Thursfields awards four work experience scholarships in new inclusion project
Four aspiring law students have won a work experience scholarship with Thursfields Solicitors as part of the second phase of an inclusion project at the firm.
The scholarship includes a guaranteed interview for a training contract with the leading Midlands law firm on the successful completion of each student’s Legal Practice Course.
The work experience will take place over two years during each student’s degree and will include mentorship and a cash prize.
The four scholarships, which commenced on 15 February, were awarded to:
- Elice Homer-Walton, at Wolverhampton University
- Inderjeet Sandhu, at Birmingham City University
- Nisha Bagga, at Aston University, and
- Shukry Ali, at Birmingham City University.
Jade Linton, HR director and chair of Thursfields’ Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, explained that 16 students applied for the scholarship and were invited to a group assessment day, followed by a shortlisting and interviews of eight students before four were selected.
She said: “We are delighted to announce the first four successful degree students who have now received our work experience scholarship.
“The programme is part of the company’s commitment to inclusion and widening access to the legal profession for individuals from all backgrounds.
“We recognise that access to the legal profession is harder for students from lower social economic backgrounds, particularly those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. As at 1 April 2022, The Ministry of Justice reported that, “ethnic minority individuals together constituted [just] 16% of barristers, 18% of solicitors and 9% of Chartered Legal Executives.”
“As a firm, we want to use our platform to create opportunities not barriers.”
Jade Linton said that the work experience would be taking place across Thursfields’ five offices in Worcester, Kidderminster, Halesowen, Solihull and Birmingham.
She added: “Students will be given varied work within our Top Tier teams in various departments, including Corporate and Commercial, Employment, Dispute Resolution, Commercial Property, Residential Property, Wills & Estates and Family.”
