As the odds of landing a training contract or pupillage grow longer, and wannabe lawyers become increasingly desperate, the, er, entrepreneurs keep circling. First there was Aston Carter’s infamous pay-to-be-a-paralegal scheme, next came Tooks barristers’ notorious £186 pupillage application advice event. And now there’s the “New York Dream Career Program”, as part of which London-based company Web Legal Education is asking UK wannabe lawyers to part with £499 for two paralegal job interviews…
Here’s the “New York Dream Career Program” blurb in full (as outlined in a recent sponsored Lawyer2B email which was kindly forwarded to Legal Cheek):
So that’s £500 for a couple of job interviews with no guarantee of a job.
Fancy something more secure? Well, for a mere £299 Web Legal Education is offering a “virtual internship” with a US law firm, which seems a lot to pay to sit at home in front of your computer. Alternatively, for £500 there’s the “New York Physical Internship” – for which flights are again not included.
When we contacted Web Legal Education, a spokesperson for the company said: “People can do our programmes or not. It’s not about getting a training contract. It’s about getting a job in America. If you want to work in America, you’re going to find it very difficult, perhaps nigh on impossible, to start a career. You don’t have the contacts and you can’t just post off your CV. We offer these services because there is a demand for them.”
Unfortunately, Web Legal Education doesn’t offer any magical way to circumvent strict US work permit laws. But hey ho. There’s more on geographicals – and why not to do them – here.