Shaping the future
Broadening Access to the Legal Profession
Career Start
Our Career Start programme is our Firm's ‘Access to Justice Programme’ for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds helping them build a solid understanding of legal careers and develop essential skills. As well as mentoring and work experience, the support includes annual check-ins and sessions about applying for apprenticeships and life at a law firm.
Our Partnership with Aspiring Solicitors
Our HeadStart programme, run in partnership with Aspiring Solicitors, will enter its third cycle in 2026. It aims to broaden support and access to law by providing practical skills and guidance in preparation for Placement Schemes with the Firm.
Since the programme started, we’ve invited 106 candidates join the HeadStart programme in advance of participating in our Placement Schemes. From 2026, all those who are offered a place on a Placement Scheme or an assessment centre at trainee level will also be able to access interview preparation coaching support through our partnership with Aspiring Solicitors. Candidates will be able to access mock interviews and receive feedback from them in the lead up to our assessment days and Placement Schemes.
While the HeadStart programme is available for all candidates that are offered a placement scheme, those who’ve had the least access to existing, prior support will take the most from the programme. It aims to provide an understanding of how to navigate a Placement Scheme, including how to ask questions, how to prepare for interviews, and how to make the best impression.”
Rising through the ranks: Tegan Johnson
Tegan Johnson joined Charles Russell Speechlys in September 2024, a month after qualifying. She has been a positive voice in championing Solicitor Apprenticeships and was named Winner of the 2025 City Century Qualified Solicitor (Apprenticeship Route) of the Year award.
I couldn't say that I wouldn't be working here today without my apprenticeship, but it would have certainly taken me longer. I would have had to work alongside my university studies and I'm sure that that would have impacted the way that I studied.
I applied for two apprenticeship positions alongside my UCAS applications to study law at university and was lucky enough to secure five university offers and one apprenticeship position. I accepted the latter and joined the second ever intake year of Level 7 Solicitor Apprentices in September 2017 and qualified in August 2024. A month later, I joined Charles Russell Speechlys.
Apprenticeships have a huge array of benefits. You can expect solid work experience, a position from A-Levels through to qualification, a degree without student debt, and earning a wage from day one.
Generally speaking, you progress much quicker as an Apprentice because you're learning the practical side much sooner. You become a more commercially minded lawyer because those considerations are inbuilt; you're not learning the theory and then rewriting it all with the practice – you're learning them alongside each other.
Apprentices also seem to achieve higher SQE pass rates, which I think is a testament to the way the Apprenticeship programme is set up, though it’ll take time for statistics on that to settle into reliable numbers.
At the time that I applied for my apprenticeship, I was up against a lot of other candidates. So, it is by no stretch the easy route, either to get into it or once you've secured a place.
Firms, including Charles Russell Speechlys, are alive to the fact that they need to think about access to the profession in a different way and consider all the context behind a candidate’s application. The same is true for apprenticeships because it does have the potential to be life-changing for someone who wouldn't otherwise be able to consider a career in law.
Tomorrow’s talent: Career in Law Work Experience Days
Following a successful pilot in October 2024, we launched our ‘Career in Law Work Experience Days’ in February 2025, which replaced previous informal and ad hoc work experience for school and college students.
The insight day, which takes place during February and October half terms each year, is aimed at 16- to 18-year-olds in full-time education who are interested in learning about life working in a law firm, both as a lawyer and in business services teams including Finance, Marketing, Human Resources and IT.
Across our two work experience days in 2025, we hosted 45 students, 93% of whom had not previously had any experience in a professional services or legal environment. While this isn’t a requirement to apply, so far, the scheme has been a great opportunity to broaden access to the profession.
Eve Holden, a candidate who attended our session in October 2025, says, “It was so interesting to gain an insight into how the different aspects of the Firm all come together to create a lifecycle that thrives. I am very interested in family law, so it was wonderful to learn more about how solicitors support clients.”
We are aware that in-person work experience opportunities are hard to find and are increasingly competitive. This approach replaces informal work experience and is intended to promote equity of opportunity for all candidates, where our opportunities are all openly advertised and fairly recruited, as per the Law Society guidance.”
Early Talent gains traction with TikTok
At the end of October 2025, we celebrated one year of Charles Russell Speechlys’ Early Talent TikTok account, which has helped us connect with ambitious talent and foster engagement.
Our Firm was nominated for two social media awards in 2025: we received a Highly Commended award for ‘Best Use of Social Media’ at the Legal Cheek Awards 2025. We were also Runner-up at the City Century Awards for ‘Best Use of Social Media’ specifically for our engagement with apprenticeship talent on platforms including TikTok.
We will continue to build on this success and strengthen understanding about our work via TikTok and Instagram in 2026.
At that anniversary, we had:
Posted 197 times
Generated 18.4K likes
Attracted 532,340 video views
This amounted to a total watch time of 3.4 million seconds
Equivalent to 40 days of viewing
'Russell Up’ gains recognition at The Lawyer Awards
Our Russell Up innovation scheme for trainees and apprentices continues to be a differentiator for our Firm and won ‘Best Talent Management’ award at The Lawyer Awards 2025.
Under the scheme, trainees and later-year apprentices across the Firm submit ideas, progress and deliver innovation projects relating to a specific innovation category (including but not limited to: Artificial Intelligence, document automation, design thinking, process improvement, and process automation). Trainees and Apprentices then present their project to showcase their great work.
Authenticity matters: Guidance on AI in Early Talent applications
In October 2025, we launched guidance to candidates about how to use AI ethically and responsibly when preparing for Training Contract and Apprenticeship applications and interviews.
As well as ensuring candidates understand the implications of using AI from a sensitivity, environmental and confidentiality perspective, the guidance also unpacks how candidates should bring their authentic voice.
Alongside asking, ‘Have you fact checked your sources?’, we’re encouraging candidates to consider: ‘What is your real and considered thought process behind an application?’ We are aware candidates may use AI; it’s a great opportunity to expand access and opportunity for those who might not have as much support to prepare for applications and interviews – but it's got to be used in the right way. It’s a starting point and shouldn’t be relied upon or used to exaggerate.”
CRED Academy launches with the help of social platforms
We launched our Construction, Real Estate & Disputes (CRED) Academy in April 2025 on our social media platforms. The interactive insights programme targets undergraduates and graduates interested in the commercial property, construction and disputes sector.
The in-person interactive workshops, which first took place between April and July 2025, aim to build understanding of the legal and commercial issues at play, covering each area of our CRED division.
The first academy followed the purchase and construction of ‘Eastmeadow’, a fictional new retail and leisure centre, and invited students to advise a client on the whole property lifecycle.
We launched the programme via our social media platforms and received a significant number of applications for the 25 places available. CRED Academy will return in Autumn 2026 with applications opening in late summer.
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