Akin Gump Partners with The Social Mobility Foundation UK for Virtual Internship Program

(London) – Akin Gump has 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 who are unable to get them from their schools or families.  

Akin Gump has been partnering with SMF on mentoring programs for the past year and had committed to facilitate an APP Law Residential Program in August. However, due to ongoing COVID-19 remote working, the firm will instead support a virtual internship program to ensure it can continue to provide a meaningful experience for five SMF students.

Participants in the program, which lasts three days, will gain insight into the life of a City lawyer and attend workshops on commercial awareness and interview skills alongside live tasks set by their individual mentors.

Matthew Durward-Thomas, counsel in the firm’s London office and leader of Akin Gump’s London Diversity & Inclusion Council social mobility resource group, comments: “We are pleased to be hosting our first set of students as part of the 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. It is a fantastic program, and it’s great that we have been able to make it work in spite of ongoing COVID-19 remote working. We look forward to welcoming the students—virtually—next week.”

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers and advisors in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Founded in 1945, the firm is proudly celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2020. #AkinGump75

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