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I’ve written a bit on this topic before but I think it’s one of the hardest, yet most important, questions to get right (although, if you’re brilliant at writing commercial stories but can’t articulate why you’re interested in a specific law firm, then there’s no point). It's difficult because we often go through our lives not questioning why we’re attracted to the things that draw us in. Therefore, a question like HSF’s Introduce us to a topic you know about and explain why it interests you or MoFo’s Please detail a recent news article that has interested you and highlight how this might have an impact on Morrison & Foerster’s business can throw many of us off track. It’s crucial that you understand how to write about your topic in an interesting way and that you’re answering the question as closely as possible. This week’s tip will hopefully cover most concerns around writing about the stories that interest us.

1) Picking a topic

Of course, before you can even start writing you have to have an invested interest in a story. For a question like HSF’s, where the question can be guided by you, I wouldn’t worry about choosing a story that relates to the firm. In this instance, it’s more important to pick something you’re truly interested in so you have the passion needed to drive good/easy writing. If you’re stuck at this point, the best places to go are:

i) TED/TEDx talks or YouTube: Covers a huge array of topics and issues so it might inspire you to follow a story they’ve already touched upon. Also easy videos to sit back and follow

ii) Podcasts: Any commercial podcasts will do. Same as above, they will cover a wide range of stories and there may be one that particularly sparks your interest. I would recommend The Economist: Money Talks podcast.

iii) Have a browse through news websites: You might have a particular favourite site or paper, but whatever it may be, sift through and see if there’s anything that grabs your interest (so long as it has a commercial streak). Have a look at pages other than the front page as well for further inspiration. Once inspiration hits and you’ve found something, really question yourself: what exactly was it that drew me in and hooked me?

2) Researching the topic

Even more important than picking your topic is knowing your topic and feeling excited about it. When I chose to write about Netflix for my HSF answer, I found a great TED video with the co-founder and noted down what was said every time I thought “that’s cool” or “that’s interesting – I've never heard/seen that before”. This motivated me because I enjoyed the process. Your question can’t be that long though so whatever you’re researching, there’s no need to go overboard. As long as you have all the stats or facts to back you up, you’ll be fine. In addition, quotes are a nice addition sometimes. Collecting this is particularly important if your question is asking you to relate it back to the firm as the above MoFo example does.

3) Structuring your answer

It’s important to write in an engaging way but to not lose sight of why exactly a story has interested you and simply cite facts. Therefore, you need to have a clear structure first. I would recommend:

i) Brief but engaging introduction to your topic/story

ii) The 2 stand-out reasons why it engaged you, stated concisely and clearly

iii) The backing evidence for those reasons

iv) A concluding point for the reader to remember your interest

Remember that 2 and 4 can be completely different. So, for example, if my reason for liking the Netflix story is 1) it’s use of data 2) it’s use of debt, I need to conclude what that means for me in point 4. In this case, my answer would be Netflix drives competition in the entertainment industry through 1 and 2 and competition interests me because I enjoy seeing the economy working and consumers being given competitive prices and an abundance of choices. If your chosen story has an emotional link to you somehow, that’s also a good thing to exploit. In conclusion, make sure you dedicate as much time to describing the topic as explaining your interest (maybe more so to your interest, but never devote more to the facts themselves).

4) Engaging your reader

Once you’ve established your structure and your interest, you’ll need to try and get your reader as interested in your topic as you are. The first one or two lines are crucial to this as they’ll set the tone for the rest of your answer. A tip that Jaysen once gave was: Try to form an opinion on the topic. To make your answer strong, lead with your opinion rather than simply describing the topic. (Alternatively, give a brief description and then go into an evaluation). Taking that advice, I used a quote by an industry expert that summed-up what I was trying to say which allowed me to flow through into my argument. In addition, I think it’s very useful to read good journalistic writing that you personally find engaging, evaluate why you were engaged and attempt to incorporate the same tricks into your writing. Although you don’t have much word count to manoeuvre in, I would recommend reading an Economist article. They always have engaging beginnings.

But remember, don’t lose sight of what’s really going to win you points – clear, concise language (see here) that presents the story, establishes your interest and concludes your interest.

Walker Morris Vacation Scheme Interview 2019

When was your Walker Morris interview?

February 2019

What was it for?

Vacation Scheme

Please describe the interview process at Walker Morris.

Assessment Centre only lasted an hour and a half. It consisted of a group business exercise.

What advice would you give to future applicants for the Walker Morris interview?

Initially, you're split up into teams and then go off into separate rooms. We were given opposing cases for an appeal to a planned housing development. You are told on which grounds to structure the appeal on.

