Cleary Gottlieb’s London office hosted 20 young people across the UK for its first Words for Work Virtual Internship, organized in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust.
From August 16-20, 2021, 25 volunteers from the firm’s legal and professional staff ran employability skills sessions and activities to give the students a first-hand insight into various careers in the legal profession. The week’s activities included a fictional M&A transaction in which teams of students, aged between 15 and 18, were able to negotiate the sale of a business and put their literacy and commercial skills into practice.
Since 2016, Cleary’s London office has partnered with the National Literacy Trust to empower some of the most disadvantaged students in the UK to achieve their career ambitions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this work has included fundraising, offering CV reviews, mock interviews, and creating online resources for students and young adult learners. We are a proud signatory to the Vision for Literacy Business Pledge 2021, which calls on businesses to help tackle low literacy in the United Kingdom.