New Threads

Hi, has anyone had a telephone interview with NRF and wouldn't mind giving some insight into the questions asked? Thank you!

This was my dream firm. I told them my education end date is 2023 as I thought it meant the date I’ll finish the LPC. After submitting I re read and realised they want the date I finish university. Such a stupid error but I’m so worried they’ll disregard my application now? It’s Irwin Mitchell

The forum team thought it would be useful for us to provide a list of upcoming application deadlines for vacation scheme. So here it is...

Let me know if there are an errors or changed dates, as this is going by what firms have previously published/marketed. Firms may decide to change their deadlines and so it is always worth double checking yourself. If a firm is listed twice below, it may be where they have different deadlines for different schemes.

January 2021

1st:

• Baker McKenzie
• Lewis Silkin

3rd:

• Clyde and Co
• Debevoise & Plimpton
• Dentons
• Eversheds SUtherland
• Hogan Lovells
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Latham & Watkins
• Milbank
• Weil Gotshal & Manges

4th:

• CMS
• Irwin Mitchell
• Mills & Reeve
• Morrison & Foerster (UK)

5th:

• Addleshaw Goddard
• Clyde & Co

7th:

• Burges Salmon
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

8th:

• Ashurst
• Jones Day
• Squire Patton Boggs
• Watson Farley & Williams

9th:

• Davis Polk & Wardwell London

10th:

• BLM
• TLT

11th:

• Davis Pole & Wardwell London
• Taylor Wessing

15th:

• Covington & Burling
• Goodwin Procter
• Katten Muchin Rosenman
• Osborne Clarke
• Simmons & Simmons
• Sullivan & Cromwell
• Vinson & Elkins
• White & Case
• Winston & Strawn

17th:

• Akin Gump
• Norton Rose Fulbright
• RPC
• Shearman & Sterling
• Travers Smith
• Weil Gotshal & Manges

21st:

• Cooley

22nd:

• DWF

24th:

• Horwich Farrelly

29th:

• Ashurst
• Trowers & Hamlins

30th:

• PwC

31st:

• Bates Wells
• BDB Pitmans
• Birketts
• Blandy & Blandy
• Boodle Hatfield
• Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
• Charles Russell Speechlys
• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
• Cooley
• DAC Beachcroft
• Dechert
• Edwin Coe
• Farrer & Co
• Fladgate
• Forsters
• Hewitsons
• HFW
• Hill Dickinson
• Hugh James
• K&L Gates
• Macfarlanes
• Mayer Brown
• Michelmores
• Morgan Lewis & Bockius
• Muckle
• Northridge Law
• Parker Bullen
• Paul Hastings
• Penningtons Manches Cooper
• Ropes & Gray
• Sidley Austin
• Stephenson Harwood
• Stevens & Bolton
• Thomas Snell & Passmore
• Wilkin Chapman
• Willkie Farr & Gallagher
• Withers

February 2021

1st:

• Browne Jacobson
• Gateley PLC
• Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
• Lee Bolton Monier-Williams

14th:

• Baines Wilson

15th:

• Simmons & Simmons

21st:

• Russell-Cooke

28th:

• Bevan Brittan
• Bridge McFarland
• Fieldings Porter
• Fosters Solicitors
• Kingsley Napley
• Mills and Co
• Shoosmiths
• SJP Law
• Ward Hadaway
• Winckworth Sherwood
• Womble Bond Dickinson

March 2021:

1st:

• Moore Barlow
• Punch Robson

5th:

• Anthony Collins Solicitors

8th:

• Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer

15th:

• Leathes Prior
• PDT Solicitors
• Simons Muirhead & Burton

23rd:

• Marriott Harrison

26th:

• Keebles

27th:

• Ashtons Legal

29th:

• Stephens Scown
• Weightmans

30th:

• Burnetts
• Wilson Solicitors

31st:

• Birkett Long
• dgb Solicitors
• Faegre Driker Biddle & Reath
• Field Seymour Parkes
• Howes Percival
• Maurice Turner Gardner
• Nockolds
• Osbornes Solicitors
• Palmers
• Reed Smith
• Rolits
• Taylor Walton
• Tees
• Thomson Snell & Passmore
• Woodfines
• Wrigley Solicitors

April 2021

1st:

• Foot Anstey

10th:

• Higgs & Sons

17th:

• Furley Page

24th:

• Harrison Clark Rickerbys

30th:

• Ashfords
• Ashtons Legal
• Campbell-Taylor Solicitors
• EMW Law
• Forbes Solicitors
• Johnson Astills
• Lester Aldridge
• Mills & Co Solicitors
• Parker Bullen
• Stone King
• Taylor & Emmet

May 2021:

1st

• Collas Crill
• Moore Barlow
• Savas & Savage Solicitors

3rd

• BHW Solicitors

10th:

• Wright Hassall

22nd:

• Baines Wilson

Hi everyone,

As some of you may remember, at TCLA we have a tradition of running a weekly giveaway of TCLA Premium subscriptions based on contributions to the forum.

