New Threads

This thread is for the general discussion of the Article Mini Series: Business of Law Firms - Distressed Law Firm Assets. Please add to the discussion here.

everyone's eyes are on it (+ metaverse) because it's really just the new hype train / potential incoming bubble. interviewers do tend to press me to elaborate further but because there are just so many little niches to talk about, answering questions is a breeze and I genuinely do enjoy talking about my analysis of it esp investment/risk/ regulatory issues that law firms want to hear about

Hello, and sorry for the incredibly short notice, but I am just popping in to ask if the Linklaters' Watson Glaser test can be completed after the application deadline?

This is the firm's guidance as per the website:

"Candidates must complete the short online form (30 minutes) and the Capp Online assessment by the application deadline. Candidates will have a 5-day deadline, from the date of their application, to complete the Watson Glaser online test."

Since the application deadline is today (15 December), I am unclear whether this guidance means I can still complete the WG tomorrow if I completed my application yesterday - would greatly appreciate any guidance! Thank you very much!

Live Mock Interview - Learn From A Four Time Offer Holder!​

After the great success of our live mock interview back in August, we wanted to make the recording available for you all to use as a resource when preparing for your own interviews!

Have you ever wanted to witness a law firm interview? To learn about the types of questions that law firms ask? To watch a candidate answer those questions in real time?

In this session, we were joined by four time offer holder and TCLA Mock Interviewer Chloe Temmerman. She interviewed a candidate live, asking questions based on real law firm interviews and providing actionable feedback.

We hope that you come away from this session with an understanding of how to improve the delivery of your interview answers, how to prepare for the hardest law firm interview questions and how to excel in your next law firm interview.

Hi all,

I am currently in the process of applying for spring vacation schemes.

I, unfortunately, have experienced a range of extenuating circumstances throughout my university degree which I have evidence of and my university was informed.

My second-year grades are incredibly poor as I had to return home for the year to look after my mother who was diagnosed with cancer and missed out on the majority of the year, leaving me with a mere grade of 53%. However this is only 30% of my overall grade, I'm confident with my placement (10%) and final year (60%) I can graduate with a 2.1. I attend one of the lower-ranked Russell Group universities.

Despite this, this academic year I secured a placement year at a top 100 law firm, have 7 years of work experience running my own small business, a supervisor position, VP of a law-related university society and volunteer paralegal work experience.

I also never took my A-levels and have enrolled to take my A-levels this year alongside my placement in addition to a range of courses including compliance and accounting.

I have also just secured a summer analyst position at one of the world's largest banks (verbal offer, patiently awaiting the written contract) so unless this falls through I will be unable to apply for summer schemes.

In my searches, I have located around 50 spring vacation schemes but obviously, some of these firms fall into categories that would automatically reject my application without a 5-second skim read.

Has anyone got any advice on what types of firms I should be applying for? I know it's a numbers game and I will probably apply for a wide variety simply for the experience when it comes to applying for graduate jobs but it's a long process and I'm not sure if my grades are too low for consideration.

Thanks

Hey has anyone heard back from CC yet?

The influential view that company directors should focus only on the interests of shareholders is weakening. What are the risks that arise if company directors are asked to focus instead on broad purposes serving the interests of all of the company’s stakeholders?

something i've perhaps observed but wondering as to the rationale behind it

I submitted a cover letter a few weeks ago to a pretty big firm, however, I completely forgot to sign off at the end. Is it worth emailing graduate recruitment about this, or would that just draw attention to it.

Hi all

I've been invited to a case study interview for a tc at Deutsche Bank, but not really sure what I should be expecting as it is an in-house position. Any suggestions will be much appreciated!!

Thank you!

As the title says, I'm trying to connect with someone who is a future trainee or current trainee at the firm as I do have a few quick questions on how they found their training experience so far. I am also trying to connect with people over LinkedIn but thought to pop in a word to see if this reaches a TCLA alumni as well Thanks a lot!

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️TOP TIP- You can check out the latest or most trending threads by navigating the tabs to the left of the forum list (arrow 1). Some of our most popular threads this year are-

️ TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23

️ TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2022-23

️ TCLA General Discussion Thread 2022-23

️ Ask A Graduate Recruiter Anything!

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Hi All,

Wanted to ask if for the "Careers Events" section of the vacation scheme application if you simply list the events you have been to or if anyone has gone a little more in-depth with this section?

Thanks!

