Best Legal Societies Join Law Students

Different societies serve different purposes. Choose a balanced portfolio rather than joining everything.

• Professional Memberships: Offer formal access to resources, mentoring, graduate pathways and employer events. Use them for credibility and commercial-awareness materials.

• University Law Societies: Run local events, moots and employer panels. They are the most reliable route for regular networking with trainees and firms that recruit on campus.

• Pro Bono And Advice Societies: Provide client-facing experience and ethics evidence for applications. They are especially valuable for demonstrating empathy, communication and commercial judgement in real cases.

• Mooting, Negotiation And Advocacy Societies: Build advocacy, legal research and public-speaking skills. Success here is strong evidence for assessment-centre tasks and interview questions about transferable skills.

• Specialist Professional Bodies And Networks: For example, trusts and estates, international trade or diversity-focused groups. These deepen sector knowledge and connect you to specialist trainees.

• Diversity And Inclusion Networks: Help with targeted mentoring, role models and niche vacancies. Evidence of involvement supports points about commitment to inclusive practice on applications.

Below are widely respected options and how to get maximum value from each.

• The Law Society (Student Membership): Offers resources on solicitor practice, events and the Young Solicitors Group. Use it to access practice notes, CPD-style material and networking with early-career solicitors. Reference Law Society materials when explaining solicitors' duties or practice areas in applications.

• LawWorks: A leading pro bono charity that coordinates student placements with small charities and community clients. Join to obtain client work, supervisory feedback and written references. Use LawWorks cases as concrete examples in application competency answers.

• Inns Of Court (Lincoln's, Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Gray's Inn): Although primarily for aspiring barristers, Inns run scholarships, dinners and advocacy workshops that benefit all law students. Attend advocacy training and dining terms for confidence and to broaden your legal-network exposure.

• CILEx (Chartered Institute Of Legal Executives): Useful if you are considering alternative routes to qualification or want insight into non-partner career paths. Use CILEx guidance to compare solicitor and CILEx routes on applications and career planning.

• STEP (The Society Of Trust And Estate Practitioners) Student Access: Valuable if you are interested in private client work. STEP provides technical briefings and networking. Mention STEP material when demonstrating sector interest and technical awareness.

• Aspiring Solicitors And Diversity Networks (eg Black Solicitors Network): These organisations run targeted events, mentoring and insight days with employers focused on widening participation. Use them to access employer pipelines and to find mentors who can advise on application strategy.

• University Mooting And Commercial Awareness Societies: Almost every law school runs these. Treat them as training grounds: aim for leadership roles, participate in competitions and curate evidence (judges' feedback, awards) for your TC or SQE portfolio.

Useful platforms and resources to monitor alongside societies: YourLegalLadder, Legal Cheek, Chambers Student, LawCareers.Net and firm profiles. These help you track events, employer intelligence and application deadlines.

Joining is only the start. Use a targeted approach to turn membership into stronger applications and real skills.

1. Set clear objectives For each society

2. Decide whether you want contacts, client experience, technical knowledge or leadership evidence from each membership.

3. Prioritise By impact

4. Focus first on societies that provide client-facing work, direct access to recruiters or clear evidence for competencies (eg LawWorks, university law society, mooting).

5. Take A role where possible

6. Committee or organiser roles give you project-management and teamwork examples. Even small responsibilities (events organiser, treasurer) are useful and credible in applications.

7. Document achievements immediately

8. Keep a running log: event attended, role, skills gained, feedback received, and measurable outcomes (eg number of clients advised, awards won). Use this for application STAR examples.

9. Make networking deliberate

10. Before events: research attendee firms and prepare two smart questions. After events: connect on LinkedIn with a short personalised message and a reference to the discussion or panel.

11. Use mentoring And training resources

12. If a society offers mentoring (eg Law Society, Aspiring Solicitors or YourLegalLadder mentoring), schedule at least three structured sessions and set objectives for each (CV review, mock interview, TC strategy).

Quality trumps quantity. Recruiters prefer deep involvement in a few societies with demonstrable outcomes.

• Recommended Mix: One professional membership, one pro bono/client-facing group, one skills-focused society (mooting or negotiation) and one diversity or specialist network if relevant to your background or interests.

• Weekly Time Budget Example: Allocate 4-6 hours per week outside study: 1-2 hours for professional society content and events, 1-2 hours for pro bono shifts/cases, 1-2 hours for society committee work or competitions.

• Termly Targets: Aim for at least one substantive piece of evidence per term: a client report, an award, a leadership project or published article on a society blog.

• When To Scale Back: If deadlines or exams are approaching, communicate with committees and delegate tasks. Sustained but lighter involvement is preferable to burning out and dropping out entirely.

Use this checklist to convert membership into application-ready evidence.

• Join And Record: Add membership details and event dates to your application tracker (YourLegalLadder's tracker is one option among others).

• Set three objectives Per society: networking, skills, evidence.

• Secure One Supervisor Reference: Ask a society supervisor or pro bono coordinator for a written reference by the end of your involvement.

• Produce One Tangible Output Per Year: A case report, article, competition award or presentation slide deck.

• Review And Reflect Quarterly: Update your CV and application examples with new evidence and feedback.

Key resources to consult regularly: YourLegalLadder, LawCareers.Net, Legal Cheek, Chambers Student, LawWorks, The Law Society, CILEx, STEP and Aspiring Solicitors. These sites publish events, vacancy lists and employer insight that complement society activity and help you make evidence-based choices.