Celebrating School of Law alumni volunteers

As we mark National Volunteers' Week, join us in expressing gratitude to our alumni volunteers for their invaluable contributions and celebrating the positive difference they make in our community.

The School of Law currently has more than 16,000 alumni from over 115 countries. Among them are judges from the highest courts around the world, senior partners in major international law firms, leading barristers, prominent political figures, business people, entrepreneurs, activists, journalists, and numerous national leaders.

Alumni volunteering plays a pivotal role at the School of Law, facilitating the maintenance and expansion of connections with our alumni while simultaneously providing valuable opportunities for our current students to interact with and learn from successful professionals.

Inspiring conversations

At the School of Law, we offer various alumni volunteering opportunities. One of our most impactful initiatives is our 'In Conversation With' events. These talks, tailored for current students, feature an alumnus engaging in dialogue with a School of Law academic about their career journey and personal experiences, followed by a Q&A session.

During the Spring 2024 term, we successfully hosted two events featuring David Bearman (LLB Law, 1990), the Founding Partner of Firefly Capital, and Sue McLean (LLB Law, 1997), Partner in Baker McKenzie’s Technology Team in London.

The 'In Conversation' events provide an interactive platform for students interested in pursuing careers in various sectors of law, offering firsthand insights from accomplished professionals. As Dr Virag Blazsek, one of our talk hosts, summarises:

Alumni events and conversations with our distinguished alumni are inspiring for current students and uplifting for faculty… Based on my conversation with students after the event, students felt encouraged to take reasonable risks in the future and to get out of their comfort zone to find their potential and calling in their professional lives and beyond.

Dr Virág Blazsek, Lecturer in Commercial, Corporate and Banking Law at the School of Law

Another series of notable events is the ‘Alumni Networking’ sessions. The objective of these events is to provide our students with opportunities to connect with alumni who are now working in law-related roles. These events, characterized by a relaxed networking atmosphere with refreshments, allow students to approach any guest they are interested in speaking with.

Alumni, in turn, share their career journeys with students, offering professional advice in their respective areas of law. This year we hosted two networking events, one dealing with career pathways in Leeds and Yorkshire and the other one with a focus on criminal and social justice.

These networking opportunities benefit students in multiple ways. As a participant of the career pathways in Leeds and Yorkshire Networking Event expressed:

The event was an enlightening experience which made me realise not only the diversity of my degree, but the importance of understanding that there are multiple pathways into a legal career, something which is often not apparent through firm-specific events.

Similarly, a student who attended the networking event on criminal and social justice said:

I found the networking session to be a very good experience. It was great to chat with professionals who had previously completed the same degree course that I am doing, and to learn how they progressed from where I am now into their varied and interesting roles.

Online volunteering opportunities

Additionally, many alumni volunteer by sharing career insights and experiences digitally. These contributions are then transformed into alumni profiles or news articles for the School of Law website. This approach enables us to connect with alumni residing in every corner of the world while also providing our students with insightful and inspiring stories. In the Spring 2024 term alone, we featured stories from alumni based in various cities in the UK, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Uganda.

As Loren Sandoval Arteaga, Alumni and Communications Officer at the School of Law, explains, alumni volunteering, whether online or in person, has an invaluable impact on the School of Law community:

Alumni volunteering opportunities not only allow the School of Law to maintain and strengthen the local and global connections with our alumni but also enrich the educational experience of our students. By sharing career journeys and insights, alumni provide students with unique guidance and opportunities to learn directly from successful professionals. Students continuously tell us that alumni events have a positive impact on them, inspiring them to take steps towards reaching their professional goals.

Alumni volunteering opportunities not only allow the School of Law to maintain and strengthen the local and global connections with our alumni but also enrich the educational experience of our students. By sharing career journeys and insights, alumni provide students with unique guidance and opportunities to learn directly from successful professionals. Students continuously tell us that alumni events have a positive impact on them, inspiring them to take steps towards reaching their professional goals.