PRIME experience for underprivileged school kids

Major law firms including Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Herbert Smith, Linklaters, Norton Rose, and Slaughter and May have pledged their support for a new work experience project designed to boost social mobility in the legal profession. Reported in Legal Week, the project - called PRIME - will offer legal work experience to underprivileged state school children aged 14-18.

The aim of PRIME is to encourage those who participate to see a job in the legal sector as a realistic career aspiration. A&O senior partner David Morley told Legal Week: "It is harder now than it was 30 years ago to get into the legal profession if you're from an average or below-average income family. As a profession, we must change that. By collaborating across the profession, PRIME will create a step change in the legal sector's commitment to fairer access, giving more students their first insight into the wide variety of career opportunities available in the legal sector. I would urge all law firms to join us in supporting PRIME."

Twenty-three UK and Irish firms are currently signed up to PRIME, and it is backed by the Law Societies of England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, and the Sutton Trust.