New Threads

Is there a list of 1st year undergraduate internship opportunities on the forum by any chance?

Hi guys. I'm looking to apply for paralegal positions at the Leeds branches of national and international law firms. Many application forms ask me for salary expectations and I'm not sure what sounds reasonable. I've just graduated with a 2:1 Law degree this summer and I've never been a paralegal before. I would greatly appreciate any pointers as to where I could find information about paralegal salary expectations as I don't want to write down an unreasonable sum.

Hi!

Anyone heard back after their telephone interview? I was told it takes three weeks but its been more than that for me.

Wondering if anyone managed to make it to their AC or would know of what their Middle East Trainee intake is like?

Long story short, I am a medical student wanting to pursue law instead. I have a question about disclosing grades. Unlike other degrees, are course doesn't get classes, we get put into 'deciles' instead (so 10 overall deciles) which is determined by our final examination mark. I scored 70% in my exam, which placed in the 3rd decile (so within top 30% of the year). How do I disclose this to law firms? This is our end of year exam, which is the only summative exam we have. We have further essay projects & a december formative exam which I am presuming will also need to be mentioned on the application.

However, we also have these weird 'progress tests' where our university makes us do 5th year exams each quarter term (basically to show progression/increase familiarity with actual medicine). NONE of the content on these progress tests is relevant to anything we've learnt (it contains questions from 3rd, 4th, 5th year) and for the 1st/2nd year it's meant to simply be an insight. However, the marks for it still show up in my transcript (the average 1st year marks for this test are 25%, which basically is due to chance rather than knowledge since it's a multiple choice exam). Do I need to disclose this to law firms? how do they look at module results for non-law students? I'm a little worried that law firms wouldn't know the context behind these 'progress tests' and doubt my academic capability?

Hi,

I have recently received my results for second term exams for GDL and I was quite devastated to see I have failed 4 out of the 7 modules. These were my failed marks:

Land MCQ - 46
Land/Trust combined written - 47, 47
Criminal oral - 43

I was expecting to at least pass them so I honestly don’t know what happened.

I had covid during the first week of April, 2 weeks before the first exam and missed a whole week of lessons but I know it probably wouldn’t count for mitigating circumstances or deferral so I didn’t apply for this at the time nor have I thought to appeal my results.

I am now seriously concerned in regards to my prospects for a training contract as I do need to retake all the failed modules.

Can anyone please advise what my chances are for a training contract or have I just blown away every chance I have?

Thanks,

Hi, I have completed the PGDL but have not secured a training contract. I have also been trying to apply for paralegal roles but have not received any offer. I am reluctant to proceed to the next stage of my legal education, which is the LPC course, not knowing what I will get out of it. Do you have any advice?

I'm an incoming History undergraduate this year; careers-wise, I've been thinking about corporate law recently. I used to dream about becoming a Historian (doing a Masters then PhD) but my mates took the mickey out of me being unemployed for life (haha). Jokes aside, a great mentor/teacher at school was formerly a corporate lawyer pre-2008/9 at a boutique law firm and he said I would be more than capable of becoming a competent corporate lawyer.

What are the ways I can prep myself for a career path into corporate law in the UK from now?

Hey everyone!

I know this month the focus turns to those direct training contract applications.

Many people I speak to find it challenging to communicate their motivations in a law firm application, something that isn’t just an ‘interest in law and business’. It took me a long time to work out how to present my 'story’ and align my interest in commercial law to my experiences.

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Hi all! Hope you're surviving the heatwave!

Just wondering if anyone has any insight as to BPP's LPC exam policy as regards if it is open book still. I am supposed to start in September and cannot seem to get a concrete answer out of BPP itself.

Thanks!

Hello, as the title indicates, I am currently in a situation where I got a 2:2 in first year and am worried about how it may affect my future prospects.
A few preliminary points: 1) my first year results do not count towards my classification in any way- only 2nd and 3rd year count. 2) These results were a massive shock to everyone, not only myself but also my tutors, to the point where I am in the process of investigating whether there may have been procedural issues in assigning my marks 3) I am at Oxbridge (mentioning this in case firms consider your grades within the context of your institution) 4) I do not have any extenuating circumstances to explain these results

Currently my plan is to apply to vac schemes and ofc TCs in 3rd year- short of terrible luck I should do much better in 2nd year (I was, according to tutor reports, on track for a good 2:1 to a first, so unless there's something I'm not aware of my first year result is quite out of character) but of course I am wondering how, should my grade remain the same after the investigation, the 2:2 in first year will be considered within my application, as I think it's important to prepare for such a scenario.

Any advice, even if harsh, is much appreciated.

Hi,
Has anyone here applied for the Linklaters India Internship for this cycle? If so, have you heard back yet? (My application still says "On hold")

NRF website says penultimate years can apply, but then on the actual application it says only final years or graduates. Can anyone please advise?

So, I've read that interviews for a TC can be as long as 75 minutes after a vacation scheme. I feel I've been somewhat proactive in my first year, I've got a a position in the law society, volunteer at a legal clinic, work part-time and attended open days. However, I see no way I could make all that stretch over a 75 minute, or even 50 minute interview without repeating myself and rambling. Does anyone have any general tips for activities that would make my interview experience better?

Hi, I just did my drafting assessment, and it was only 3 pages(the context was litigation/contentious claims). The example answers were also around 3-4 pages, and for me, I did 3 pages(just about though). I know you'd rather be concise than overly waffle, but I'm worried if this is short.

More importantly, do you have to be very accurate/persuasive regarding the law/legal basis? or is it more like interview assessment where they care more about your drafting skills. I tried to follow the client instructions, but as you may know, sometimes it makes creating a convincing argument(from a legal POV) slightly diffuclt since you have to balance the two.

Really anxious right now. Any advice would be appreciate. For what it is worth, I did enjoy the drafting task, I'm just wondering how relatively easy/hard it is to pass drafting.

Hey All,

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You’ll see the actual messages and emails that led to work experience, brand building opportunities and mentors, and come away with the tools to build quality relationships throughout your legal career.

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I'm really excited for this one: I've had a look at the slides and the content is more specific and detailed than any networking presentation I've been to.

Weekly Drop In Session - Wednesdays at 5:30pm​

We want to make sure you have face time with the team to get your questions answered. Tomorrow at 5:30pm, you can join this weekly drop in at 5:30pm and ask a member of the TCLA team any questions about the training contract process, from standing on in your applications to securing your next training contract.

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Hi

Has anyone completed an assessment centre for Gowling in 2022? If so, can you offer any guidance in preparation and what to expect.

Thank you very much

I am a graduate who has been waiting some years to start their legal career. I now have an offer to start this year however a much better firm has offered me a 2024 intake? The 2024 intake would mean that I wouldn't be earning any money whilst studying the SQE and after working for a few years I'm not sure I can go back to being a broke student. I also think I wouldn't want to stay in a market leading city firm long firm because of the awful work life balance.

I have the Dentons AC coming up. How best should I prepare for this? Do you have any hints and tips?

Hi, I have a second interview at Blake Morgan and have been asked to do a presentation on a specific topic , which is fine . A legal scenario question 15 mins to read and 5 mins to report back, then 45 mins of competency questions. just wondering has anyone gone through this process and have any tips?

Thanks in advance

I'm currently in uni and I really want to dye my hair purple this summer but I was wondering if this would be an issue when it comes to applying for vac schemes and having to do interviews/ACs etc.? Obviously if I end up working in a law firm I won't be able to have purple hair so I really want to be able to get it done at some point before I graduate, but probably won't if it'll interfere with my applications.