A trainee solicitor who came from a less privileged background to a land a place in a magic circle firm has vowed to help others make the same journey.
Jude D’Alesio has founded LEAP, the Legal Education and Access Programme, a mentoring scheme for university students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The scheme aims to connect aspiring commercial lawyers with a mentor from the legal profession for three virtual one-to-one coaching sessions focussing on different stages of the training contract recruitment process.
D’Alesio began his own training contract at Shearman & Sterling prior to its merger with Allen & Overy, and from October he is due to start as an associate in A&O Shearman’s litigation and investigations team.
He started LEAP independently this summer to replicate the generosity of individuals who had helped him begin his own legal career. ‘I was raised by a single mother in a low-income household, went to my local state comp in Cardiff, and needed a full student loan and grant to go university, so it’s ample time that I repay the generosity of others and that’s what I’m trying to achieve through LEAP,’ he said.
Applications to join the mentoring scheme are now open and will close on 12 September.
Prospective mentees must meet one of several possible criteria to be considered for the scheme, including being from a low-income or single-parent household, attending a school with a low Ofsted rating, or being the first in their family to attend university. D’Alesio said this is in keeping with LEAP’s stated aim of focussing its efforts on giving disadvantaged students a helping hand into the profession.
LEAP is next week hosting a virtual panel launch event open to everyone for aspiring lawyers to quiz those who have recently come through the recruitment process. The scheme is also actively seeking out potential mentors.
Having secured a training contract and being on the brink of qualification, he advised undergraduates to look to extracurricular activities to stand out from the competition.
D’Alesio added: ‘The days when you could get a degree from Oxbridge and walk straight into a magic circle law firm are long gone. My best advice is definitely to give your academics the effort they deserve, but balance that with leadership roles, competition successes, and writing thoughtful applications. Everyone applying for a training contract, by definition, has done a degree, so it’s all about how you set yourself apart in other ways.’
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