The Master's in Legal Practice (MLP) at the Esade Law School continues to be a safe bet for accessing the labour market in the Legal Sector, as demonstrated by the placement date for the latest promotion of this prestigious programme. During the last academic year, 95% of students who had passed the MLP at Esade had found employment within three months of graduation. 

The Law Career Fair, held on 10 October, with the participation of 38 top firms from both Barcelona and Madrid, bears witness to the interest of large firms in Esade-trained talent. The fair, held at the Esade Forum, combined face-to-face contacts between the firms' heads of recruitment and students, with talks on the skills and profiles most sought after by the market given by partners themselves.

There is good reason why law firms are the principal recruiters of Esade-trained lawyers. The placement data for Esade Careers at the Law School show that 94% of students completing the MLP at Esade found work in law firms, 22% thereof in one of the ‘Big Four’.

Professional internships

The professional internships included in the Eade MLP are one of the best options for accessing a labour market as highly competitive as that of the large law firms. 79% of lawyers graduating from Esade in the last academic year accessed the firm they were taken on at in this way; this figure rises to 82% if we add other routes managed by Esade Careers, far in excess of alternatives such as personal contacts or professional portals, such as LinkedIn.

In fact, this academic year, the Law Career Fair was brought forward to the beginning of the year to help MLP students in their search, with the support of Esade Careers, for the professional internships they have to do during the academic year. With the added feature that students registered for the new MLP+LLM, which combines education at Esade with the equivalent programme in one of the four top law schools in the United States in order to be able to work in both jurisdictions, they must complete their internships this same course, given that, during the next one, they will be studying in the USA. The students took advantage of the event to make themselves know to the partners and heads of recruitment at the different firms, learn about the profiles they seek, and to submit CVs.

“All the opportunities that Esade offers you make you much more ambitious. When you see the law firms that come to Esade or which participate in the sessions organised by the professional careers, you're aware of just how far you can go”, explains Maria González de Mendivil, a student in the MLP and participant at the Law Career Fair. “We came to Esade from other universities, leaving our comfort zone, in order to specialise and owing to the soft skills we acquir in class, which we then see is exactly what recruiters are looking for”, ads Santiago Villamizar, also student in the MUA.

Direct contact with talent

Law firms also value the profile of Esade-educated lawyers, as borne out by the number and level of firms which participated in the Law Career Fair. “We are seeking a vocation to serve, passion for the Law and aspects that we know Esade guarantees, such a solid legal training, language proficiency, as well as an interest in current affairs, culture, etc.”, explained Mariona Xicoy, head of HR at Uría Menéndez. “Esade is a prestigious centre and we love coming to events such as the Law Career Fair to have direct contact with the students, the talent, in order to get to know them, put a face to them and learn about their concerns and interests”, he adds.

The ESADE Law Career Fair is the fruit of a close collaboration between the academic world and Spain's leading law firms. Participants in this edition have included: Allen & Overy, AGM Abogados, Andersen Tax & Legal, Augusta Abogados, Baker McKenzie, BDO Abogados, Bove Montero, Cases & Lacambra, Cleary Gotlieb Steem & Hamilton LLP, Clifford Chance, CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo, Crowe, Cuatrecasas, Deloitte Legal, Dentons, DLA Piper, EY, Font & Yildiz, Garrigues, Gómez-Acebo & Pombo, Guillén Bécares, Grant Thornton, Hogan Lovells, KPMG Abogados, Lener, Linklaters, Manubens Abogados, Marimon Abogados, Monereo Meyer Abogados, Osborne Clarke, Pedrosa Lagos, Pérez-Llorca, PwC, Ramón y Cajal Abogados, RCD, Roca Junyent, Toda & Nel.lo Abogados, Uría Menéndez.