As the new year approaches, we'd love to start this again! Therefore, every Monday (starting Monday the 4th of January), the forum team will be selecting one person to receive a free (bronze) subscription to TCLA Premium for a month.

This will be based on active and helpful contributions to the forum for that week, which could be anything from asking questions, sharing interesting articles, and offering advice to other members.

The winners will be posted in this thread. I will be announcing the first winner this Monday, so keep a look out!

Best,

Naomi

Hello, I know the deadline hasn’t passed yet but I wondered if anyone had heard back for the Summer London Vac Scheme?

Hello all!

I just confirmed my TC interview with Slaughters, and I was wondering if anyone had any advice.

They’re my top firm so I’m desperate to do well, and especially so as I was rejected after interview for their vac scheme.

If anyone has any experience let me know!

I am a second year student holding a training contract offer from a Magic Circle firm. I am not sure whether I should still bother applying to vacation schemes with US firms. I do hope to work for US firms in the long term given the higher salaries, but I have also heard that US firms hire a considerable number of Magic Circle lawyers upon qualification or several years PQE. With that in mind, are there any advantages to starting off at a MC firm instead of a US firm? How hard is it to move from the MC to US firms?

The compensation in the short term isn't such a big deal given that trainee salaries are similar and taxes mean there is not such a large difference at NQ, but US firm salaries seem to be considerably higher thereafter.

I am also considering immigrating to the US in the future, though from my understanding this simply doesn't happen very often whether I work for a US or UK firm, so I guess that is not a consideration.

Hi,

I was wondering Clyde & Co include a test in their application process? Or if they have the WG test?

Thank you

Based on your research, what do you understand to be the biggest opportunity for one of the sectors in which we specialise? (Max:150)"


Bird & Bird’s automotive sector has a strong reputation with clients such as Audi and Mitsubishi. One of the biggest opportunities for this sector is the decarbonisation of automotive vehicles, driven by actions such as the UK government’s recent acceleration of the end date of petrol and diesel cars to 2030. Although often seen as an obstacle in such a carbon-dependant industry, the underlying requirement for product innovation and business growth to meet the demands of this changing landscape represents new opportunities for investors, OEMS, and suppliers who are able to finance and develop the necessary electrical products. The firm’s recent work assisting the agreement between PSA Group and Total for the creation of a joint venture devoted to the manufacturing of batteries for the automotive industry is just one example of the growth and opportunity triggered by decarbonisation. Bird & Bird’s deep industry knowledge, alongside their strength in advising on cross-border contractual and IP issues, will be crucial to enabling businesses to capitalise on decarbonisation's opportunities.

Thanks

Hi,

I have just received notification that I made it through to the video interview for Gowling. I have never done a video interview before so I am obviously a little nervous. If anyone has any tips for the interview and how to prepare, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Hi there,

I’m applying for TCs at US law firms in London. Quite a few say that their preferred provider/provider is BPP.

I’ve been wondering if it would be possible to do the GDL outside of London or at a different institution other than BPP. Only because it might be nice and cheaper (!) to do a year outside of London before doing the LPC.

Hi,

Has anyone applied to Gowling and completed the video interview for the vacation scheme 2021? It says I will be presented with a scenario (situational judgment) and how I would deal with it. Any ideas of what sort of questions are involved and if so how should I respond to them? It's my first video interview and I will be very grateful if someone can give me some advice and insights as to how I can tackle with those types of interview.

Thanks very much.

Hello,

Can anyone offer advice on how to prepare for a group negotiation exercise at an Assessment Centre (Macfarlanes)? I have never done one before and do not know what to expect.

Many thanks,

Hi all! Let me introduce myself: I'm Jacob, and, alongside @Naomi U and @Dheepa I've just joined TCLA as part of the forum team. This thread will be an AMA for all three of us!

