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Hello everyone!

My name is Jasmine Mohamud, I am currently a paralegal at Hugh James in their Cardiff office.

This will be my second application cycle and since I have had no luck yet I am hoping to secure some vacations scheme and hopefully secure a TC with my dream firm (fingers crossed ahha!).

I am looking forward to get to know you all!

Hey everyone!

With the new application cycle gaining momentum, we are restarting our giveaway for a free month of TCLA Premium (Bronze) every week. You will also receive a new badge titled 'Forum Winner'.

If you are already a future trainee, you can instead opt in to receive a £5 Amazon Gift Card instead of the free subscription to TCLA Premium.

Why do we do this?

We want to celebrate those of you who give back to the forum on a day-to-day basis. It's our opportunity to show you that the help you provide doesn't go unnoticed because people like you keep our community a supportive and friendly place.

What do I do if I win?

The Community Managers will be in contact with your reward for a free subscription to TCLA Premium. If you are a future trainee, please let them know and you will be issued a gift card instead.

Award this week:

To kick us off this week, I would like to award the first prize to @sa174m for their reassuring and supportive post on using paralegal experience to secure a TC here.

Thank you!

Hello everyone, I am an international student starting the 3rd year of my 4 year Politics and International Relations undergraduate course. After gaining more work experience, researching the legal field, taking a module in international law, I have decided a career in law would be suitable in terms of what I find interesting and enjoyable. I would like to meet people in a similar situation to myself but also appreciate insider insights. I am interested in the political economy and international relations as well as International Business. I am curious if such a focus is seen favorably in the legal field. Anyway, my current plan is to gain work experience, especially through vacation schemes and hopefully find a feasible way to convert to law after graduation I am not sure how often penultimate non law students take such a route. Either way, feel free to message me if you can relate.

Hi guys,

I have sent my CV to a financial consultancy firm for a compliance internship and I have now reached written assessment stage. However, I wasn't quite sure whether I should proceed with the application as I still wish to do legal work. I also have very little knowledge of compliance and zero past experience in it.

I wish to know about the difference between compliance and legal jobs like paralegal or doc review. Is it a huge deviation if I do this internship as I still wish to qualify as a solicitor through TCs?

Thanks!

partner at your law firm comes into your office to give you some work. You are trying to keep up, but he leaves before you get a chance to clarify the details. You have a fair idea of what to do but you are a little confused by one of the parts of the task. What do you do?
this question has been bugging me

Hi guys,

You'll excuse me for the rather indiscreet question, but I am considering applying to a series of American law firms this year, and so I was wondering if anyone has any idea of their trainee and NQ salaries, as well as the grants they give. These firms all have very small trainee intakes, and do not publish salaries - I wouldn't like to go through the hassle of writing and researching an application, only to find out that the salary they pay is sub-par.

Once again, excuse me for the banality of my question, but I'm sure you'll understand. The firms in question are:

- Arnold Porter
- Greenberg Traurig
- King & Spalding
- Morrison Foerster
- Feagre Drinker
- Brown Rudnick
- Katten Muchin
- Locke Lord
- McDermott Emery
- O'Melveny
- Winston & Strawn

Thanks for your support.

Hi all,

This one is for LPC students in London (or prospective ones starting this September). Whereabouts are the best places to stay for LPC students, both in terms of budget and convenience?

I'm looking for accommodation ASAP as the agency I was booked with cancelled on me last minute, so any advice is welcome!

Hi!

Does anyone know if you can start the BPP CPP in Spring to align with a Spring TC start date? So far I can only see September starts on their website but this would mean a 6-7 month gap in-between the SQE and starting the TC.

Thanks in advance

Hi everyone,

I've recently come across some articles, blog posts etc which suggest that areas such as pensions and employment have a much better work-life balance than areas like M&A and private equity. However, I've also seen that it's common for firms to structure their salary scale by years of experience.

So, if there are two people at the same firm with the same number of years of experience, but one is in an area with much better work-life balance and the other is frequently doing 12 hour days, do they still get paid the same salary? Is it perhaps the same base salary, but the one with longer hours gets a bigger bonus?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

Hello,

So i'm now going into my final fourth year, and last year applied to a wealth of vacation schemes but failed to secure any. Now that i am in my final year is it more optimal to apply for vacation schemes again or to apply for direct training contracts? I know direct contract scheme routes would be better if you have formal experience in a corporate environment. I am participating in an Intellectual Property Internship over the summer with a high street firm, but i'm not sure if this is sufficient work experience which will allow me to compete with TC applicants. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

It would be greatly appreciated!

