Our guide to unlocking new, diverse and often overlooked pathways into a career in law
Here’s what to expect this week…
Opportunities we’ve spotted, including legal work experience, paralegal roles and training contracts
Our weekly Q&A, answering your questions about careers in law
5 minutes with... career changer, Stephanie Sherrin
And finally, a career tip to consider for future applications
Let’s get into it 👇
Career opportunities spotted this week 👀
📍 Work experience, insight days and legal placement opportunities
🚜 CNH Industrial (Basildon)
A global leader in agriculture and construction machinery is hiring a paid Legal Intern to join its in-house team. You'll get stuck into research and investigative projects, reviewing contracts and service agreements, managing the contract database, attending meetings and drafting training materials. They'll consider candidates who don't tick every box if you can show the drive to learn. It's a one-year placement with the potential to extend into a second year. Apply ASAP!
⚖️ 3PB Barristers (Oxford)
Fancy a look at life at the Bar outside of London? 3PB's Oxford office is taking mini-pupillage applications, focused on family and civil work. Applications are considered every month. You'll need to use 3PB's own application form rather than a CV. Apply ASAP.
🎓 BPP (Virtual)
BPP are running a free event, “Using AI the right way from law firm applications to trainee tasks” on 11th August. This session explores how aspiring lawyers can use AI to support research, preparation and learning without compromising authenticity or professional standards. Sign up to ensure you get your spot!
⚡ SLB (London)
Another entry-level paid opportunity where you’ll get a year of experience as a Legal Intern. SLB is a global energy company driving energy for a balanced planet. You'll explore areas such as contract law, employment law, technology laws and compliance requirements. Strong research skills and great attention to detail needed. Apply ASAP.
💼 Trainee, Apprenticeship & Pupillage Roles
🎓 Express Solicitors (Manchester)
Have you just finished your A levels? This 6-year apprenticeship could take you through to qualification as a solicitor, starting in Express Solicitors' New Client Team before progressing into a Litigation Assistant role after year one (subject to performance). You're paid from day one, with one study day a week and full mentoring support built in. Apply ASAP.
📋 Trainee Paralegal (Nottingham)
Another entry level opportunity for those who have just finished their A levels. A forward-thinking practice in Nottingham is recruiting a Trainee Paralegal. No prior experience required. You can reach out to Natalie for a confidential chat about the role.
(Fewer trainee/pupillage opportunities this week but this is to be expected in August!)
⚖️ Paralegal/Entry Level Roles
⭐Inclusie’s pick of the week⭐️
HM Courts & Tribunals Service is recruiting thirty five(!) Crown Court Clerks across London. You'll work directly with judges, legal professionals, victims and other court users at the heart of the criminal justice system. Whether you're just starting out, considering a move into the Civil Service, or after a career change with real purpose, this one's hard to beat for variety and experience. They’ll consider part-time and flexible working requests too. Deadline: 7th August.
📚 Loughborough College Group (Loughborough)
They are recruiting a Legal Officer to join a small and friendly in-house team. The role will focus on drafting and reviewing contracts alongside governance work. No prior experience required. Deadline is today so be quick if you’re interested in this one.
🚔 Lartey & Co Solicitors (London)
A growing firm with an expanding caseload is looking to welcome a Paralegal / Caseworker to its criminal team, working across its Deptford and Chancery Lane offices. Experience is welcome but not required. They equally value the right attitude, someone keen to learn, develop and become part of a supportive team. We love the promise of being trusted and being given real responsibility from day one. To apply, send your CV and a covering letter to [email protected].
💻 BCLP (Greater Manchester)
Fancy cutting your teeth on high-value banking and finance work? BCLP's Real Estate Finance team is looking for paralegals to support on major transactions for lenders, investors and developers. Previous paralegal experience helps but isn't essential - they're really after someone organised, calm under pressure, and ready to get stuck in. Apply ASAP!