By way of introduction, I'm a future trainee at Travers Smith LLP (commencing Sept '23) and I'm currently in my final year of a Scots Law degree at the University of Aberdeen.

I've more or less always wanted to go into law, but only really started exploring 'BigLaw' in early-2018- I had initially considered joining the criminal bar here in Scotland! I quickly realised that commercial practice in the City was far more up my street, and so began investigating career options in that field.

My first application cycle was the Autumn/ Winter 2018 into 2019 cycle. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks before applications opened en mass, I was involved in a freak accident where I broke my back in 3 places and became paralysed. Thankfully, I've made a fairly full recovery since then but the recovery from that blighted my application season and I was only able to make one application to Clifford Chance's SPARK scheme, for which I was later invited to interview. I was unsuccessful at that (watch out for the full story coming fairly soon in a new thread) and then waited until the next application cycle, Autumn/ Winter 2019 into 2020, when I would be applying for Vacation Schemes. In that time, I worked on identifying the firms I was most interested in, creating a 'shortlist' of about 12-14 firms to whom I wanted to apply, researching them in some more depth and also working on my 'stock answers' (e.g., why law, why me, why X firm) that I knew I would have to hit in applications and at interviews.

In the end, I made 12 applications to a wide variety of Magic Circle, Silver Circle, American and International Elite firms. I secured three interviews, with Travers Smith, Norton Rose Fulbright, and Herbert Smith Freehills. Of those, I was made VS offers by Travers and Norton Rose. I took part (virtually) in those schemes in July and September respectively, and was delighted to be made an offer by Travers Smith without having to attend an exit interview. I elected not to partake in the exit interview with Norton Rose as, for various reasons, I felt that Travers was the best firm for me- to that end, I don't know whether I would have been made an offer.

Aside from Vacation Schemes, I'm also a RARE and AS candidate, and, as such, I've attended various events with a wide variety of Magic Circle, Silver Circle and International firms.

I feel that my successes really came when I let my personality shine through everything I was doing- whether that was in my written application, at the interview stage or anywhere in between, as soon as I actually showed my personality and character to those assessing me, I started getting more offers. Is that because I have some sort of wonderfully charming and endearing personality? Well, although it would probably depend who you ask, that's not the case at all. It was because I realised that I was being assessed on so much more than just the substantive content and reasoning in written and oral responses. This is also content I'll go over in more detail in separate posts in the near future- keep your eyes peeled!

That's all from me at the moment! I look forward to answering all your questions and I'm sure the rest of the team do too. Of course, my DMs are open if there's anything particularly private you'd like to discuss but, as with the general ethos of the forum, we'd really appreciate it if substantive discussion and questions were all kept on the thread!

Hi there,

I have posted previous versions before but could someone give me some feedback for this edited answer for B & B application q:

Based on your research, what do you understand to be the biggest opportunity for one of the sectors in which we specialise? (Max:150)"

Bird & Bird’s automotive sector has a strong reputation with clients such as Audi and Mitsubishi. One of the biggest opportunities for this sector is the decarbonisation of automotive vehicles, driven by actions such as the UK government’s recent acceleration of the end date of petrol and diesel cars to 2030. Although often seen as an obstacle in such a carbon-dependant industry, the underlying requirement for product innovation and business growth to meet the demands of this changing landscape represents new opportunities for investors, OEMS, and suppliers who are able to finance and develop the necessary electrical products. The firm’s recent work assisting the agreement between PSA Group and Total for the creation of a joint venture devoted to the manufacturing of batteries for the automotive industry is just one example of the growth and opportunity triggered by decarbonisation. Bird & Bird’s deep industry knowledge, alongside their strength in advising on cross-border contractual and IP issues, will be crucial to enabling businesses to capitalise on decarbonisations opportunities.

Hi all,

This is the last question for the HFW Vac scheme application:

Using your existing knowledge of HFW, please suggest one way in which we might develop/ grow the firm, or enhance our legal service to clients. (350 words)

Since the firm have opened many offices in the last few years, I'd be inclined to say that they should continue this trend. However, obviously COVID-19 means it's not ideal to open anywhere.

Please could people offer me some advice on what enhancing legal services to clients might mean for a sector-based firm?

I applied for Withers vac scheme last year and my application was successful up to interview stage. How much do I need to change my application for this year?

I can change a few of the answers for 'team work' and 'client focus' as I can draw on some non-commercial work experience since I last applied. However, I feel that my previous answers still showcase my skills and experiences better than anything I have done since.

