We are committed to supporting social mobility and believe that all people should have the opportunity to practice as a lawyer regardless of their socio-economic background. By helping to widen access to the legal profession, we are confident that we will attract the best talent to the sector to the benefit of us all.
SMILE is a week-long workplace encounter designed to give year 12 or equivalent students who fit our enhanced PRIME criteria an opportunity to work at a UK Top 50 law firm.
SMILE is back for its third year and it’s bigger than ever. Following the success of SMILE Week 2025, we’re expanding the programme to give even more students the chance to experience life inside a leading law firm.
What’s new for 2026?
- SMILE will run across all seven Birketts offices
- More student places available in every location
- Open to all state school students who meet the eligibility criteria – no need to attend a partner school
What can you expect during SMILE Week?
- Two seats to gain hands-on experience alongside fee earners
- Legal and non-legal workshops designed to broaden your skills
- Opportunities to meet Partners, take part in a Q&A panel, and attend a careers workshop
To support you, we offer:
- Advice and guidence throughout the applications process
- A £250 bursary for every student taking part
- Travel expenses reimbursed if you need to visit another office
SMILE Week is your chance to explore a career in law, develop new skills, and build connections that could shape your future.
SMILE 2025
Following our hugely sucessful pilot in 2024, April 2025 saw our second SMILE programme. We received 89 applications and interviewed 32 candidates. The 17 students who joined us came from Partner schools and colleges in six of our office localities. They spent three days in their home office, completing work in two different practice areas. We wanted to foster a sense of community as well as a positive group dynamic, so on Monday and Thursday we split the cohort into groups based on their home offices. Students from Cambridge, London and Sevenoaks were one group and Chelmsford, Ipswich and Norwich were another.
The week began with a comprehensive induction in the London and Chelmsford offices, where students were welcomed with breakfast and lunch before being introduced to life at Birketts through sessions on personal branding, IT setup, and an engaging icebreaker. This was followed by legal workshops covering key practice areas to help set them up for success. On Tuesday and Wednesday, students joined their home offices, met their teams, and took part in university-led workshops and Partner Liaison sessions. Thursday brought the group back together in Ipswich or London for CV and interview skills sessions, introductions to Business Services, and insights into niche practice areas. The week concluded on Friday with final seat work, a celebratory lunch with buddies and Partners, and a workshop on different routes into law, followed by a virtual cross-office Q&A panel featuring Birketts colleagues from varied career paths.
Throughout the week, we received valuable verbal feedback from students, colleagues, and Partners. Feedback was incredibly positive, with many colleagues commenting on the students’ enthusiasm, professionalism, and their ability to engage with tasks and team members.100% of the students said they would recommend SMILE to a friend and as well as saying going through the applications process has given them a better understanding of what it is like to apply for a job. Students also gave our welcoming colleauges and our beautiful office environments a 5* rating. We were also thrilled that SMILE was recognised through Chris Schwer’s nomination for the ‘Social Mobility Champion of the Year’ award at the Legal500 ESG Awards. The nomination was based on Chris’ support of our 2024 programme and meant that Birketts was recognised as a significant contributor to social mobility in the legal profession.
Am I eligible?
SMILE is part of our ESG strategy and is designed to designed to give year 12 (or equivalent) students who fit our enhanced PRIME criteria an opportunity to work at a UK Top 50 law firm. You can review read our criteria here to see if you are eligible.
Applications process
To give a real feel for starting a career in law, we ask all students to apply for our SMILE programme. Using a simple application form we want to hear about you, why you are interested in perusing law as a career and what you hope to get from the week. If you are successful, you will be invited to an informal Teams interview during February half term, so we can find out more about you. If you are interested in applying, please check our Schools Partners list and if your school or college is listed, please speak to your careers advisor. Applications for open on Monday 17 November 2025 and close on Monday 19 January.
The SMILE scheme forms a key strand of our ESG Strategy, and more details can be found on our Social page.
For any questions in relation to SMILE or social mobility at Birketts, please contact Jay Johnson, Lizzy Ferguson, Kurt Glencastle and Florence Paul.
I just wanted to say thank you so much for this opportunity, I’ve had an amazing experience, and it has been very valuable to me. Thank you to you, and everyone else I’ve met over this week for being so kind, helpful and welcoming. This experience has really helped to develop my self-confidence, not only for myself now, but for my future. It was so lovely to meet you, thank you so much for all the hard work you, and everyone else put into this programme.
Olivia Coveney, SMILE Student, London