New Threads

I am currently applying for the Shoosmiths Insight Evening and slightly confused how to approach the question 'Describe why a legal career appeals to you.' Can this be answered by explaining why a career in commercial law appeals to me or does it have to be more generic?

Hey guys, I'm struggling with one of the Clyde & Co vac scheme application questions:

Write about a story in the business press that has interested you and how it is relevant to the Firm. (250 words max)

For this, are they expecting us to write about a recent deal/project that Clyde and Co has worked on, or can you talk about any business story that has interested you and then relate it back to how the firm would be involved if they were the ones working on it?

Hey guys,

I have an interview with Sidley next week and thought it would be good to hear from people about their experiences.

I get the impression it is much more of a conversational interview and unlikely to be a set menu of questions, but just wondering if anyone has been interviewed here before and could elaborate on the process.

Any general tips for interviews would also be appreciated!

Anyone doing the AS Commercial Awareness Competition this year? I did my round 2 yesterday and nervously waiting for results. This could be a good space to talk about the competition for anyone who does manage to make the quarter-final.

Hi all,
So I've read a couple of times today about the US government going after Google for its staggering dominance over the search engine market. It is my belief that the anti-competitive laws in place exist to protect consumers etc, but in what way is Google having such a dominance a bad thing and why are such resources invested into stopping it?
Google is simply (in my opinion) a better product than its competitors, I literally used to (until very recently) search for Google out of habit before I searched for anything to ensure I used Google!
Long story short, what are the negative implications of Googles dominance and why is there an urge to stop them?

Hi!
I am currently working on my application for a vac scheme with Gowling. I am not sure how to fill in the education section. Am I meant to put in every module or just my degree? Since I did IB, I am also not sure how I can put in all my subjects as well as my overall grades. I've included a screenshot to show the layout.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Guys,

I am currently applying for open days and workshops and I was wondering if you could give some tips.
How do you approach questions like "why do you want to attend this open day?" and how should structure my cover letter?

Thank you in advance.

In the work experience section in applications, should I bullet point or write in full details? Any firms that prefer either way?

Hi all,

I am in third year and planning to reapply to a number of firms I applied to last year. I had both a vac scheme this summer and summer internship (same company as in years prior) so I do have new experiences.

My query is how much I should be changing my applications from the previous years. K&E, for instance, is 1200 words of material all of which I put a lot of time and effort into last year - it also got me to the video interview. Questions like "what is your proudest achievement?" are difficult to reanswer as I have put my best answer done already.

Any clarification on this topic would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

Hi everyone,

I've been doing research for R&G's commercial question What three proposals would you make to the Partnership if you were Chairperson of Ropes & Gray? (500 words) for several days now but still haven't managed to write anything
I want to somehow write about their strategic focus on PE and their strong women's initiatives but I don't want to make any 'wild' proposals supposedly to the partnership... Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

Hi guys,

I was wondering what advice and approach you would give in answering the below commercial law question:

"What three proposals would you make to the Partnership if you were Chairperson of Ropes & Gray?"

Also, if anyone has had any success with an application to the firm, any tips would be welcomed.

I really appreciate any help you can provide.

I just got my LLM LPC overall mark (I did it self-funded), I was one mark of a commendation so I am really disappointed. I really underperformed in my January exams, which I in hindsight should have deferred or got mitigation because I was nearly hospitalised over the christmas holidays so I lost a lot of time for revision. I didn't because I never feel my reasons are good enough for mitigation. Will my LPC mark affect my TC applications?

Hi guys

I'm a graduate and a paralegal and am looking to apply to Hogan Lovells.

I've already done a vac scheme (at Ashurst) (last year) and i want to apply directly for a TC at Lovells. However, my question is should i apply for a VS or TC?

I am worried as i know for a lot of firms it is wise to apply for a VS as most firms recruit largely off the VS.

Does anyone know if Lovells recruit much off direct TC apps or it is better to apply for the VS?

Thank you!

Hi,
I am an Indian law graduate and have recently completed my LLM from King’s College London. I have been applying for TC’s and VC recently but have already received rejections. I am aware of the immense competition. However, I also wish to be realistic with my options. Most law firms I meet say they accept international students. However, I am unsure if they mean UK educated international students, specifically undergraduate.

I am beginning to think that perhaps my undergraduate marks are resulting in my rejections. Is there a way for someone from TCLA to have a look please and suggest if that might be the case?

Regards
Wajahat

Hey everyone I'm having some issues linking my personal experiences to the firm's core practice areas. Two areas I am keen on are M&A and PE. I am taking modules in M&A now which are interesting, and I also completed an InsideSherpa experience. What I usually do is that I say the firm is great at PE/M&A and then I say I am interested because of my experiences, but I can't elaborate because I can't put my finger on why they are interesting. There are just some things that just click your mind right?

How would you link your experiences to the firm's practice areas to show why the firm appeals to you?