🤝 JMC Legal Recruitment (Bristol)
Something a bit different: JMC is hiring a Trainee Legal Recruitment Consultant for its Bristol City Centre office, working with established client relationships and great earning potential from day one. No legal or recruitment background needed, just emotional intelligence, great communication, drive and resilience. Apply ASAP.
🛒 Asda (Leeds)
Asda is looking for a Consumer Protection and Advertising Co-ordinator to join its Legal & Compliance team. Working across multiple business functions, you will provide practical compliance advice, develop policies and guidance, deliver training, support audits and monitoring activities, and help shape how Asda responds to an evolving regulatory landscape. Closing date is 6th August, so be quick!
🛡️ UK Ministry of Defence (London)
An opportunity to work in government: the Ministry of Defence is hiring a caseworker officer. You'll support the MOD legal disclosure team by managing sensitive documents relating to litigation, public inquiries and civil claims, plus maintaining secure case files and records. It’s a role well suited to someone with excellent organisational, analytical and written communication skills. Apply before 20 August.
⚖️ 📊 MRN Solicitors (Manchester)
MRN's Housing Disrepair team is looking for a law graduate to join their paying party costs team. Apply if you’re interested in analysing bills of costs, negotiating settlements with opposing solicitors, and getting hands-on with the Civil Procedure Rules. No prior costs experience needed, but a basic understanding of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and/or standard costs principles is helpful.
🩹 Leigh Day (Liverpool)
Interested in serious injury work? You'd support the team on high-value claims involving brain and spinal injuries, amputations and fatal accidents, with genuine partner and associate contact. You'll need to be passionate about providing access to justice to all. Experience drafting legal documentation and correspondence is required, but the role could be well-suited to someone seeking to build a career in personal injury law. Apply soon!
🌍 Saxon Solicitors (Manchester)
You'd be managing your own mixed caseload across UK immigration and asylum matters, with training and supervision provided. No prior immigration experience needed and we understand career progression to qualification as a solicitor is a real possibility. Email [email protected] with your covering letter and CV by 20th August.
🏡 Scott Bailey LLP (Lymington & Lyndhurst)
This firm is growing its team and hiring three Legal Assistants across its Family, Private Client and Residential Property teams. Each role offers the opportunity to become a valued part of a supportive and friendly team, providing high-quality administrative and procedural support. Apply ASAP.
🏥 TPP (Leeds)
The digital healthcare software company are looking for a Contract Assistant. No prior experience required with all training provided. It could be a great entry-level role for the right person. Apply ASAP.
👥 Macfarlanes (London)
Something a little different! Macfarlanes is hiring an Early Careers Administrator to join its HR department on a permanent basis. This role will ensure the smooth running of the firm’s established Early Careers programmes and activities across attraction, recruitment and development. Apply ASAP.
📁 gunnercooke (Manchester)
Are you a law student looking to kickstart your legal career alongside your studies? gunnercooke is looking for a junior Legal Admin Assistant to provide support in their private client legal practice. This role will include managing calls, filing documents, scanning, time recording, archiving and assisting the legal team with day-to-day office tasks and can be flexible around studies. It is initially 6 months but with opportunity to develop into a permanent/paralegal role. Apply ASAP.
🗂️ Myerson (Alderley Edge)
Myerson is looking for a proactive Business Administrator to provide a high-quality administration service across the firm. A good way to get a foot in the door at a firm with plenty of internal progression routes. Apply ASAP.
💡 HGF (Leeds)
HGF is hiring a Patent Renewals Assistant with training provided, but some prior admin experience is required. A great role if intellectual property law is an area you'd like to explore. Apply ASAP.
Your questions answered ❓
Question: I'm a second year non-Law student but am hoping to qualify as a lawyer. I'm not sure whether to apply to London firms or regional ones. The pay at London firms is so much better but I don't see myself living there in the long term. Can you provide any advice please?
My response: First, I think it is great you're questioning this now. It's worth pausing and thinking about what you really want your life to look like in the next 2, 5 or 10 years. There are a few key topics I think are worth exploring…
💰 Salary
You mention the salary is much better at London firms, however it is worth spending time working out the actual cost of living in London compared to the regions you're exploring. For example, you're likely to be paying twice the amount of rent in London as you are in Leeds, and that's without factoring in travel, food, etc. Crunch the numbers and work out how much better off you'd actually be.