Hi,

I'm preparing my CV for VacSchemes this year, wondering whether I should put a Scholarship from a firm under Legal Experience or Achievements? Unsure because it was both a competitive application for financial help but also includes training sessions at the firm

Thanks.

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Hi everyone, I was looking for some advice and it would really help if anyone could give their thoughts!
Im going into my final year of a non-law degree (International Relations) at a Russel Group Uni. My predicted degree grade is a 1st.
I wasn't able to secure any vac schemes in my second year which was really disappointing and honestly made me question whether I should continue on the legal path.
In terms of legal experience, I have a weeks worth of shadowing in a solicitors office, a first year insight day at a magic circle firm and also a couple of virtual legal experiences.
I do plan on continuing with applications this year, (though I will also be applying to other fields simultaneously) I am just unsure on how many/which applications to do.
I know that many firms get their trainees from vac schemes - but I have not completed any vac schemes. Would it be better to apply to vac schemes then?
I would apply directly to TC's but I feel as if I will just get rejected again as my experience isn't extensive in comparison to other candidates.
If I apply for vac schemes, and get rejected, would I not be able to apply for TC's at the same firm for the same cycle? Or would I have to wait?

Sorry if this doesn't make sense I'm kinda stressed and trying to figure out what to do with everything

Hi all,

I am going to be applying for vacation schemes this year but unfortunately I do not have any legal work experience; I wasn't sure about becoming a solicitor until recently so didn't do the research and didn't know about first year schemes and open days. I have managed to get two weeks of work experience at a small property law firm near where I live - will the people reading my application at magic circle law firms and other large international commercial law firms care about this at all? I know it isn't the same as completing a first year scheme at one of these large firms, but I would still develop skills and an understanding of processes within law firms, and property is a practice area at many of these firms. I am definitely going to talk about it in my application, but how much do you think the admissions personnel will value it?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

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Hi all,

I am a recent non-law graduate who, having completed 2 vac schemes over the summer (unfortunately with no TC success), now finds themselves in a sort of involuntary gap year whilst reapplying for TCs etc. (largely due to financial reasons surrounding self-funding the GDL).

With regards to a job in the meantime, I was just wondering if anyone has any helpful suggestions or resources for finding industry-relevant work (full time or part time), as this is a lot less formalised than the VS/TC process. I see it as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone - boosting my CV and making money to possibly travel in summer - and would really appreciate any and all advice!!

Many thanks in advance

Good Afternoon All,

I hope you're all having a wonderful Monday!

I am delighted to announce that we will be hosting another free webinar: "Live Application Review: Learn From a Two-Time Offer Holder with 100+ Applications Reviewed!"

Live Application Review​

Our first ever live application review - free and open to everyone!

Have you ever wondered what exactly law firms are looking for when reviewing your application? Which topics to focus on and topics you should avoid? The best way to make yourself stand out from the crowd?

This Thursday we'll be joined by @James Carrabino; a two time offer holder and TCLA Application Reviewer.

James will be reviewing and giving feedback on a law firm application live.

He will draw upon his experience reviewing a vast number of law firm applications whilst walking you through the review process itself.

Who is James?​

James is a Yale and Royal College of Music graduate!

During his application journey, James attended vacation schemes with Debevoise & Plimpton, Covington & Burling and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and received direct training contract offers from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and White & Case.

As an application reviewer for TCLA, James has reviewed over 100 applications for a variety of City firms.

James is also a community manager across our forums and has helpfully compiled an extremely thorough list of common application pitfalls, found here if you wish to look over before the live session!

You will learn...​

• How TCLA goes about reviewing applications to provide feedback that is as helpful as possible
• What will make your own application stand out from the crowd
• What is and is not 'fair game' to discuss in a law firm application (you may be surprised)
• How to avoid common errors made by applicants
• What law firms are really looking for in written applications

How to sign up?​

Simply register here and you will receive your Zoom link.

I have a question about applications...​

Ask them in this thread! We'll make sure we pass them onto James to discuss in the session.

We really look forward to seeing you Thursday at 5:30pm