Recently, the internet has become rife with legal internship scams intending to strip bright eyed law students and graduates of their non-existent cash. Is student loan interest not exploiting law students and graduates enough? Do these companies feel no shame in the further exploitation in which they are participating? Moreover, why should people have to pay to undertake work for a business?
I have seen countless companies claiming that if you pay them anywhere between $1,000 and $7,000 you will receive a “guaranteed” legal internship at a top company/law firm as well as added perks such as a three-month subscription to Babbel and “ongoing support”. I think this is completely ridiculous and crooked practice on the parts of these companies. Also, although many of these company’s state that they are charging due to the cost of accommodation and airport pickup as well as continued “career support”, what about the remote internships that they offer? Why should I have to pay well over $1000 so that I can undertake an internship from my bedroom? In addition, why does the price include CV advice and career support when these are things that you can find for free, through your current university or through the governments free career service – you can even contact them directly through this link.
What shocked me even more is the fact that quite a few of these companies state that they are engaged in partnerships with well-known companies, universities, and law firms. Although many of these internship companies are based in the USA, they allow people from the UK to apply and offer internships at UK firms. In fact, I was incredibly surprised to see that these internship companies claimed to work with top companies, including a high-ranking US law firm and a world leading bank. I am sure many of these top-ranking companies are not aware that their names are being used to further incentivise ambitious and excited young professionals to fork out money they may not even have, because if they are, then the respect I have for many of these organisations will be shattered.
Some of these internship companies have made it clear that interns will not be paid whilst others state they leave it to the “discretion of [the] host company”, nonetheless all these companies still require payment prior to allowing applicants to undergo the aforementioned “guaranteed internships”. Despite most of the companies stating that things such as career advice and help with your CV is included in the price, it certainly does not feel right, especially given the exorbitant price they expect students/graduates to pay to gain an internship in the first place.
Do not be fooled when you see certain companies stating that reputable media outlets have spoken about them; when you actually look at the articles in question they either have nothing to do with the internship company or they do not mention the fact that these companies charge people to undertake internships through them. Perhaps some of these internship companies realised that they were gaining positive media attention and as such they decided to charge for their service and include a few add-ons to make it appear more legitimate, in order to profit off of excited and passionate students and graduates alike.
Additionally, if you are curious as to whether or not you will be paid then the short answer is: you most likely will not. Many of these internship companies have stated that the majority of their internships are unpaid as their priority is “look[ing] for opportunities that allow [their] interns to gain the best possible experience.” A past article from the BBC regarding the exploitative nature of unpaid internships stated the following:
According to the law, interns who are classed as workers must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage or the National Living Wage.
So, surely what these companies are doing is illegal right? Well, not necessarily. Since, as we can see above, the law states that the rule regarding payment for interns specifically concerns “interns who are classed as workers”. Therefore, although this current practice may not be illegal, I am sure we can all agree that it is (at the very least) incredibly unethical. These companies seem to be very aware of this law as well as how to go around it, seeing as I have seen statements on many of their websites claiming that they are within the law, with one company going as far as to say that they are “adhering to local laws and visa restrictions.” One of the companies has even gone as far as to state that “this is a non-paid voluntary opportunity. As this is done remotely, you are in control of the time committed”, thus foregoing any legal consequences they may have had to face.
I really do not understand how these companies can justify the outrageous prices they charge for these “guaranteed internships”. Accommodation, airport pick up and visa assistance aside (which you can definitely find for much cheaper), I will compile a list of what these companies offer, analyse their offerings and match these with a free/reasonably priced resource below. Please not that I will only mention things of value, as I hardly think that incentives such as being put in Facebook groups will make much of a difference when it comes to applying for internships/jobs in the future.
- “Dedicated programme advisor”/ “Career Coach” – you will find this guidance through your university’s dedicated career service, as well as the government’s careers service that I have linked above.
