Law Fair
What is a Law Fair and Why Should You attend?
Law fairs are an important career fair for students at all stages interested in pursuing a career in law. They are an opportunity for you to meet a wide range of law firms that you may be working for in the future, as well as educational providers offering courses and diplomas such as the GDL, LPC, BPTC and postgraduate degrees. Law Fairs allow students to introduce themselves and ask questions ranging from information about vacation schemes to the working life of industry professionals in a student-friendly environment. The information gained during a law fair is valuable as it can bring you one step closer to securing your desired vacation scheme or training contract as well as improve your networking skills. An event that is definitely worth planning for!
Maximising Your Benefits From a Law Fair
Before attending a KSLS Law Fair, it is crucial to carry out research and preparation on the educational providers and firms that will be attending. This will give you an idea of what they have to offer and of what type of firms will be there, as well as their size, areas of practice, vacation scheme programs, any overseas offices and other important information. After completing your research, you will be able to make decisions on who to talk to and how to prioritise your time. Subsequently, you should compile a list of thoughtful questions that you would like to ask each firm and/or educational providers. You should avoid asking questions that can be found on their websites as it may appear you haven’t prepared. You should take the time to speak to firms instead of taking their merchandise and leaving, this may appear unprofessional.
On the day, dress smartly and arrive early to give yourself time to speak to all the firms or educational providers. Remember, although you do not want to rush, they are keen on speaking to as many students as possible, so don’t spend too long speaking to one firm or educational provider. Your approach should be confident and your enthusiasm evident as they like to see interested and engaging students. Try to speak to different types of firms as well in order to identify the working environment that will best suit you. We would also advise staying around and listening to other people’s questions as you may hear something of benefit. You can also take notes on what each firm or educational provider has said and note the name of the representative you communicated with for future reference. You can even ask for a representative’s business card as well as whether you could add them to your Linkedin and message or e-mail them with further questions.
After the fair, take your time to look through all the different brochures, make note of the firms’ vacation scheme or training contract deadlines and come up with a list of firms you would like to apply to. As mentioned, if you have come up with further questions feel free to contact the representatives you have met as most will be happy to respond.
Types of Firms That Have Previously Attended KSLS’ Law Fairs
Many different types of law firms have attended KSLS’ Law Fair in the past. Some examples include Magic Circle and Silver Circle firms as well as mid-sized commercial firms based in London and Regional Firms.
A list of firms that attended the 2019 Law Fair can be found here.
For more information on the difference between types of law firms, please click here
Why Should a Law Firm or Educational Provider Attend KSLS’ Law Fairs?
The annual Law Fair has been consistently successful with an increasing number of attendees year on year. The 2019 Law Fair was the largest yet, with over 800 people attending the Fair. For more information on last year’s Fair, click here.
Our Law Fairs are unique because they are organized by students. The University of Kent is among the only universities in the UK that gives this responsibility to a student body, the Kent Student Law Society (KSLS). As such, we feel that as students we know exactly what fellow students are looking to gain from the event and the types of firms they are interested in.
Regarding our Law School’s success, Kent Law School (KLS) is ranked 51st in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2020 for Law and is the 16th best Law school in the UK according to The Guardian University League Tables 2020.
Lastly, the KSLS is one of the largest societies at the University of Kent and has been helping students decide on their career path since 2005. Kent law students are extremely motivated and have an outstanding awareness of the legal world because of KLS’ distinguished critical teaching and research. Attendance at our Law Fair will guarantee a valuable experience and an insight into the potential of Kent students.
