedly responsible for him drinking more water.

Stationery: we just want some shiny post-it notes!

We’re not saying that the LCN team are cheap, but we do rely on law fairs to fill our stationery drawers for the entire year. So when it comes to firms’ stationery freebies, we know exactly what we want. Unfortunately Ashurst’s un-shiny post-it notes did not make the cut, nor did Simmons & Simmons’ post-it note option as there was too much branding and not enough space for writing. We ogled over Osborne Clarke’s and CMS’ lovely notebooks, however, and actually fought about Simmons’ crafty little tubes of colouring pencils – perfect for the overstressed law student wanting to indulge in some mindful colouring. Beth was also keen on the Morrison & Foerster pink highlighter she picked up with teeny-tiny post-it notes in the lid, but Ward Hadaway’s highlighters were sadly denounced as ‘so 2012’ by editor Josh, with a shake of the head.

But do we need another pair of headphones?

It wouldn’t be a law fair without the usual selection of memory sticks, headphones, chargers and adaptors that firms like to throw at passers-by (or students like to snatch and run away). Mayer Brown’s portable charger is an expensive-feeling and substantial affair, with Shoosmiths’ offering a lighter alternative. Squire Patton Boggs’ colourful headphones are now as synonymous with law fairs as the acrid taste of tea from a vat, and this year we also picked up a handy similar pair from Browne Jacobson. In line with their ‘press play on your career’ branding, BLM gave out small speakers, while power cables were on offer from Ashurst and Travers Smith among others. CMS’ wireless Bluetooth adaptor for headphones was also a useful gift (once we had figured out how it worked).

Another trend for 2017 was the phone holder, and while we appreciated the gimmick behind Blake Morgan’s deck-chair version, we did not like Dentons’ cheap and bulky holder. The winner has to be Pinsent Masons’ lightweight and flexible option, which Beth will not let anyone take from her desk.

Special mention: charities and social initiatives

Aside from all the cheap, branded tat handed out at law fairs, some firms did things a little differently this year. Alongside its travel cup, Clyde & Co partnered with social enterprise organisation Change Please for its free coffee giveaways. DLA Piper too went down the socially responsible marketing route by asking students to vote via iPads for the charity of their choice, donating the money that would have otherwise been spent on freebies, while Travers Smith were handing out rainbow shoelaces in aid of LGBT charity Stonewall.

We also couldn’t help but love the bookmarks sent to us by VWV Veale Wasbrough Vizards who wrote that they ‘might not be the flashest law fair freebie that you’ve ever seen, but we wanted to provide students with something unique and usable. In doing so we are also supporting a fantastic local artist, Emmeline Simpson’. They also sent us the details of Bristol-based Emmeline’s story and artwork which was a lovely touch we greatly appreciated.

And finally, we couldn’t finish this article without saying a big thank you to Mayer Brown for sending us a pretty gift box of their branded Mayer Brown-ies to the office. Take note for next year firms: the way to our hearts is through special post arrivals and free food. We’ll be waiting!

What’s the best law fair freebie you’ve picked up this year? Let us know in the comments below, or share with us on Twitter!