Work experience and internships can be really valuable in an aspiring lawyers development.
It allows you to gain experience of what working in a law firm looks like and provides the opportunity to expand your network and get to know people.
I work with a lot of firms that take pride in their internships and many end up offering positions to previous interns because of how impressive they were during their time at the firm.
However, some firms use "work experience" as a way to employ someone to do admin work for free.
👉 Real experience means:
- You’re learning and getting exposure to interesting work - working alongside a lawyer and actually getting involved in legal work and gaining experience by seeing how they deal with their work and clients etc,
- Someone actually explaining things, not just asking you to photocopy, file and make coffees.
- You get feedback, credit, and a sense of progress.
đźš« Taking the p**s looks like:
- Just doing odd jobs around the office and treated like the office dogsbody
- Being made to feel you should be “grateful” to be there instead of being treated with respect.
- Prolonged work periods for months on end without compensation
If the “experience” doesn’t involve learning or growth, it’s not experience — it’s exploitation within a fancy office.
It is important to make sure your work experience or internship is taking you closer to your end goal and make sure you are not just being treated or viewed as free labour for an unscrupulous firm or law firm owner.