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Good Afternoon,

I am preparing for the Eversheds Sutherland AC and was wondering if anyone has attended one before and they could share their insights?
The briefing document outlines that they have a written exercise, an internal meeting simulation and an interview with an Eversheds lawyer

Thank you

Is it possible to apply for Greenberg Traurig if you haven't done your LPC? Their website states as follows:


They don't list the LPC in their minimum qualifications, but I don't know how you can start a TC in September 2022 if you haven't done the LPC by now.

Hi everyone!

I am just wondering if anyone can give me some advice/tips on what to write for my PGDL personal statement?

I know I should cover the basics such as 'why law' and skills but any other tips would be greatly appreciated!

I just think on paper I look good, hence I get invited to ACs and then, no matter how much I prepare for them, they always go badly... I think my competency interviews are okay but it's usually the case studies/written exercise interviews that bring me down. I just feel I'm not really good at thinking on the spot; I get anxious and flustered and lose ability to think logically. I do take moments to pause and think but if nothing comes to mind I'll just stay silent until the interviewers prompt me again. I think by then they've made up their mind about me and I start feeling demotivated... I honestly don't know how I can improve this. Any suggestions? I have another 3 ACs upcoming and I'm just feeling demotivated about them.

Just got an AC invitation from Linklaters! It says that the AC will involve a work simulation exercise, two interviews by Recruitment and Partner. Does anyone know what the work simulation exercise entails and what kind of questions are asked by interviewers? I'd really appreciate any help as this is my first AC and I don't know what to expect from Links!

Hey everyone,

I'm beginning this series of monthly check-ins to make sure I understand what you need the most help with right now. I want to then make sure that we are focusing on the right things that would be most useful to you.

In time, I will zoom in on particular areas (e.g. applications/interviews etc.), but for now it will be helpful to have a general sense of what you are struggling with.

I have included the poll above, but please do feel free to comment below to expand. This is often the most eye opening part.

Thank you so much!

Best,
Jaysen

Hi,
x

Hi all, I am currently writing an application for a sports law firm VS. The application has a question as follows: "What do you see as the biggest legal issue currently facing sport?"

I have done some initial research and come up with issues relating to European sports governance, disputes around player image rights and data, regulating gambling in sports and esports and Fifa's re-regulation of agents.

I would be most grateful if anyone had any thoughts on these issues or any suggestions to focus my research on other areas in sports law.

As always appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks,
Ed

Hi everyone!

I'm really fortunate and pleased to say that I secured and accepted a training contract with a Magic Circle law firm. I thought I'd create this thread to give inspiration/courage to those who are still going through the process and to help where I can.

Note: I don't check my forum messages often so please post here rather than DMing me (unless it's personal).

Background

As per the name, I've been applying for 5 years. But, I properly started applying two years ago.

So what does "properly applying" mean? It means:

• not copying and pasting my applications (thereby creating a generic application)
• checking for SPAG before I send, properly researching and networking with firms before applying
• reading over my applications aloud to make sure my sentences flow and there are no SPAG-related issues
• being honest with the reasons why I'm applying to a firm (i.e. reputation, diversity, work that applies to me).

Other stuff about my background:

• Depression and severe anxiety - a demon that I've been fighting for around 10 years now which impacted my uni grades.
• Further education - GCSEs and A-levels at a non-selective state school
• Higher education - Law undergraduate degree at a Russell Group.
• Family - single parent raised + small family (only one parent, me and my siblings in the UK) + raised on social security and in a council flat (my parent can't work due to health reasons) = never had access to anyone working a white-collar job let alone a job in the City/law.

What I learned during the application process:

1. Don't take rejection personally - as brutal as it is, law firms will reject you and won't think about you again. And I found myself getting so upset when this happened. It impacted my self-confidence and I found myself questioning if I'm "good enough". The truth is that WE'RE ALL GOOD ENOUGH.
   
   How I dealt with this is by celebrating myself. I framed my mind: there is only one me and there will only ever be one me but there are hundreds of firms. I'm not saying you should be over-confident but learn that you truly are a special person and that there can only ever be one of you so anyone, any firm, anything is lucky to interact with you.
   
   Ru Paul says this very eloquently: "If you don't love yourself, how the hell are you going to love anyone else". And that's so true. It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of self-affirmation, but celebrate your strengths, polish up your areas of development and learn to champion yourself because no one else will if you won't. The firm that rejected you or rejected me won't so it's imperative that someone does. And that someone is YOU.
   
   
2. Scrutinise your applications - look at your application and ask: if I was the graduate recruiter, with over 2,500 applications left to review, and I've just read this application, would I progress it? If yes, why? If not, why?
   