Hello! I studied in the US before coming to the UK for university. US high school is the equivalent of secondary school. The academic results I achieved in high school my GPA (Grade Point Average), SAT score and AP exams. The UK university I studied at asked for these results. I am doing my best to give firms context of my secondary school grades, but there is no unified conversion method to convert these results to A-Levels or UCAS points. For example, Durham University has their own conversion system, as does Bristol University, etc.

I do not have a good sense of how careful I should be about this section. I'm freaking out a little.

Some questions I have are as follows:

1. Do I need to disclose each and every single result from every class or is my overall GPA enough? Will they conduct a thorough background check? (I don't want to be penalised for failing to disclose results, but disclosing all results is tedious).
2. Should I be emailing all grad rec teams to ask specifically what they want to know or is my best guess enough? I assume that grad rec is familiar with processing international grades, especially from the US, so I don't want to badger them with unnecessary questions.

is it normal to prepare a little gift e.g., small chocolates or for xmas a mini panettone for your vs provider? in my culture it's customary to do it but unsure of whether it's polite to do in London firms

Hi all,

Currently in the process of completing a VC application for Skadden. The three questions are relatively short (250 word count) and they are:

1. Please give details of any prizes, scholarships, positions of responsibility and any other noteworthy achievements that will support your application.
2. Please give details of any interests/hobbies you have outside of university/work.
3. Why are you applying for a training contract at Skadden and why do you believe you are suited to the firm?

I know what to say for #3 and feel pretty comfortable with this, however being honest I am a little uncertain about the first two. The first one seems geared toward students to talk about uni societies, etc. I graduated six years ago so I'm not sure if its as relevant for me to speak about that part of my life. I was thinking I could speak about some professional achievements/projects I have worked on, but risk repeating some of what I wrote in the work history section. I am also unsure what exactly they are looking for in #2 but I might be overthinking it. I have a fairly intense corporate career as it is the past few years, and have not had a whole lot of free time to pursue other achievements in sports, 'extracurriculars' etc. I have some from when I was younger but most of my 'interests' now are probably fairly benign and centre around the usual gym / travel / cooking (I actually do enjoy all of these things to a degree of depth and could talk about that - but I'm worried it'll come off a bit naff?).

Anyone have any insight on if this is more geared toward uni students and I'm best off referencing my uni days or better off speaking about more relevant/present things?

Thanks!

I've got a phone interview with Fieldfisher coming up, does anyone have any insights to share into the sorts of questions that they tend to ask? Advice would be much appreciated!

Hi,

I need to answer the following question in my application:

"Exploring your topic in more detail, please outline the key legal issues and describe how Osborne Clarke could assist our clients in this space over the next 5 years."

I was wonder whether I should talk about how OC can help construction firms with rising costs or the impact of increased regulation of ESG in the real estate sector?

The linklaters vacation scheme application has something called linklaters: graduate recruitment portal. Does anyone have any tips beforehand or any practice exams?

Hi all!

I'm Nina and I'm a foreign qualified lawyer applying for a couple of LLM programs in London. I think I have a good chance of getting in since I meet all the requirements, but I'm really struggling to write my personal statement.
I've tried so many times but I just end up deleting everything (it is that bad). Where I'm from personal statements just aren't done so I don't know how to word the things I want to say.
I can't seem to find any good LLM personal statement examples online. I was wondering if anyone has gone through the process and could share recommendations/advice or any LLM personal statements that I can read? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much,
Nina.

by two minutes
i was working so hard on it too

Hi everyone,

My name is RJ.

This year I am trying to improve my performance at AC's because this is an area I fell down on last year, which resulted in rejections at the final stage interview.

I will achieve this by:

1. Using law blogs/websites to tailor my research to my interview firm. Littlelaw and Lawcareers.net provide great general info, but utilising Legal Cheek's "Firms Most List" will really help to tailor my preparation.
2. Increase confidence by starting to prepare early. In the past I have noticed that my performance is much better when I have given myself enough time to process the upcoming assessment centre. Also, it will expose any gaps in my knowledge during my preparation.
3. Create a flashcard question bank using the "Midterm" app based on the interview firm e.g., "Which country should the firm open a new office?" to prepare myself for the uncomfortable questions. The ugly reality is that interviewers will try to catch the interviewee out on purpose to see how they react. Furthermore, Jake Schogger's "Application, Interview & Internship" handbook will have more questions for me to incorporate into my question bank. Also, I will hold myself accountable by practicing the questions every other day and achieve spaced repetition.
4. Complete TCLA's free course on "Securing a Training Contract" paying particular attention to the interviews and AC's section to reinforce current knowledge and inspire new ideas on preparing for AC's.

If you have any further tips, I would love to hear them!