New Threads

Hi, I am currently in the midst of completing my Clifford Chance Open Day application and had a few questions regarding how I should go about it.

1. One of the questions asked why I wanted to attend an Open Day at CC and one of my reasons for applying was to find out more about their practices as I understand they are a huge corporate and finance firm- two areas I am very interested in. I've read up on some of the projects they've been involved in in these two areas but am a bit stuck on how to incorporate them into my answer. Would I need to or is this irrelevant? I was told this would show interest in the firm (seeing as you have done your research on them) but it seems a bit forced for me to add them in.

2. The second question asked me about my extra curricular activities. Most of my activities are uni-based with some work experience such as internships etc. Do these consider as extra curricular activities since they are associated with law and university? I'm so sorry if this is a dumb question.

Thank you so much for all your help.

Hi,

A few weeks ago I reviewed the lawcareers.net website to see when firms are closing their training contract deadline. I chose to look into EMW Law for a 2021 TC application, but when I recently went back to confirm the deadline the firm is no longer posted there anymore.

EMW Law's website states that applications are still open for 2021. I know lawcareers.net gathers their information from firms and it might not be 100% accurate, but do you think I should still apply even though on lawcareers.net it only outlines the 2022 deadlines now?

The firm may have filled up all their spots and I just don't want to waste my time applying.

Thanks,
Asmee

Hi guys, I just found out that I have got a partner interview with BCLP. Has anyone got any insight or guidance that could potentially help me prepare, specific to BCLP or for partner interviews in general? Any help is much appreciated, thanks!

Hey guys!

Just looking for some general advice.

I wasn't able to secure a TC this year but I've been offered two jobs: 1) a trade support role at a tier 1 investment bank and 2) a 3-month (law-related) contract role with a financial regulatory body as a document reviewer.

I'm wondering whether you guys think taking one of these roles would support a TC app more than the other and if a 3-month role would look insignificant.

Thanks in advance

Hi All,

We are currently experiencing some technical problems, which has caused a few messages that were sent in the past couple of hours to vanish. You might also see the message 'this connection is not private'.

This was caused by upgrading our hosting package and should take less than 24 hours to resolve. My apologies for any inconvenience in the meantime.

Thanks,

Jaysen

I just got invited to AC for the Government Legal Department trainee scheme. Has anyone interviewed there in previous years? Any tips and guidance would be appreciated!

It will be an hour long written exercise and a panel interview with 2 senior government lawyers and an independent chairperson. Details are below:

'WRITTEN EXERCISE

You will be given a practical legal problem
which you will be asked to analyse and then
address a number of questions.
You will be given 60 minutes to complete the
exercise. The exercise will be taken under test
conditions and you will be asked to complete
your answer on a laptop computer which will
be provided.

The exercise is not a test of legal knowledge
but of your analytical ability, judgement and
your ability to communicate effectively in
writing. If you have been or are studying law,
you will not be given credit for referring to
any legal knowledge beyond the given
material because this would give you an
unfair advantage over those who have not yet
studied law.

As part of the exercise, you will need to
assume that you are writing to a senior
colleague or minister who has asked for your
advice. You will be given the necessary
information about the law which you will
need to refer to in order to advise your
manager.

You should express your thoughts clearly,
using language appropriate to your audience.
However, you do not need to spend time
writing in formal ‘legal opinion’ style (i.e.
formally saying you “are asked to advise etc.”,
followed by a recital of the facts).

Following the written exercise, you will be
given a copy of your response. You will then
spend around 20 minutes reviewing your
response as you prepare to be questioned on
it at the start of the interview. You will have
your response with you during the interview.

INTERVIEW

The interview provides you with a further
opportunity to demonstrate evidence of the
behaviours listed in the ‘What are we looking
for’ chapter. You should expect your interview
to last for 70 minutes.

Your interview panel will comprise two senior
government lawyers and an independent
chairperson. On occasion, observers are
allocated to interview sessions. Where an
observer is present, they will take no part in
either the questioning or decision-making
process.

At the beginning of the interview, the panel
will spend up to 15 minutes questioning you
on your response to the written exercise. This
will enable you to expand upon the key points
which you have made.