- “Award-winning professional development strengths program” – This is very vague, and the companies have not gone into what this means. Nonetheless, I am assuming they mean they will help you develop the skills required to succeed in the working world. Here is a link to upcoming law employability courses for those from under-represented communities run by AllAboutLaw.
- CV, cover letter and interview coaching – you can find free CV and cover letter guidance at the following places:
o Your university
o Bright Network: Commercial Law CV Template, Top-Tips for CV’s, Cover Letter Advice, Structuring Cover Letters, Personal Profile for CV’s, How To Write a Cover Letter, Bright Network Academy (courses on CV’s, interviews etc.)
o CV Library: Guide to Cover Letters
o Interview advice from The Law Society
o Interview advice from Prospects.ac.uk
- “Post-program career development toolkit/coaching” – Again, you can get help with this from your university as well as the following:
o Bright Network: Graduate Career Events, Virtual University Series
o Legal Cheek: Virtual Law Fairs, Virtual Pupillage Fairs, Events with law firms, chambers and law schools
- “LinkedIn profile coaching and access to LinkedIn alumni group” – You can find useful advice/resources regarding your Linkedin profile and networking at the following below links:
o A Linkedin article about improving your Linkedin profile
o Advice from the Government’s National Careers Service
o Advice from TotalJobs
o Advice from Bright Network
o Advice from AllAboutLaw
o Advice from LawCareers
- 12 months of Skillshare – This costs £84 per year. You could also do a course on Coursera; they are reasonably priced and if you are a current university student you can do a course for free through this link. Additionally, FutureLearn provides many free and reasonably priced courses. Here is a link to their law courses. Moreover, you can find other affordable courses on edX.
- 3 months of online language lessons – Most of these companies claim these are through Babbel, which costs £29.97 for 3 months. I would personally recommend the “Teach Yourself” books for your language of choice, which you can find at any library. The Open University also offer a number of free language courses.
- “8 hours a month of access to group discussions or webinars”/ “Business webinars”/ “Keynote speaker series” – Many law firms run free webinars, a fantastic example of which is Bird and Bird.
- “Professional development materials” – This is, again, very vague. Nonetheless, here are a number of helpful links:
o Here is a link to Aspiring Solicitor’s HeadStart Into Vacation Schemes 2020/21 event where you are guided into turning your vacation scheme into a training contract.
o Here is a link to another event run by Aspiring Solicitors, in collaboration with Barclays, where you will have the chance to spend a week at a top law firm and another week with Barclay’s Legal Team.
o Here is yet another link for an event run by Aspiring Solicitors, in collaboration with Allen & Overy, to an event providing very useful information and advice relating to the legal industry.
o Aspiring Solicitors are always organising particularly useful opportunities and events. For more information, please visit their website.
- “Alumni success coaching” – Here is a link to Grow Mentoring, where “Mentees are assigned a mentor who is able to offer tailored advice.” This scheme aims to help people looking to break into the legal world.
*Please note that most of the events/opportunities that I have linked occur on a regular basis. If you have missed any deadline by the time you click on any of the links, please check the associated website to see when the next event(s) take place.
As you can see, there is a plethora of great resources at hand that are either free or very affordable. So please, don’t waste your money with any of these deplorable companies.
If you would like further inspiration as to legal upskilling/internship opportunities, here are further links to look at:
- The Forage offer free virtual internships with leading organisations in fields such as law, consultancy, engineering and investment banking.
- Legal Cheek host free vacation schemes, here are links to their spring and winter ones: Spring/Summer (check the links to see when applications open)
- Bright Network offer free internship experiences here: Internship Experience UK (keep checking this link to see when applications for this year’s summer and winter internship experiences open).
- LexisNexis Research Certifications – Please note that this is only for free if you have an existing membership, either as an individual or through your university.
- Open University Courses which you can undertake for free. As well as courses pertaining to the law, society and politics, they also have other great courses relating to business and technology.