   Consider the below:
   
   a) Are you PEEing all over your application? - PEE stands for point, evidence, explain and it's a great tool for writing persuasively. Why is writing persuasively important? Well, you're asking a firm to basically invest nearly £250k into your development and training. So you need to put a good case forward.
   
   If you're saying "I'm attracted to the small intake", can you substantiate that? What evidence do you have to prove that?
   
   b) Are you writing in a structured manner? - irrespective of whether you use PEE or not, does your structure make sense? Are you writing in full prose? Consider structures like CAR/STAR or even laying out your answer (for whatever reason) clearly: i.e. a chronological story, etc.
   
   c) Have you read your application aloud? Has a friend/family member reviewed it? - this is so important. Imagine this: You've probably been working on a question for hours and you can't be bothered anymore. The rest of your questions are done and so you just want to click submit. STOP! Get yourself a drink or take a short break, try and print your app out and then review it with a fresh set of eyes. Or ask someone else to. Or at least read it out aloud. The amount of times I've done this and I've found issues is insane. So please please PLEASE review your applications before you submit.
   
   
3. Do NOT give up - I've been applying for nearly 5 years in total and while I wish I got my application strategy in check sooner, I'm so grateful for my journey because, without this struggle, I wouldn't be the person I am today.
   
   Rejection is brutal but you must continue. Dory says: "Just keep swimming". And that's what you exactly should do. BUT, be sure to go back to the drawing board otherwise your applications won't develop, advance and grow.

Happy to answer any questions and good luck!

Hi everyone - just wondering if anyone can share how they went about showing how they had developed themselves and their skills from one application cycle to the next to get ideas especially since there’s been limited resources since Covid.

Thank you

Hi - I have been interviewing clients on their legal queries and drafting legal advice for pro bono legal advice clinic for over a year. Do I need to continue doing this to showcase dealing with clients and providing legal advice in my applications until I get a training contract (whenever that may be)? Although some legal queries are somewhat different, I’m getting to a stage I am not learning anything new. We are informed it’s important to get legal work experience but as it’s hard to get eg on vacation schemes will I stand out in getting a training contract if I continue doing it long term? One can view it that I should be able to stop doing it and be able to still showcase it 6 months/a year down the line due to the length of time I’ve done it for like any job experience. Or should I now be considering finding different legal work experience to add to my CV/applications?
The confusion I have is the same for other elements of showcasing experience such as being a school governor which I did about 5 years ago. Surely it cancels out a lot of hard work of undergoing different voluntary experience I have gained over the years such as this and working for RSPCA if I can’t mention it just because it is not “recent”. I have heard this mentioned from recruiters that you don’t need to mention that job as it’s years ago. Why can my interest not lie still in working for a law firm that does very well in acting for schools and other institutions in its practice area due to the school governor experience I undertook? I am obviously not going to apply to do another school governor seat just to show my interest in this practice area when applying. So can I still show this in an application without it being discounted from not being recent? I do not think all experience should be recent otherwise they are preventing candidates especially mature ones like myself from presenting themselves as being well rounded and having “life experience.

Hi I was wondering if someone could explain the trends in private acquisitions during Covid-19. I have a few in mind, such as tech companies being more valuable and other factors that are trending such as cyber security/ data protections, emplyoment issues, MAC clauses etc...

Am i going along the right lines?

Thank you!

Hi everyone!

I received the CMS VI invite a few days ago, and I'm getting ready to do the interview. My last video interview went horribly, and I'd want to avoid repeating the same mistakes (where I completely waffled my answers).

If anyone has any tips on what to expect from the VI, I would really appreciate it!

Hello,

With the core LPC exams just over a month away - I was just wondering if anyone has any tips or wants to discuss revisions strategies?

Hey all,

Recently joined and I'm so happy to have found such a supportive forum!

I wanted to ask a couple of things, firstly how firms would look at a period of unemployment due to family members needing care and taking time myself to recover after MH issues.

I have been unemployed for almost 6 years now and had gaps while juggling admin temp jobs/ teaching and caring for my mother who had Cancer.

After her passing in 2017 and almost losing another close family member to a violent crime ,I had to take time out to recover . During this time I retrained in Beauty and was self employed part time . This was ruined by covid .

After some soul searching and honestly admitting to myself I am smart and capable enough to go for it, I'm now I'm in the position to go back to work and to pursue my law conversion course I'd been putting off for years and realising I wasn't finding any path I chose challenging enough.

It looks as though I'll be doing the LLM Legal Practice (SQE1&2) after completing the PGDL conversion course at Ulaw , as I'd have to do a masters programme in order to get gov funding. Which is fine .