Following this, you will be asked a selection of
ability, behaviour and strength-based
questions by members of the interview panel.

At the end of the interview you will be asked
if you have anything to add which you believe
may be relevant to your application. You will
be able to ask the panel any questions you
may have. You will also have the opportunity
of asking for any personal information you
have given to be treated in confidence.'

Many thanks!!

Hi all,

Probably a bit of a silly question but what would you say the rules are regarding using examples from other firms/work experience for future applications at other firms?

As an example, would you say it is appropriate to say at 'X firm I worked on a case that involved X legal issues?' Is it acceptable to use such examples provided you don't disclose sensitive information, such as the client's name (obviously) but do discuss what the legal issues were?

Hello

I have applied to two regional firms - Tollers and Woodfines. I have secured an assessment centre with both. Does anyone have any experience with these two firms and can you shed any light on their assessments please.

Thanks in advance

I've been invited to Accutrainee's assessment centre next week. I was wondering if anyone on the forum had any prior experience with their process and could provide any tips?

The assessment centre consists of the following:
1. Presentation on topic of my choice
2. Competency interview
3. Written exercise

Many thanks in advance!

Hey guys,

I have a Slaughter and May's Direct TC interview coming up. I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to do the written exercise. People have been saying to use SWOT or Porter's Fives - does this just literally mean listing SWOT as separate headings and writing under them? Moreover, do we only use SWOT or Porter's Five - and not both?

I was also wondering if there are any other resources that can be used for the written exercise, as I had one a few months ago at Latham, but mine didn't go down too well.

Kind regards,
TCP

Hi all

I always get a bit thrown off when asked "Why do you want to attend an open day with X firm?"

I have only applied for two open days in my time, the first I was rejected from and the second I am waiting to hear back. I want to make sure I am approaching this question in the right way before applying for any more.

I usually explain why I am interested in the firm and what I think I will gain from attending an open day. Is that how everyone else would approach this? I don't want to go off on a tangent explaining why I am so interested in the firm if that is not what the question is really asking.

Advice would be welcome!

Camilla

Hi guys!

I have an interview coming up at Slaughter and May. One thing I've noticed is that they don't have international offices, and like Travers Smith, they have 'best friend' law firms whom they partner with.

My question is, how does this really work in detail? Do they simply work with the local law firm in a region (let's say, Japan), and work on a client matter 50/50 - and then take 50% of the billing from this client? And what are the advantages/disadvantages of this?

Thanks!

Hi

Has anyone done an AC at HFW for direct TC? I would really appreciate any kind of information or advise.

Thanks,

Hi everyone!

Welcome to the first commercial news update for August.

Happy reading!

Commercial News Update: 7th August 2019

Topics covered this week are:

1. The London Stock Exchange Group’s Proposed Acquisition of Refinitiv (@ELA)
2. Enduring Hong Kong Protests Begin to Add to Economic Uncertainty (@LJ)
3. Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Investing in Babylon Health (@Sara Moon)
4. Managing Interest Rates in Uncertain Times (@Jaysen)
5. GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer Consumer Health Merger (@Sairah)
6. The Falling Pound (@Alice G)

******************************************************************************************************************************

1. The London Stock Exchange Group’s Proposed Acquisition of Refinitiv @ELA

The Story:

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) confirmed it has agreed on terms to acquire Refinitiv in a US$27 billion all-share transaction.

Refinitiv, which is currently owned by Blackstone and Thomson Reuters, is one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure.

The deal would make the LSEG – best known for running stock exchanges and clearing derivatives – a leader in market data and analytics, capable of competing with Bloomberg.

Impact on Businesses and Law Firms:

Finance and corporate lawyers would have been involved in structuring the all-share acquisition, which will result in Refinitiv shareholders owning about 37% of the combined group. Voting rights would have also been negotiated – the two current owners of Refinitiv are expected to own around 30% of the total voting right of the LSEG. It remains to be seen whether the proposal is approved by LSEG’s shareholders and competition authorities. Due to the size of the both companies and Refinitiv’s offices in ninety locations around the world, antitrust regulation probes in the EU, UK and US are a strong possibility.