Just wondering how everyone's preparing for Allen & Overy's virtual AC this year?
From the email invitation it seems they're keeping the two interview structure from previous years, one case study (albeit probably not a group exercise?) and one competency based interview.
I'm particularly worried about the case study as I've read we're supposed to know about things like balance sheets?

I just heard back from Freshfields that I have been fast-tracked (for completing their insight scheme and successfully passing a preliminary interview with grad rec) to their vac scheme interview for the summer scheme.

I am overwhelmingly excited but simultaneously terrified, as this is the first major interview I'll be doing. What are my chances? Do I have to really excel or is it enough to just not mess up?

How should I prepare? Did anyone who interviewed at Freshfields get hit with any "gotcha" questions? Do they like to do that to filter out unprepared people?

Sorry for the weird writing style in this post, I am really nervous right now even though it's a month or so away!

Thanks!

Recently got rejected after the online application phase for a vacation scheme after reaching the assessment centre last application cycle for the same firm. I've asked for some feedback, but since the application was largely the same, I can only think of two reasons:

1) More applicants for the vac scene than the TC
2) Though I graduated with a 2:1, I got a 45 in Trusts - is this unacceptable to the point that I can't really get a city TC?

Many thanks in advance for any answers or advice

Hello everyone! The Freshfields workshop application requires only a 400 words personal statement. If anyone has had experience in applying for this program in the past, do you have any advice regarding the letter? What to include etc. Many thanks!

Hello - I'm struggling with one of the questions on the application, mostly because of the potential breadth of it! The question is:

Please detail below any further information that you would like us to consider when reviewing your application in the light of the many others we receive? What makes you stand out from the crowd?

How have other people approached this? I'm unsure whether to focus on my personal attributes, my experiences, my drive, or what. Whilst I'm proud of many things about myself, they're mostly things like academic success, work ethic, a variety of work experience etc. - and it's hard to think of any of these things as being radically different to other applicants.

Cant seem to find the app process for the NRF (summer) vac scheme. Anyone know what it is?

Thanks

I know this could be pretty controversial but I wanted everyone's opinion on legal tech which is shaking up the industry (and at a time where many junior positions are under threat).

Whilst I appreciate that obtaining a TC is the holy grail, and that if both opportunities presented themselves equally most would opt for a TC, how much consideration would give to an opportunity to work in legal tech (e.g. as a legal technologist).

I ask this as someone who is wrestling with the whole TC process, year after year, but I know that eventually I'd probably want to work in legal tech - therefore, a legal technologist role might be perfect for me.

However, I am concerned about the salary, progress and potential limitations of such a role which compared to what may eventually be regarded as the 'traditional lawyer' route.

What do you guys think? Would you consider legal tech as an alternative to the TC route? Do you have any concerns or reservations about taking on a role in legal tech? Has anyone here got any experience or understanding of the salaries, career progression and potential future opportunities in legal tech?

Hi all!

Thought I would create an S&S thread.

Just a quick one on this - as I'm sure people know, S&S are fairly light on application questions, instead (presumably) focusing on how well you do on the SJT, Video interview etc.

Their only question is the classic:
Please give details of your interests and activities, positions of responsibility, skills and achievements. Please also include any other information relevant to your application. (250 words max)*

My question would be is that given this is the sole question, should you try and link this back to why Simmons & Simmons? Or is that a waste of time? Should you try and link your work experience briefly to the firm as well?

It feels odd copying and pasting an answer to a question that is asked so often on other forms, when there are no other questions to convey your interest in the firm.

Interested to see what peoples' take on this is!

Hi everyone, I don't meant to bring everyone down with me but recently I've been feeling pretty hopeless

I've applied to well over 20-30 vac schemes over the last year, and I keep facing rejection after rejection. I know it's simply a part of the process and everyone goes through it, but I keep feeling like I just won't get anything. I've tried to build up my experiences over summer by starting my own company and last year I was a part of a committee for a decently large society. Work experience wise, I had two weeks of informal shadowing at DWF and I worked as a hospitality waiter over the last year.

Apart from that I haven't really got a whole lot - I feel like everyone else applying just has so much more impressive stuff to talk about. I tried to secure some type of remote internships over the summer and didn't get anything. I just don't know where I'm lacking and what I can do in the short time available to me to improve.

Sorry for this rant, I just feel a bit down about this whole thing. How do you guys stay motivated after rejections?

Hi guys,
The Sidley application has this question on its work experiences section.

"Detail your extra curricular activities and interests and positions of responsibility. Please state what you feel you have gained from them and how others have benefited from your involvement. (250 words max)*".

My question is whether this should be answered in bullet points or in a structured paragraph. It seems most intuitive to write each activity and then around 50 words on it and start a new pargraph. But unsure if they are looking for a more structured answer which draws upon multiple experiences to evidence a quality gained?