Law Firm Open Day: How Open Days and Insight Schemes Work

Most students hear about a law firm open day long before they understand what it is actually for. It is not a mini vacation scheme, and it will not fast-track your application. Treat it as research with a live audience, and it becomes genuinely useful preparation for the applications that follow.

What a law firm open day actually is

A law firm open day is a structured but informal event, typically lasting a single day, where a firm presents its practice areas, training structure, and culture to a group of law students. Expect a welcome talk, department presentations, a building tour, and time to speak with trainees and associates informally.

Firms run open days mainly to widen their applicant pool ahead of vacation scheme and training contract deadlines. You are not being formally assessed the way you would be on a scheme, though how you present yourself still matters if you later apply to that firm.

Numbers per open day vary widely, from small groups of twenty to larger cohorts of a hundred or more at bigger firms. Smaller events give you more direct contact with trainees; larger ones give you a bigger sense of firm scale and culture.

Open days, insight schemes, and vacation schemes: how they differ

Open days are the shortest and least structured of the three, usually a single day with talks and a tour rather than any real work task. Insight schemes run longer, often two or three days, and sometimes include a light group task or case study closer to a taster vacation scheme experience.

The vacation scheme is the main event: a paid placement lasting one to four weeks where you are genuinely assessed and where most firms convert a large share of their trainee cohort. Do not confuse an open day's informal tone with the seriousness of the scheme stage that follows it.

Understanding this hierarchy matters when you plan your year. Open days and insight schemes work best earlier, often in your first or second year, while the vacation scheme deserves your heaviest preparation once you reach penultimate year eligibility.

Who runs law firm open days and when

Most commercial and City firms run open days in the autumn and spring terms, often clustered around university law fairs and careers weeks. Some firms open applications on a rolling basis, so apply as soon as a firm's page goes live rather than waiting for a fixed deadline.

Eligibility criteria vary. Some firms restrict open days to first and second-year students specifically to build a longer pipeline toward vacation scheme applications. Others are open to any year group, including non-law students considering the conversion route.

Application forms for open days are usually short, sometimes just a CV or a few short questions, since firms are screening lightly rather than running a full assessment. Still submit a genuine, proofread application, since a careless one can quietly affect how a firm views a later scheme application.

Virtual and hybrid law firm open days

Many firms now run at least one virtual or hybrid law firm open day alongside in-person events, particularly for students outside major cities. A virtual session usually compresses the same content, firm overview, department presentations, and a trainee panel, into a shorter online block lasting two to three hours.

The main trade-off is informal contact. You lose the corridor conversations and lunch chat that often produce the most useful detail for later applications, so ask more direct questions during any open Q&A segment instead. Type questions into chat promptly, since virtual sessions often work through them quickly and close the queue.

Treat a virtual law firm open day with the same preparation as an in-person one: research the firm beforehand, dress appropriately if video is involved, and follow up afterward. Firms increasingly note attendance and engagement at virtual events when reviewing later applications, so muting yourself and disappearing off camera is not a neutral choice.

What happens on the day

Expect a welcome and firm overview from a graduate recruiter, followed by presentations from two or three practice groups covering the kind of work they do and recent notable matters. Trainees often join these sessions to answer practical questions about day-to-day life.

A building tour and time in an informal setting, such as a lunch or coffee break with trainees and associates, usually follows. Use this time deliberately: ask specific questions about seat rotations, supervision, or what surprised them most as a trainee, rather than generic questions the website already answers.

Some firms close the day with a short Q&A panel or a session on the application process itself, including tips on what graduate recruiters look for in written applications. Take notes, since these details are exactly what makes a later application read as researched rather than generic.

How to use a law firm open day to strengthen later applications

The main value of a law firm open day is specific detail you can use in a written application: a practice group's recent deal, a trainee's honest comment about culture, or a partner's remark about the firm's strategy. Write these down the same day, since specifics fade quickly once you attend several events in a row.

Networking at an open day is lower stakes than a formal informational interview, which makes it a good place to practise asking thoughtful questions. A short, genuine conversation with a trainee often produces better material for a "why this firm" answer than an hour of website research.

Use open day detail sparingly and honestly in applications. One well-placed, specific reference reads as researched interest. Several vague mentions of "meeting people at the open day" read as padding, and recruiters notice the difference quickly.

Common mistakes at law firm open days

Treating the open day as equivalent to a vacation scheme on your CV is a frequent error. List it briefly if at all, and never imply it involved assessed work when it did not. Recruiters comparing your CV against your application answers will notice any exaggeration quickly.

Asking questions the firm's website already answers wastes a rare chance to speak with real trainees. Prepare two or three genuinely specific questions in advance, ideally ones that only someone inside the firm could answer well.

Attending too many open days at the expense of written application time is a subtler mistake. If you have already attended three or four events, spend remaining time on your training contract applications rather than collecting more open days for their own sake.

A realistic plan for using open days well

If you are in your first or second year, aim to attend three to five open days across different firm types: magic circle or top City, strong regional, and one boutique or niche practice. Note one specific detail from each for later use.

Follow up with a short thank-you message to any trainee who gave you real time, and keep a simple record of firms, dates, and what you learned. When application season opens, that record becomes the research base for your written answers.

Treat open days as the lightest layer of a longer research process, not the finish line. The written application and, later, the vacation scheme are where firms actually decide who moves forward.

What to do after reading this

Pick one upcoming law firm open day from a firm on your target list and register this week. Prepare two specific questions in advance, and write down one usable detail before you leave the building.

Browse related Lawbound guides on the blog, including our vacation scheme guide and our guide on how to get a training contract.