Foot Anstey's new vacation scheme opens the door to law for underrepresented individuals

By Peter Davison

25 October 2023

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Felix Hebblethwaite

Bristol-based law firm Foot Anstey has announced a new vacation scheme offering aspiring lawyers from underrepresented Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds the opportunity to gain experience in the legal field.

Those who are successful will spend a week experiencing what it's like to be a trainee solicitor at Foot Anstey. At the end of the vacation scheme week, there will be a training contract assessment centre and those who are successful will be offered a training contract.

Vacation Scheme participants will also take part in a series of masterclass sessions to develop their legal skills and commercial understanding.

Felix Hebblethwaite (pictured), group HR director at Foot Anstey, said: "We are excited to introduce our new Achieve vacation scheme, which reflects our ongoing commitment to improve access to legal careers.

"We understand the importance of gaining hands-on experience in the legal field, and this scheme has been carefully crafted to provide participants with a real taste of what it's like to work in a law firm. Foot Anstey is dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion within the legal profession and we encourage candidates to apply."

Key highlights of the vacation scheme at Foot Anstey include:

• Hands-on experience: Participants will have the opportunity to work on real cases and projects, gaining practical experience and a deeper understanding of various areas of law.
• Mentorship: Each participant will be paired with a dedicated mentor, providing guidance, feedback, and support throughout the scheme.
• Networking opportunities: The scheme will include networking events and interactions with Foot Anstey's experienced legal professionals, enabling participants to build valuable connections within the industry.
• Training and development: The scheme's masterclass series will give participants a unique opportunity to understand how to apply legal knowledge in a working environment.

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Alongside the Achieve vacation scheme, Foot Anstey runs its Aspire vacation scheme which is open to all eligible candidates. Both schemes will be based across the firm's Bristol, Exeter, and Southampton offices.

The application deadline is January 2, 2024.

By Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country.

An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts.

Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.