For Second-Straight Year, Akin Gump Partners with The Social Mobility Foundation UK for Virtual Internship Program
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(London) – Akin Gump has once again partnered with The Social Mobility Foundation UK (SMF) to host a virtual internship program at the firm this summer.
Launched in 2005, SMF helps to provide opportunities and networks of professional support for 16- and 17-year-olds from less-advantaged backgrounds who are unable to get them from their schools or families.
Akin Gump has been partnering with SMF on mentoring programs for the past two years and ran its first APP Law Residential Program virtually in 2020. Due to ongoing COVID-19 remote working, the firm is again supporting a virtual internship program to ensure it can continue to provide a meaningful experience for SMF students.
Participants in the program, which lasts for one week, will gain insight into the life of a City lawyer and attend skills workshops, alongside handling live tasks set by their individual mentors.
Matthew Durward-Thomas, counsel in Akin Gump’s London office and leader of the firm’s London Diversity & Inclusion Council social mobility resource group, commented, “We are very pleased to be partnering with the SMF Foundation and hosting our second set of students as part of their APP Law Residential Program, which offers students from less-privileged backgrounds across the U.K. the opportunity to gain an insight into life at a leading law firm in London. Due to ongoing COVID-19 remote working, the program will once again take place virtually—however, this has allowed us to increase the number of students participating from five to eight, which is fantastic.”
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
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