From a strategic perspective, the proposed acquisition exemplifies the way in which financial institutions – like other businesses – seek to adapt to their changing economic landscape. The LSEG has focused on developing the data services branch of its business for several years following the financial crisis: its former executive Mr Rolet spent £4bn on acquiring data and clearing businesses such as Russell Investment in 2014, and last year data services generated 44% of the LSEG’s revenues, while only 22% came from capital markets. The move to acquire Refinitiv can be seen as another manifestation of the LSEG’s efforts to become less dependent on volatile financial markets for its income, relying instead on offering information which market participants (be the index compilers, fund management institution, hedge funds, investment banks, or private investors) will always need.

2. Enduring Hong Kong Protests Begin to Add to Economic Uncertainty @LJ

The Story:

With Hong Kong’s protests now into their third month, the economic implications are becoming increasingly explicit. The demonstrations began in opposition to an extradition bill proposed by Carrie Lam’s government which is thought to put Hong Kong residents under the authority of the mainland Chinese courts, undermining the ‘one country, two systems’ agreement. Excessive force by the Hong Kong police, as well as violence by apparent pro-Beijing men wearing white shirts in Yuen Long, have further provoked demonstrators. There remains “no sign of the movement losing steam”, the FT reports.

Impact on Businesses and Law Firms:

The events in Hong Kong only further add to the more general global economic uncertainty facilitated by the US-China trade war and crisis with Iran. Business activity has reached a decade low in Hong Kong, as professionals in a multitude of sectors began striking this week. This understandably has an impact on potential investment, making transactions and deals less likely. Indeed, many City firms (such as DLA Piper and Clifford Chane) hold invaluable international offices in Hong Kong, with large US firms (such as Mayer Brown and Baker McKenzie) also already noticing potential concerns. Consequently, corporate lawyers will feel this economic impact, with clients less incentivised to hire expensive City law firms, both domestically and internationally.

We should also not forget the severe impact that this can have on China itself. China utilizes Hong Kong through its stock market as an economic gateway to the Western world. While China’s respective economic growth has meant it relies on Hong Kong less, this capacity remains significant, and it will be keen to control this uncertainty from perpetuating further. Many analysts have pointed to China’s legal capability to deploy the PLA, but China will want to avoid this if possible. As Hong Kong’s growth was already under 1% before the protests, the future looks concerning for both its own economy and the many parties connected to it.

3. Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Investing in Babylon Health @Sara Moon

The Story:

Last week, it was announced that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is investing $550 million in the health start-up Babylon Health. Babylon Health is a UK based start-up that developed a chatbot that checks the symptoms of patients and provides a remote consultation service with doctors via text and video messaging. Its chatbot is currently being used by the National Health Service. The investment will be used to expand Babylon’s business to the US, Middle East and Asia.

Impact on Businesses and Law Firms:

Saudi Arabia’s investment is part of its ambitious Vision 2030, which is a strategic blueprint that aims to diversify the Saudi’s economy so that it could become less reliant on oil. The Public Investment Fund is the main vehicle through which Vision 2030 is to be realised and Saudi aims to invest a quarter of its assets overseas by next year, and half by 2030. It has been making several tech bets so far, most notably $45bn in SoftBank’s technology fund.

From the British perspective, this investment will help it to create a stronger economic relationship with Saudi Arabia and strengthen the partnership established between the two countries last year. In 2018, the two countries agreed a £65 billion mutual trade and investment deal and promised to share expertise and support in various sectors including education, health care and entertainment. This kind of partnership comes amid Brexit uncertainties, which may force the UK to create new trade relationships with other countries.

Saudi’s Vision 2030 and the UK’s Brexit means that it is highly likely that transactions between the two countries will increase significantly in the coming years. This could come in various forms, including direct investments, partnerships between companies and M&A deals. This means that there will be a flow of deals that law firms could work on, and law firms with a presence in the Middle East or with strong Middle Eastern teams will particularly benefit from this.

Hi all, I have a question regarding where I should apply for a vac scheme. My results from my first year weren't amazing- with a low 2.1 average and a 61% in contract. I am sure I am able to boost my overall result in year 2 by working harder and having now understood how to answer law questions. However, due to my low first year result, I was wondering which firms are less picky with grades and which firms I could have a chance of securing a vac scheme with?

