What is the D+ law academy?
The Diversity+ Law Academy is an opportunity for aspiring lawyers from less advantaged backgrounds to learn new skills, with the aim of securing a training contract. It is designed to align with the academic year.
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The idea for the D+ Law Academy came from an overwhelming influx of students and graduates approaching Diversity+, unable to secure a traineeship and concerned about their future. Upon further research, there was a clear pattern that all of these students faced some disadvantages - women, individuals with disabilities, individuals from minority ethnic groups, those without lawyers in the family or who are the first in their family to attend university, and more. ​
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So we created this academy to support these students; to help level the playing field when it comes to applications and skills. To do this, we assign tasks to the students to identify and reduce skill gaps, while building their CV. We also provide workshops and networking opportunities through collaborations with external organisations.
Our first cohort started in September 2024, and has been a huge success, with many students securing traineeships and other work experience roles.
The students have completed tasks such as researching areas of Scots law, writing minutes in D+ Law Academy meetings, writing blogs about EDI in the legal profession, and contributing to creating resources (specifically help create our eBook for National Inclusion Week last year).
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They have also taken part in several workshops and training sessions, such as:
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A workshop to assist with job applications, CVs and cover letters (with Allison Hill of Jigsaw Solutions)
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Mock interviews to improve their presentation skills (with Lindsays Solicitors)
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A workshop on how to use social media to help raise their profile (with Julie Hecht of PELO Marketing)
Diversity+ Law Academy
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The D+ Academy project is funded entirely by Diversity+, through our private consultancy work. As with all of our pro bono projects, our motto has always been ‘We can’t and don’t want to do this alone. There is nothing inclusive about that’ - nor will it bring about long term, sustainable improvements and change. We are indebted to those organisations and individuals who donate their time, energy and money into assisting us reach our aims and make our vision a reality.
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Diversity+ Law Academy only exists with your help - and we ask you to share your knowledge and resources with us. That may be:
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Funding to cover our costs
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Premises to hold our workshops
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Your people to help us set up mock interviews or run a skill-sharing workshop
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Learn more about the benefits D+ Law Academy has to organisations, too - read Naeema's blog post.
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Currently, we are about to launch our pilot mentoring scheme, pairing aspiring lawyers with hand-picked mentors. This type of mentorship is crucial - but it can only be the success it needs to be, with support.
We would like to pair more students in the future with Mentor’s, so are actively looking for sponsors to allow us to continue supporting this unique programme. We are reaching out for:
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PR support
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Funding
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Networking
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Use of your facilities
How can you get involved?
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Lizzie Donaldson, founder of Berry and collaborator for D+ Law Academy Mentorship Programme
What are sponsors and students saying about D+ Law academy
Hear from some of our sponsors and students about their experiences working with the D+ Law Academy programme:
Annie Allan, D+ Law Academy Student from our
September 2024 cohort.
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You can read more about Annie's personal journey here.
Lindsays solicitors, who supported the D+ Law Academy in 2025, by providing mock interviews and feedback for each student. ​
Madiha Waseem, D+ Law Academy Student from our
September 2024 cohort.​
Allison Hill, HR specialist and founder of Jigsaw Solutions, who supported the D+ Law Academy by providing a CV and cover letter workshop.
