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For Pinsent Masons application, is it advised to include a covering letter?

Hi everyone,

I'm very happy to announce that Gemma Baker, the Graduate Recruitment Manager at Willkie Farr & Gallagher (UK) LLP, will be running this Ask me Anything thread.

Gemma has substantial experience with the training contract process and is very happy to answer questions on anything related to application forms and interviews. Any questions on assessment centres would be best directed here.

No doubt this will be a useful opportunity for you to better understand the perspective of graduate recruitment. Gemma has worked in legal graduate recruitment for over 20 years and has read over 65,000 vacation scheme and training contracts applications. After nine years working for law firms, she headed up the employability teams at both Kaplan Law School and Aspiring Solicitors. Gemma returned to the legal profession in 2018 and now works for Willkie in London.

Willkie is a US firm with 13 offices and 2020 marked its first year of trainee recruitment in London. The firm is currently accepting vacation scheme applications here.

I hope you'll join me in welcoming @WillkieGemma to the forum and please do ask any questions that you have.

Best,

Jaysen

Hello,

I'm a non-law undergraduate student, but I'm hoping to eventually convert and become a solicitor. In the meantime, I wanted to apply to open days and vacation schemes to not only give me some experience for my CV and have better chances to secure a TC, but also to see if a legal profession is truly for me.

I studied law at A-Level, so I have a foundational knowledge of the theory of large umbrellas of law (e.g. contract, tort, criminal, land), but I haven't studied law at university and I feel a bit lost when I look at the large list of sectors and practice areas different firms specialise in. I was personally quite drawn to the idea of commercial law, because I'm interested in business/business strategy and current events. I've also always been involved in my family business, so I feel like it's an area I would have experiences to draw on in applications/interviews. However, when answering application questions like 'why this firm' and such, I want to be able to be as specific as the law students I'm up against in narrowing down which practice areas I'm interested in and why.

I can already research a firm, figure out what areas it does well in and read the (often vague) descriptions of what that department does.
However, has anyone got any advice in how to go about researching the vast sectors that fall under the header 'commercial law' more broadly in order to feel like I can better understand and differentiate these areas (as a non-law student it's a bit confusing). Moreover, does anyone know how to figure out exactly what working in these areas entails and whether I'd be interested in them without me having any prior experience (either personally or academically)?

Any insight would be appreciated!

Sorry if this is in the wrong area/this is my first time posting something.

Hi All - I was considering applying to DLA as a graduate this year. Its website seems to exclude graduates from applying to its Summer Internship and direct applications to its Graduate Programme are closed - are they not accepting apps from graduates this year?

Hi all!

I know talking about personal finances is a bit of a taboo subject in this country, but I do think it's an important topic so hopefully I don't offend anyone by asking this question.

I was hoping to get advice from those who have started their TCs/have qualified or from any forum members with knowledge about the financial side of being a lawyer in the City. In particular, I'm intrigued about how NQs spend their money/how they invest it and if there are any lessons to be learnt? How early do people start saving for a mortgage? Whilst I acknowledge it's a privileged position to be in to start thinking pragmatically about spending your TC/qualified money, I can't help but have anxiety over 'doing the right thing' in terms of this.

I, personally, do not come from a background where I can ask my family for advice about these things, and I'm sure there are many others in the same situation, so any advice or experiences would be really helpful!

TIA

Hi!

While this would be subject to the COVID-19 restrictions at the given time - have any firms already communicated that they would be holding virtual/hybrid vacation schemes? Also, are the firms generally open to taking the VS/TC assessment days virtually (especially after last year), in case the candidate cannot appear in person?

Thanks!

The general application process for a firm I've applied to requires a video assessment to be completed. The email said that I have three working days to complete the assessment from the receipt of the email. I received the email on on Wednesday Morning. Because I've been been juggling two other situational judgment for other law firm applications and uni work, I've not had the time to properly do this one. I'm wondering if it would be possible to do it tomorrow on Saturday? I'm not sure if, in reality, I had until Friday to complete the application because Saturday doesn't count?

One of my top firms for a TC has a strong focus and reputation for their private client work. I didn't do particularly well in Equity (as in I got 50%), but all of my other modules are consistently 2.1s and I am currently completing some very hands on work experience which is quite private client-focussed (I've been drafting wills, LPAs, researching, meeting clients, etc.. and been receiving good feedback). Would my poor Equity mark be completely detrimental to my application, and is there any point in even applying?

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How long do firms doing winter vac schemes usually take to decide outcomes of TC offers from the vac scheme? Do they wait till they've completed all their vac schemes (winter, spring, summer)?

Hi - I was wondering if anyone can provide some suggestions on how they improved applying for further TCs after each rejected application. Yes I read over my past applications to see how I could have improved but as each application is unique apart from providing a different example or grammatically changing the wording, I find it difficult to ascertain how to improve them. I send my application answers to trainees at my firm for thoughts/comments to gain their knowledge having been successful at the TC path but I still have no particular techniques/ideas of how to improve them. I am a practical person and I do not want to approach the same each time, if it is going to be another failure. It doesn't make sense and is not efficient! Thank you.

Hi everyone - I attended a webinar yesterday by Reed Smith and they were discussing if to apply for the SQE or the LPC? They mentioned those applying to Reed Smith for a TC who have completed and/or undergoing the LPC would have to complete SQE 2 to be on the same par as their other trainees applying. Does anyone know if other law firms are following suite or do you foresee them asking for the same in the near future?

This is slightly worrying to candidates as I am sure like myself they did not self-fund and/or undertake the LPC if they were aware they would have to undertake more exams to get a TC? There are a lot of webinars and information on doing the SQE over the LPC but I do not see a lot about those who have already done the LPC looking for a TC. What will it mean for us in the future e.g. can we no longer apply for a TC by 2031 when the LPC is no longer valid? If so, it seems a bit harsh that we are cancelled out of a qualifying into the profession to follow due to a change in legal training and most will not like myself want to pay out for more exams/courses if we self-funded the LPC. Any help on this will be appreciated.

Does anyone know if there is a timer for the video interview on screen so you know how much time you have left while answering?

Hi everyone, I hope everyone is doing well.

I am currently applying for vacation schemes in Summer 2022, and am finding myself a bit conflicted with regards to what firms to apply to. I know that I want to go into litigation in the future, as I took some experience in this department in a Law firm in Namibia and I loved it. Nevertheless, I am torn for what firms to apply for as I have not had corporate law at university (so I am not sure if I will enjoy it or not), and what I have enjoyed at university, even though this might be different in practice rangers very widely from criminal law and administrative law to European law, contract law and torts. I know I do not want to work within finance (but again this might differ in practice).

I have been looking at firms like Mishcon de Reya and Kingsley Napely as they offer their services to private clients AND corporations (which I really liked about my internship), however I am also intending to apply to corporate firms. Is there any advice you could give me? and are there any firms you know of whose practices range very widely so that it would be possible to also for instance do non contractual liability litigation alongside corporate litigation etc?

My current approach is to apply some litigation only firms, but also to some corporate firms as well as due to the many departments I would get a wide range of experience in my training contract. However, I am still torn as currently I seem to have too many firms on my list to apply to and am struggling to cut them down.

Thank you and Kind regards