🎓 Qualification route
It's also worth digging into how each firm supports you to qualify. Some firms sponsor the full route (PGDL/SQE prep plus a maintenance grant), others offer less. This can vary firm to firm regardless of location, so don't assume London automatically means better sponsorship. Check the specifics for each firm on your list.
🏙️ Lifestyle
You say you don't see yourself living in London long term. My question would be, do you see yourself living there and enjoying it in the short term? I lived in London in my early 20s and had a fantastic time, then moved back up north after 6/7 years for a quieter lifestyle with my family. However if you're someone who doesn't love the idea of living in a city at all, it's worth exploring other options. There's nothing worse than being miserable where you live!
💼 Work
It's also worth thinking about the type of work you'll actually be doing day to day, not just where you're doing it. London firms (especially the big commercial ones) often mean bigger, higher-profile deals, but also longer hours and more specialised work early on. With smaller regional firms you might get more client contact, more varied matters, and more responsibility sooner, simply because teams are smaller. If you already have a sense of the practice area you're drawn to, it's worth thinking about which cities actually have strong teams in that area.
🔁 It's not necessarily a done deal
Try not to think of this as a permanent, “once and for all” decision. Plenty of people qualify in London and move regionally a few years later, and vice versa. Some firms even have internal transfer options between offices. Your first job sets you up, it doesn't have to be where you stay forever.
The legal market is also super competitive, so it's not always as simple as picking your dream firm and getting a training contract first try.
There's no single right answer here, it's about weighing all of this up honestly and choosing what fits with the life you actually want, not just the one that looks best on paper.
✍️ 5 minutes with… Stephanie Sherrin
Could this be my favourite read so far? From LA acting school to a South Atlantic island, Stephanie’s route into law is proof that the most interesting career changers rarely take the straight road. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did!
Q. Thank you for chatting to us, Stephanie. Diving straight in - could you tell us about your journey into the legal sector? I know it's not been a conventional one!
It has been an adventure. I've just graduated from the Open University with a First in Law, and this month I started work as a full-time paralegal. In September I'll begin the LPC LLM with the University of Law as I work towards qualifying as a solicitor.
On paper, it sounds straightforward. It wasn't. I grew up in a single-parent household in rural Cumbria and, at 18, earned a scholarship to an acting school in Los Angeles. Acting wasn’t my thing, but I stayed in the US for almost a decade, building a career in public relations, brand partnerships and experiential marketing, working with global brands including Samsung, Audi and T-Mobile.
When Covid hit, I moved back to the UK to be closer to my family. I joined the Civil Service and started studying law part-time with the Open University. Then I moved to Ascension Island, a tiny volcanic island in the South Atlantic, as the Government's sole policy officer. There, I drafted government-wide policy, supported legislative reform and volunteered as a lay advocate for the Public Solicitor's Office, representing clients in both criminal and civil matters. At the time, I was simply saying yes to opportunities that aligned with what mattered to me.
A question I'm often asked is how I managed to get into law without knowing anyone in the profession. The honest answer is that applying for advertised jobs didn't really work for me. Instead, I approached my career change the same way I'd approached marketing campaigns for years: I treated myself as the product.
I spent time researching firms within commuting distance. I looked at what they specialised in, who their clients were, what values they talked about and what made each one different. Then I asked myself the same question I'd ask any client in PR:
Why should someone choose you instead of everyone else?
Once I could answer that question, writing applications became much easier. Rather than trying to be the perfect legal candidate, I focused on what I genuinely brought with me: communication skills, policy experience, client-facing work, litigation experience, and a real commitment to access to justice.
I contacted firms directly, even when they weren't advertising vacancies. Every email was personalised. Some never replied. Some said no. A few offered unpaid work experience, and eventually I found a firm where the people felt approachable and somewhere I could genuinely build a career.