My second question is what entry jobs to apply for which could give me some solid work experience within law and encompass my admin / PA experience .
Since I haven't started my course I'm not eligible to get a job as a paralegal.

Happy to volunteer also .

Any ideas ?

Many thanks!

Hi everyone!

Hope everyone's applications and studies are going well

I am currently a final year non-law student and I am researching institutions which offer the PGDL/MA Law (Conversion). Ideally, I am hoping to do a "masters" as it will make me eligible for student funding.

The places I have in mind are ULaw, BPP and Kings College London.

Does anyone have advice/personal experience with any of the providers? Is there one that is better than the other? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

Hey everyone! My name is Amy and I am a non-law student, who is hoping (one day) to secure a TC! This is my first application cycle and wow, what a journey it has been I have been stalking the forums of TCLA for quite a while, and thought I should start actively contributing where I can.

I have a background in Chemistry, and I'm currently doing a Masters in engineering/chemistry, with a focus on renewable energy (and right now, at this very moment, should be writing my thesis hahaha). I'm hoping to one day utilise this to contribute to sustainability issues, from & within the legal sector.

I'm really looking forward to engaging more with the TCLA community - I have learnt so much already and I'm excited to get involved, be proactive and watch other people be successful in securing their dreams (whilst hopefully, doing so myself)!

Hi there,

I completed my VI with Clyde & Co two weeks ago today, but I haven't heard a word from them since.

Has anyone received any form of communication post-vi, letting them know if they have chosen to progress with them or not?

Cheers!

Hi everyone,

Has anyone completed a VI with Latham & Watkins either for their Sumer VS or their Winter VS (2021-2022 cycle). If so, I'd very much appreciate any insight you could give me into how to prepare and the nature of the questions asked. This is my first VI, so quite green in that regard. Thanks in advance !

Hi everyone,

I was wondering whether anyone has a list of questions that they use to prepare for interviews. I have an assessment centre with RPC soon and would really appreciate any advice that anyone could give. I believe the interview is situation-based, so questions of this nature would be particularly helpful.

Thank you very much,

Will.

Hi everyone,

I learnt many crucial skills on this forum over 2 years ago. This post is simply to pay it forward and hopefully spark an interest in a career path you (as law aspirants) may not have immediately considered.

This post is for you if you have ever wondered about careers outside of the law where your law degree and work experiences are valuable.

This post is based on a career switch I planned and achieved over the past 12 months.

I switched from a law background (law degree + legal work experience) to securing multiple offers in management consulting specialised in financial regulation, governance, and risk.

If you are interested in learning about what a career as a consultant in financial regulation and risk entails, reply to this thread and ask me anything.

If there is sufficient interest, I will be happy to write a follow-up post in this thread outlining my story, my background, motivations to switch, and what financial regulation is more generally. Happy to respond to any specific questions as well.

Hi everyone,

I have just been invited to Macfarlanes virtual AC today. I have never done a virtual interview before and would really appreciate it if anyone has any tips/ experiences of what the day consists of and how I can best prepare for it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone! I was wondering whether anyone has some insights into Skadden's AC, particularly into the Group Exercise and Written Exercise. Should we be expecting a typical M&A Case Study or rather an atypical task such as debating, etc.?
Thanks a lot in advance!

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, and I apologise for the length but...I'm wondering if anyone has any guidance or experience of going through the Non Law SQE route ?

I'm what would be considered a "mature student " . At 35 ,I already have a 2:1 in an unrelated degree and I've been putting off doing the conversion course for years . I'd like to go the route of applying for a training contract.
I'm wondering if I need to just do my GDL ( BPP) and then apply for a TC or the GDL which includes SQE1 prep ( BPP) and THEN apply .I've tried to ask BPP and they've just advised it's up to me ,which doesn't help !

I ask because it's my understanding that the firm will fund the rest ( SQE 1 and 2) after my GDL is achieved?

I'm so confused

A bit of background:

Over the years , due to amassing a great deal of self taught knowledge of the law I've won two of my own housing court cases .
I have constantly been encouraged by solicitors and even a detective in a family member's case to practice law .

I'm already jokingly known as the go to "lawyer" for family members ,friends and neighbours who don't know their rights and I throughly enjoy it . I'm thinking it's time I make it official haha

But honestly, what has put me off is wondering if I'd be able to handle the stress as someone who has anxiety and depression.

My goal is to become a housing solicitor helping those who have gone through the types of issues I have with housing . But I now know firms like this don't usually sponsor trainees . I know I'd be better off being trained by a firm that practices conveyancing or estates.

Should I try and apply for a Scholarship with BPP ? Or apply for a student loan ? Or go the TC route ?

The TC route would be best as I'd need to cover living expenses.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!