Vacation Scheme Review

I was given an insight into Irwin Mitchell, the type of work they do and the various routes into the legal profession at the company. This included not just routes into trainee solicitor positions but also into paralegal positions. I was able to participate in presentations, workshops and networking events to really understand what life is like at Irwin Mitchell. There were many different activities to get involved in to help us decide what kind of legal role we wanted.

I have learnt a lot about the different types of law. This may seem surprising as a law student but the study of law is different from its practice. There is much much of an emphasis on the commercial side of the law in the private sector. At Irwin Mitchell, they specialise in negligence and other interesting strands of law. As someone who was previously set on family law, I am now open to other strands.

It was really interesting. I learnt that we do not necessarily have to put ourselves under pressure to go for coveted trainee solicitor roles upon graduation. Instead, we can also take different routes in, by being paralegals. This provides good experience and grounding for a career as a solicitor. I was also interested to discover that Irwin Mitchell deal with a lot of personal issues such as negligence for clients. The work is really interesting.

The company culture is great. I get the impression that Irwin Mitchell looks after its employees. This is good because you hear about other companies where there is burnout among solicitors and paralegals. For instance, they allow employees to take a few days off every year for charity and for personal reasons. The general atmosphere was great as well although with law there are a lot of students who are overly competitive at these events.

I really enjoyed the insight. We had a chance to understand the legal sector and where Irwin Mitchell positions itself within it. We had the opportunity to network with a lot of different people within the company. I also enjoyed speaking to fellow students about their aspirations. Some of these students were not necessarily certain about a legal career, and Irwin Mitchell were very welcoming to them - emphasizing that they just want to help us make the best decision.

Yes

Try and read up on the specialities of Irwin Mitchell. There are many different companies that deal with different strands of the law to varying degrees of speciality. As Irwin Mitchell, if you are able to demonstrate that you understand the type of work that they perform, you will no doubt put yourself in a good position to impress. This includes areas such as abuse, negligence and family law. Try and use their website for help.