Addleshaw Goddard's second intake of legal technologists have begun their new-look careers within the firm's market leading Innovation & Legal Technology (ILT) graduate scheme. 

The six recruits have completed their two-week induction and have now taken up their first seats after the firm moved quickly on a second recruitment drive, following the success of the first 10-strong cohort who joined in November. 

Elliot White, AG's Head of Innovation and Legal Technology Operations who oversees the graduate scheme, said: "It's exciting to be bringing in another six graduates to the team so quickly after the initial intake, which was something of a leap of faith for the team and the firm. 

"It has already proved to be a fantastic programme which has exceeded our expectations in terms of immediate impact on the wider ILT team. I firmly believe in the Legal Technologist role, which is rising in prominence in the legal market and specifically legal innovation. That’s why we are investing in this scheme while mapping out a clear career path and development framework going forward. 

"The quality of applicants we received is evidence that people are becoming increasingly aware of the alternative careers that exist within a law firm. As Legal Technology evolves, there are opportunities for our graduates to develop specialist roles that don't even exist at present."

The graduate scheme, which was among the first of its kind when created last year, is designed to equip future legal technologists with the skills required to innovate the delivery of legal work including problem solving, legal design, process improvement, client engagement and consultancy. 

The six new recruits, Esther Ng, Alex Gray, Conlan Wilkinson, Yee Xian Kong, Nikita Sakhare and Mehwisch Khan, will be based across AG's Manchester and Leeds offices.

In June 21 people, selected from over a 100 applications, attended the firm's assessment day and White was clear about the qualities AG is seeking in prospective Legal Technologists.

He said: "It’s important for us to reach people that might not have felt that a career in a law firm was possible for them. We use the Rare Contextual Recruitment System whereby a candidate is not judged on their social background or university attended, as well as a number of other factors to help us better understand the context for a candidate’s experience and their real potential. We are reaping the benefits of recruiting team members from diverse backgrounds and allowing their ingenuity and enthusiasm to help us challenge and improve the ways in which we do things as a law firm."

ILT is part of the firm's commitment to deliver Law, Plus More - a joined-up, collaborative approach that delivers imagination and impact to client projects and relationships by seamlessly combining lawyers, strategy consultants, tech experts, resourcing and process specialists.

The two-year graduate programme consists of six, four-month rotations which see the new Legal Technologists experience working in: Legal Tech Consulting; Research and Development; Client Projects; Products; Internal Efficiency; Document Lifecycle.

On completion, the graduates will become Level 3 Legal Technologists and can progress on to the ILT career pathway in their preferred specialism. 

The AG scheme is open to graduates of any discipline, as well as those with legal tech experience who want to develop their career in the sector, and the firm is already planning another intake in 2023.

You can read blogs from some of the first intake to the Legal Technologist graduate scheme here.