BeSavvy supports all three — and the right choice depends on your firm's bandwidth, existing infrastructure, and learning objectives.
This guide covers four proven ways to integrate simulations into a trainee programme, with practical guidance on each.
Simulations sit alongside your existing programme — live sessions, webinars, mentoring, on-demand video — as an additional practice layer. Trainees complete a simulation after each learning module to apply what they have just covered.
The key advantage of this approach is the data it generates. BeSavvy tracks exactly where trainees struggled, which concepts were misapplied, and which tasks produced the most errors. This data feeds directly into your live sessions: instead of planning a generic debrief, trainers and partners arrive knowing the three specific issues that need addressing.
This is the lowest-friction way to get started and the most common entry point for firms with an established L&D calendar.
Simulations are organised into a knowledge hub — a structured library of topics covering the skills your trainees need across their two years. Trainees access them either when a relevant matter arises in their seat, or by following a structured curriculum with completion deadlines set by the L&D team.
This approach works particularly well for firms with trainees spread across multiple offices, practice groups, or seat rotations, where synchronised live sessions are difficult to coordinate. It also suits firms that want trainees to take more ownership of their own development.
The on-demand model scales well. Once the library is built, it runs with minimal ongoing facilitation.
Rather than using simulations to reinforce live teaching, this approach inverts the structure. Trainees complete simulations independently throughout the week or month. A short group session — thirty to forty minutes with a partner or senior associate — is then used exclusively to discuss outcomes, address specific gaps, and share insights from the most interesting cases.
BeSavvy prepares the discussion points automatically:
The partner or senior associate arrives at the session with a clear agenda, without spending time preparing it.
Advantages:
This is the most efficient use of senior lawyer time and the approach that scales best as cohort sizes grow.
A targeted application of simulations at the start of each seat rotation. Before a trainee touches live work in a new practice area, they complete a focused set of simulations covering the core tasks they will encounter in that seat.
The goal is simple: trainees arrive on day one of a seat already familiar with the standard tasks, the common errors, and the expected outputs. Partners and associates spend less time on basics. Trainees reach productive contribution faster.
For firms running structured two-year training contracts with four to six seat rotations, this approach compounds significantly: each seat starts faster, and the data builds a longitudinal picture of each trainee's development across their contract.
| Approach | Best for | L&D effort to set up | Ongoing facilitation needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blended Learning | Firms with an existing L&D calendar | Low | Medium |
| On-Demand Hub | Dispersed teams, self-directed learners | Medium | Low |
| Simulation-Led (Flipped) | Firms with limited partner time | Medium | Low |
| Seat Onboarding | Structured two-year training contracts | Medium | Very low |
Most firms begin with one approach and expand into others as they see results. BeSavvy's onboarding team will work with you to identify the right starting point based on your cohort size, existing programme, and objectives.
There is no single correct way to use simulations in legal training. What matters is that practice happens consistently, that performance data informs decisions, and that senior lawyer time is spent on what only senior lawyers can do. Any of the four approaches above will get you there — the differences are in how much structure you need and how much you want to change.