Hi all,

it seem that the above exam is the hardest one to crack and students often fail it or get very low marks.

Do you have any advice, please? I'm absolutely beside myself.

Hi all,

as many, I'm revising for jan exams. Want to find exam papers as my institute has only given 2 past papers, which I don't feel is sufficient.
Is anyone willing to share pls? Thanks.

Best,

Hi!

I'm so sorry as I think this query has been answered before by @Jaysen but I can't find the answer anywhere no matter how much I have searched for it!

@Alice G @Jaysen I would really appreciate some tips on structuring this Q!

'After a busy day at the office, you begin your journey home on the train. The passenger next to you notices you are reading a legal journal and mentions that they are currently looking for a new firm of solicitors as they are not happy with their current firm. How would you promote Irwin Mitchell to the potential client?'

Is it worth highlighting the issue that we do not know what the client needs are - IM is a full-service firm so the client needs could be ranging from personal injury to mergers and acquisitions! Or do you think this is more about the USP of the firm / or maybe a bit of both?

Any tips on structure would be great

Hi guys

Merry Christmas to all!

Does anyone have any advice on the SPB personal statement for their London vacation scheme? It's only 300 words but on their website they give guidance here about what to include, and there's just so much:

• A personal introduction – Think about what you think we ought to know about you as a person. At our firm, we love hearing about individuals and their journeys. Is there anything that makes you stand out or anything from your background you feel we would want to know?
• Relevant skills, interests and experiences – These do not have to be entirely related to the legal industry; however, naturally, the legal side should take priority, if possible. Think about your legal and non-legal work experience, as well as your studies. What is it that you are passionate about?
• Achievements – Think about what you are most proud of, this could be a work - or non-work-related achievement, or perhaps an achievement from your education. Again, think about relevance and how this links to the role of a trainee solicitor.
• What you would bring to the organisation? We look at the whole picture when it comes to our trainees, so we want to know how you would work with our teams and the type of personality you would bring to us. Try to incorporate any legal knowledge that you have, as well as how this would benefit our firm.
• Your professional or academic goals – The age-old question, “where do you see yourself in five years?” A cliché, I know; however, it rings true with us that this is something we would love to know about you. What are your goals? Where can you see your career heading? Think big, we love that!

They also give tips that include offering your reasons as to why SPB and linking all your skills to the legal industry where possible. I just don't see how it's possible to fit all of this information into 300 words while still providing enough detail to fully evidence everything you say?!

It would be really helpful if anyone had any tips or even if you have a personal statement that you wouldn't mind letting me have a look at! I'm really stuck!!

Thanks so much in advance

I have recently got into a year abroad (was previously on a straight LLB 3-year course, but will now be going abroad next year & doing a 4 year course) so am now unsure what I am allowed to/should be applying to for commercial law firms ! A few of my friends who have been on a 4 year course since enrollment have said that they have been told to apply to first year schemes now, and on most vac schemes it states that they are open to 'penultimate year law students' (which I am obviously now no longer), but then I am also clearly not a first year student! Was wondering if anyone knows what happens if I apply to one which is the 'wrong one' or anything else i might need to know? I was hoping to be able to apply to 1st year schemes as they seem less competitive & stressful than VCs but other than that would I just have to apply to VCs for the next cycle? Sorry if this question has been posted already or is in the wrong place - this is my first post on here!

Hi all, I know Bakers are well known for their D&I and I know the different initiatives (BakersWellbeing, BakersWomen etc..) but I was wondering what kinds of projects they do? As in, as a lawyer there, what kinds of projects can you get hands on involved in in relation to D&I?

If there are any current Bakers trainees who can help me out that would be great but any answers are much appreciated!

Hi all!

I received an invite to HSF’s assessment centre for their Spring Vacation Scheme. I’ve been told there will be two scenario based interviews, as well as a competency interview.

Does anyone have any advice for the scenario based interview specifically? Or could point me in the direction of some useful resources to prepare for it?

Any advice would be very much appreciated! Thanks!

Hey everyone,

Just a quick note to say that the TCLA team are wishing you a lovely break. I know it runs right in the middle of the application window, but I do hope you get the chance to take some time for yourself.

I'll be writing a fuller 'TCLA's Year in Review' next week, but I just want to say it has been such a pleasure seeing how you guys continue to support one another - especially this year. So many of you have given candidates a boost when they needed it the most, and you should be very proud of yourself for that.

Best,

Jaysen