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11 June 2020Influential Women in IPSarah Morgan

Stephenson Harwood launches apprenticeships scheme

In an effort to increase diversity within its firm, London-headquartered  Stephenson Harwood has become the latest law firm to establish a solicitor apprenticeship programme.

Earlier this week, the firm  announced the launch of its new scholarship and solicitor apprenticeship programmes, which will both open for applications in October 2020, and will start in September 2021.

Providing an alternative route to a career in law, the solicitor apprenticeship scheme is open to students straight from school. Successful participants will qualify as solicitors after a six-year programme.

According to the firm, the apprentices will have the same opportunities as Stephenson Harwood trainees, including “spending time across practice groups, taking part in international and client secondments, and being supervised and supported by partners and associates throughout their time with the firm”.

Eifion Morris, chief executive of Stephenson Harwood, said: “Widening access to the legal profession is something about which I am particularly passionate. Of course it’s the right thing to do, and we all know that diversity—in all its forms—is so important in any successful business. But, for me, this one’s personal.”

Morris grew up in a rural village in West Wales, in a family where one grandfather had been a miner, and the other a farmer.

“The progression to higher education is something that was a natural expectation by most of my colleagues, however that is not true for everyone and wasn’t my experience growing up,” he said.

Morris added: “I have been an ‘outsider’ for much of my professional life—whether in terms of my background, working in my second language, my sexuality or choosing a training contract at a mid-sized firm with a unique training system (Gouldens) over the traditional four seats at a magic circle firm—and I genuinely believe that this is a key part of what I bring to teams and now in leading the wider firm.”

The scholarships will provide students with £15,000 per year, to cover the costs of university fees and contribute to living expenses.

Each of the recipients will be given a mentor from Stephenson Harwood, invited to insight days and employment workshops, provided with work experience and guaranteed a place at an assessment centre for a training contract.

Lisa Marks, trainee principal at Stephenson Harwood, explained that the firm wanted to make sure that these programmes tackled access to law at the point at which the most meaningful impact can be made, and with those students who are most under-represented in the profession.

Marks added: “We’re really excited about the potential for both schemes, and to receiving applications from a range of talented, driven and passionate students.”

The firm is hoping to address both the practical barriers, such as the cost of university education, and other barriers, such as not knowing anyone who can share their experiences of working in law.

Morris concluded: “We need more diversity in law, more people who may have thought that a career in law is not for ‘people like them’ and that’s what these programmes seek to support.”

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