Some of the firms I am interested in are Clifford Chance, Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose Fullbright, Simmons&Simmons, DLA Piper and Baker Mckenzie.

For those that haven't seen my email, we have a new private equity guide!

Find private equity confusing? Want to know the difference between an MBO and an MBI? Unsure why some bonds are called 'junk'? Curious as to what private equity lawyers actually do? You're in luck!

Check out this super detailed guide into private equity by @Ginevra Bizzarri.
https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/what-is-private-equity-a-guide-for-future-lawyers/

Hi guys! I notice that the vac scheme thread pretty much centers on practical tips e.g. how to do well, what not to do, what to do etc., but there is no post on specific experience! The vac scheme diaries are great, but they focus more on the legal experience.

I am wondering whether there are any personal stories on failed vac schemes - or how a vac schemer turned an unpleasant experience into a pleasant one. I do have one failed scheme - I will share it with you guys soon

Meanwhile, I heard from my friends that a girl was isolated by the lawyers who share a room with her - but she persisted, befriending other lawyers in other departments. She even went as far to request accompanying a lawyer to a due diligence trip (which no one likes to go generally). In the end, she got a TC offer.

A huge thank you to the amazing members of the forum who scored TCs ultimately at their favourite firms for their amazing advice! I'm quite interested in knowing more from others on the forum though, and I believe it might be useful or encouraging to those who are having a rough time!

Hi everyone,

I feel a bit silly even posing my question, but here it goes.

I have secured a VS and now have been invited to attend an AC with another firm on the same start date- common sense of course tells me to ask the AC firm to arrange another date if possible - however, from the group's experience, what would be the likelihood of this? -especially as its an AC with a smaller sized firm. I would hate to lose a good opportunity.

I've heard that it may be a good thing for employers to know you are having positive responses from other firms, however this did not work in my favour from my second to last interview experience.

Thank you!

Hi guys do you think for the Clifford Chance 600 word question we should pick a couple of things to talk about? I've applied before and got rejected and I wonder if it was because I spoke about everything I did and tried to use the star technique too much instead of giving a broader view of what I do and how this has helped shaped my desire to be a lawyer. Not sure how to approach it this time or what to say that really stands out?

Hi! I am going to apply for A&O's training contract or vacation scheme this year. Considering that I am a graduate student now, what should I apply for? Is there a greater chance of securing one than the other or a vacation scheme is a route to TC?

Hi!

I have just begun applying to attend the lawcareersnet live event in December.

I was wondering if anyone had attended these events in the past and how useful they found them?

I am currently trying to decide whether to attend to London or Bristol event because I study at Bristol but the London event looks like it has much more interesting workshops and I could stay with family.

Has anyone else applied or will be applying?

Thanks in advance!

Hi all, I apologize if this has been posted elsewhere but I couldn't find anything when I searched.

I am going to be a penultimate non-law student and I am becoming more and more confused about what I can apply to this year! For some firms (such as shearman and sterling) I can very clearly only apply to the 'first year schemes', while for others it appears as if I am eligible to apply for the vacation schemes (A and O). To add to the confusion some firms gr are saying different things to what was said when I met them in person (NRF said I could only apply final year, but when I emailed to enquire about first steps I got told I can apply to the vacation scheme???)

So through this rambling my question is, does anyone know of - or is willing to help me make a definitive list - of firms I can apply to? Both 'first year schemes' and vacation schemes? Also, am I right in thinking that I can only apply to Freshfields this year?

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone had any experience/ knowledge about Memery Crystal's first round interview for TCs?

Cheers

Hi All,

I'm pleased to say Jessica Booker, a former graduate recruiter for a variety of magic circle firms, has joined our forum team.

You can use this thread to ask Jess any questions relating to the application and interview process. Jess will also be around to answer questions throughout the forum.

For more details about her background:

Jessica Booker started her career in graduate recruitment for law firms. Over nine years, she worked for three Magic Circle law firms and one regional law firm, focusing on bringing candidates through the recruitment process as well as campus marketing.

In 2014, Jess decided to work as a freelancer setting up her company Star Potential. Since then, she has worked on a variety of legal recruitment and employability projects for a wide range of law firms, universities and other organisations in the sector, like the Law Society.