FAQ

The LawCareersNetLIVE exclusive careers conferences are for talented students (law and non-law) who want to learn more about how to build a fulfilling career as a solicitor. The events are timed to maximise the benefit to students intending to apply for 2027 vacation schemes and training contracts.

The programme is a mix of panel discussions, workshops and networking with law firms. Specifically, it offers:

• advice on crafting excellent applications, shining at interview and forging a successful career;
• exposure to, and insight from, some of the UK’s – and world’s – most experienced recruiters and lawyers;
• networking opportunities with those same recruiters and lawyers, and fellow delegates; and
• participation in interactive firm-led workshops, which drill down into what it’s like to work in a particular practice area.

While no two firms are identical, the sponsoring firms at LawCareersNetLIVE share a number of characteristics, including that they:

• have numerous offices in the UK and, often, in locations around the world;
• will offer a comprehensive range of commercial/corporate practice areas, but each is also likely to have its own strong suit and may be the acknowledged experts in its field;
• will often be involved with multi-jurisdictional matters for UK and international clients, as well as UK businesses and individuals; and
• are likely to offer secondment opportunities, both overseas and within their clients.

LawCareersNetLIVE is best suited to those who’ve yet to start, or have recently started, making applications for training contracts. If you’re a first or second-year law undergraduate or you’re in the early stages of converting to law (or thinking about it), this is a great event for you. Applications from law graduates, postgraduate students (including those studying the GDL, LPC, SQE or a master’s degree) and career changers will also be considered.

We welcome applications from international students but ask that you are already studying at, or have a confirmed place at, a UK university before applying.

If you’re a school/sixth-form student, we ask that you wait until you’re at university before applying to LawCareersNetLIVE. The events are not suitable for those looking to pursue the school-leaver solicitor apprenticeship route or those looking to become barristers.

Applications will open in June 2026! You’ll be able to apply here.

While attending LawCareersNetLIVE doesn’t guarantee a vacation scheme or training contract, it can play a significant role in helping you get there.

The event is designed to give you a clearer understanding of how law firms work, what they look for in candidates and how you can stand out during the application process. You’ll also have the opportunity to speak directly with lawyers, trainees and graduate recruiters, which will help you build confidence, refine your approach and ask more informed questions in future applications and interviews.

In fact, 91% of 2025 LawCareersNetLIVE delegates said they were more likely to secure a vacation scheme or training contract after attending the event.

Many attendees go on to make stronger, more competitive applications as a result. For example, one 2025 delegate described how the event helped them progress from attending LawCareersNetLIVE to reaching an assessment centre with one of the sponsor firms, thanks to the insight and clarity they gained on the day. Another former attendee who secured a vacation scheme with one of the sponsors highlighted how speaking to firm representatives at the event helped them better understand the firm and shape their application.

Ultimately, what you gain depends on how you use the experience – but for motivated candidates, LawCareersNetLIVE can be a powerful step towards securing a role.

In short, we’re looking for the same things that most law firms are looking for – strong academics, good work experience, an understanding of the importance of commerciality and self-knowledge when it comes to the reasons why you’ll make a successful lawyer. For a detailed breakdown of these elements and more, read this LCN Says blog post, which is crammed with information and tips.

If you decide to use generative AI to help you write your application to LawCareersNetLIVE, remember our advice: AI can be used to help conduct research, come up with ideas or check spelling or grammar – but it shouldn’t be used as a replacement for the human touch.

We want to learn about you on the application form – why you want to attend the conference and what your key skills are. Submitting AI-generated answers that haven’t been personalised will be less successful in representing you as an aspiring lawyer.

We can tell when someone has used AI in their LawCareersNetLIVE application without tailoring their answer because it:

• looks very generic;
• includes reference to activities or sessions that aren’t on our programme;
• doesn’t mention the law firms sponsoring LawCareersNetLIVE and what’s unique about them;
• isn’t personal to them and their careers aspirations; and
• isn’t specific to the LawCareersNetLIVE event.

It’s competitive to attend LawCareersNetLIVE and we’ll be prioritising applicants who have demonstrated that they’ve researched our event and the law firm sponsors and therefore know why they want to attend.

At the end of the application form we’ll ask how you’ve used AI to assist your application. This isn’t a trick question – we want to see you thinking critically about your AI use and its strengths/weaknesses.

Every application is reviewed by a human. We look primarily at your stage and the answers to the long-form questions, as well as taking into account your grades and the skills demonstrated from your work experience.

There’s space on the application form for you to detail any mitigating circumstance that might have affected your academics, as well as any other extenuating factors.

We are proud to use the REALrating Contextual Recruitment System developed by upReach, which allows us to assess applicants’ academic achievements accurately and fairly, as well as within the context of their educational and personal circumstances. On the application form we ask for some contextual information, including your gender, postcode, A-level grades, GCSE and A-level attended school. The information you provide in this section will not impact you negatively, but it may provide a positive uplift on your academic achievements.