That experience taught me something I'll carry throughout my career: sometimes opportunities don't come from waiting for the right advert. They come from introducing yourself before anyone knows they're looking for you.
Q. What are some of the most useful transferable skills you've learned along the way?
Learning how to position myself.
People sometimes hear "marketing" and think it's about selling something that isn't there. Good marketing is the opposite. It's understanding what makes something valuable and communicating it clearly. That's exactly what job applications are.
Most applicants tell employers what they've done. The stronger applications explain why those experiences matter. I often encourage people to think about what makes them different.
If someone asked why they should hire you over another candidate, could you answer in thirty seconds? For me, the answer wasn't that I had the most legal experience, because I didn't. It was that I brought years of professional communication, stakeholder management, policy drafting and relationship-building, alongside practical courtroom and police station advocacy experience and a genuine passion for access to justice.
Someone else might bring years in healthcare, education, finance or social care. Maybe they've managed difficult conversations every day for ten years. Maybe they've navigated the benefits system themselves or cared for family members. Those experiences shape how you'll understand clients, solve problems and build trust.
Your previous career isn't something to apologise for. It's often your biggest advantage.
Q. I know you've just finished your degree with the Open University. Do you have any tips for juggling studying with other responsibilities?
I wish I had a magical productivity hack, but it really came down to organisation and accepting that perfection wasn't an option. I studied while working full-time, becoming a mum and moving across the world. Some weeks I felt on top of everything. Other weeks I was reading cases during nap time or writing essays through the night. Calendars became my best friend.
I also became much better at protecting my time. If I knew a deadline was approaching, I planned around it early rather than hoping I'd somehow find extra hours later. One thing the Open University teaches you really well is self-discipline. Nobody is checking you've opened your textbooks. You have to build that routine yourself.
Q. For readers who are on a similar journey, perhaps currently working in a different field but wanting to pursue law, what advice would you give?
First, do your research. Not every law firm is the same, so don't treat them as though they are. Learn what they do, what matters to them and where your experience fits. The more specific you can be, the more memorable you'll become.
Second, work out your unique selling point. Why law? Why now? What experiences have shaped the way you'll approach clients or the areas of law that interest you? Maybe there's a particular case that sparked your interest, a policy that affected your family or a career that gave you skills other candidates won't have. If you can't explain your move clearly, it's much harder for someone else to see it too.
Third, build relationships. Networking doesn't have to mean awkward events or collecting LinkedIn contacts. Some of the best conversations I've had came from simply asking people about their work, showing genuine curiosity and being honest about my own ambitions. People are often incredibly generous with their time when they know what you're trying to achieve. Equally, look for opportunities to help other people too. The best relationships are genuine, not transactional.
Fourth, don't wait for permission. Some of my best opportunities came because I reached out first. There wasn't always a clear route in. But introducing myself started conversations that never would have happened otherwise.
Finally, don't underestimate what you already bring. If, like me, you're changing careers and don't have family connections in the profession, it's easy to feel as though everyone else has a head start. But law needs people with different perspectives and life experiences. Clients don't all come from the same background, and neither should the people representing them. Your job isn't to become someone else. It's to understand the value of your experiences and communicate that confidently.
Once you can answer the question, "Why should they pick me?", you're no longer just sending applications. You're giving people a reason to remember you.
Thank you so much, Stephanie. If Stephanie's journey resonated with you, give her a follow on LinkedIn to keep up with her path to qualification.
And finally, a career tip ✍️
For those who didn’t spot our LinkedIn post this week… While there is talk of some law firms reducing the number of junior legal professionals they recruit, the Crown Prosecution Service is actively investing in their training programme, increasing the number of legal trainees from 80 to 120. Applications are currently closed but we’ll let you know when they reopen - definitely one to keep an eye on.
That’s all for now. See you next week!
Emma
The careers advice shared in this newsletter is intended as general guidance and should not be treated as formal legal or recruitment advice. I do my best to keep all opportunities and deadlines accurate and up-to-date at the time of writing, but always double-check the employer’s website before applying.