Overall, the most important part of the application form is to give full, specific and clear answers to the long-form questions.

Very little! All are inspiring one-day student conferences made up of panel discussions, workshops and networking that look at the economics of law firms and the life of lawyers working in the UK legal profession.

The programme is identical at both events. While the sponsor firms at each are different in some respects, many of their clients, practice areas and quality of work will be the same. And rest assured that all events offer high-quality, targeted advice, delivered by experts in the field.

On the LawCareersNetLIVE application form you’ll be able to enter your first and second choice of desired location. Please note that the London event is always heavily subscribed. If you are based in and around Manchester, we’d recommend applying for the Manchester event. We’ll do our best to give everyone their preferred LawCareersNetLIVE location but due to high demand, this might not always be possible.

If you receive a place at LawCareersNetLIVE, you’ll be asked to pay a refundable deposit of £20 for the Manchester and London events. As spaces are limited, this is to secure your place.

Successful applicants will be asked to pay the delegate holding fee using our secure online payment system. This only becomes due after you’ve been notified that you’ve been offered a place.

The holding fee will be fully refunded upon attendance.

Find out more about how we support delegates from a low socioeconomic background with the FAQ below.

We’ll send you an email letting you know if you’ve secured a delegate place. At that point, we’ll give you clear instructions on how to accept your place, pay the holding fee and select your two preferred workshops.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis but as we receive a large number of applications each year, you might not hear back from us until after the deadline. All applicants will be updated by the first week of November.

Attendance at the 2025 conferences doesn’t preclude you from this year’s LawCareersNetLIVE events; however, new applications will be given priority.

If you were unsuccessful in your 2025 application, but you’ve gone on since to improve your application or work experience, please feel free to apply again.

In much the same way as you’d prepare for a law fair or firm event, you’ll need to do detailed research on the firms that’ll be in attendance. Look at their own websites, their details on LawCareers.Net, the legal press to get a sense of the types of firm they are, the type of law they focus on, the industries they represent and so on. Have a couple of insightful questions (that you can’t simply find the answer to online with a quick Google search) to ask the firm representatives you meet during networking breaks.

Spend more time on those firms whose workshops you are attending and build in at least a bit of time to look at the practice area to be covered. Find out how to make the most of the workshops at LawCareersNetLIVE.

Finally make sure that you know exactly where you’re going on the day (11 Portland Street in Manchester and County Hall in London) and build in time for travel delays.

We’ll be in touch with delegates ahead of the day to provide preparation support as well as full details of things such as the dress code, what to bring and catering.

Definitely! Law firms recognise LawCareersNetLIVE as a well-known, prestigious event. The fact that you’ve been selected from among hundreds of others to attend, based on your impressive grades, experience and stand-out application form, reflects well on you. You can also use it to talk about experience you’ve had interacting with firms and even to flatter a sponsor firm when you come to apply to them directly!

Read this LCN Says from a 2025 LawCareersNetLIVE attendee who mentioned the event during his applications and find out how it helped him secure a training contract with one of the sponsor firms.

At LawCareersNetLIVE we’re committed to genuine equality of opportunity and aim to demonstrate and promote a diverse and inclusive legal profession that reflects the society it represents.

All delegate applications are blind screened by two members of the LawCareers.Net team, without access to an applicant’s diversity information. We review all applications regardless of academic result or university attended and take note of mitigating circumstances on a case-by-case basis.

For our sponsor law firms, we’ve put together a set of guidelines outlining our commitment to diversity at our events, and we ask firms to consider these diversity guidelines when putting forward speakers and selecting workshop leaders and others who’ll represent the firm at the event. We encourage speakers not fulfilling any of our diversity criteria to instead promote someone who does to appear in their place.

We work with a number of diversity organisations, including social mobility organisation upReach, to promote our LawCareersNetLIVE events to students from underrepresented backgrounds and will be offering fully free places (with no need to pay a holding fee) across our events to delegates from these organisations.

For more on how we’re supporting those who might not be able to afford the delegate holding fee, see below.

We’re delighted to offer a number of fully free places across our LawCareersNetLIVE events to delegates from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and those who might not be able to afford the delegate holding fee. This year we’ll be working with a number diversity organisations in order to do this.

If you’re not a member of one of these organisations and think that this applies to you, drop us an email at [email protected] after you’ve submitted your application. If you’re successful in securing a place, we’ll be in touch regarding booking onto the event for free.

We have a small budget for providing travel reimbursements for delegates having to travel in for the Manchester and London events. If you’d like to apply for a travel reimbursement, you need to email us as soon as you’ve received your place at LawCareersNetLIVE and we can provide further information.

Absolutely! If you’re successfully selected to attend LawCareersNetLIVE, there’ll be space on the registration form for you to detail any reasonable adjustments or accessibility requirements you might need for the day. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].