As a team, you develop a presentation strategy. There is an extra bit of information added into the mix about half way through the task. Then, you prepare the presentation and return to the main room to deliver it. You are then questioned by grad rec on your pitch, and also are given the chance to raise concerns about the oppositions pitch.

This is a relatively straight-forward exercise. No previous legal experience is required, and there isn't too much information to take in. I guess the main thing is to keep an eye on the time and rehearse the presentation a few times before delivering it.

The short length of this Assessment Centre threw me. It felt odd not having a personal interview.

Bird & Bird Vacation Scheme Interview 2019

When was your Bird & Bird interview?

January 2019

What was it for?

Vacation Scheme

Please describe the interview process at Bird & Bird.

The day was split up into three tasks: retake of the watson glaser, interview and group exercise.

The watson glaser retake is self-explanatory.

The interview was with one partner and one member of HR. It was very relaxed. They went through a list of set-questions and didn't depart from this. The questions focused on your motivations for applying to the firm, a couple of competencies, one question touched on your application form and there was a debate-style question. They also gave you the opportunity to add anything else that you didn't have the chance to talk about in the other questions. This lasted about 30 minutes.

The group exercise was a 45-minute exercise. We were split into groups of four and were sat at a table with two assessors. We had 10 minutes to read the brief, 30 minutes to come up with an idea as a team and then 5 minutes to present. This task combined two main things- creativity and the ability to think about the wider implications of the law. I found this the most challenging aspect of the day.

What advice would you give to future applicants for the Bird & Bird interview?

The group task was by far the most challenging aspect of the day. It requires you to be creative and engaged the firm's emphasis on technology. I would recommend being up to date with any new/interesting technology advancements/companies and how the law is engaged with these.

Guys, can I ask you how would you approach these two questions?

We set our standards high, and we trust our people to hold themselves accountable for meeting other people’s expectations. Describe a time when you had to drop everything and really “raise your game” in order to keep a promise you had made to someone else. How did you manage both this and your other commitments?

Sustaining a successful and profitable practice requires both commercial awareness and innovative thinking. Tell us about something that you have done that shows you have a strong innovative or entrepreneurial spirit. Max 250 words

Thank you very much

Hi all, does anyone have any experience at one of Freshfields' Assessment Days? If so, any advice would be appreciated! If anyone else has any relevant Assessment Day experience, please do share.

By way of summary:

• Both interviews will allocate significant time to posing questions for the interviewers
• Written Exercise (45min) - How you organise what you write, and how well you can spot key concepts and convey them
• General Interview (1hr) - Demonstrating your best qualities
• Analytical Interview (1hr) - Assessing your 'business mind' after reading an article from FT/The Economist (20min)
• Tour of the building with a trainee

Thanks in advance!

Allen & Overy Training Contract Interview 2018/19 (by Anonymous)

I just thought I would share my experience of my successful A&O TC interview, for anyone who may have assessments with them in the future.

The interview consisted of a case study, partner interview and HR scenario-based interview.

Case study

The case study was immensely time pressured – you are only given 30 minutes. I tried to make notes on a separate piece of paper for everything that I read, but in hindsight I should have just marked the booklet I was given and created a quick structure on a piece of paper, and noted the page numbers instead.

Stick to the brief given – there is an overwhelming amount of information and it will be difficult to even answer all the questions you are asked to examine in the instructions, so really just stick to the questions given or you will not finish the exercise in time.

You have to be familiar with balance sheets and with basic financial calculations like EBITDA. I was asked to advise on a fictitious M&A scenario. I would recommend being familiar with basic contractual mechanisms like warranties, representations and indemnities, but also with corporate boardroom mechanics, like how a minority shareholder might be protected from a majority shareholder etc.

Current commercial awareness is a bonus but not vital – at the end, I was asked to provide my opinion on the deal given my broader commercial knowledge. I was lucky enough that I had read an FT piece on the subject area a day prior, so I had something intelligent to say about the deal.

Partner interview

In my experience, the A&O interview was really unique because I wasn’t asked any standard questions like ‘why law’ or ‘why A&O’. That was just in my experience though.

The partner interview is based purely on your case study. You are given 15 minutes to make a presentation on the case study. I structured my presentation with a brief introduction, and then ran through the key points of the brief and ended with my recommendation on whether it was a good/bad deal.

It is unlikely you will have covered everything in the booklet in your presentation, and I think this is deliberate. My partner directed me to issues that I had missed – we discussed boardroom tactics in quite some detail, and although I wasn’t as quick on the ball as I would have liked, I took my time to think and ask for more clarification before eventually arriving at an answer. The key is to stay composed and confident even if you’re treading really deep water!

My interviewing partner was also a part-time Obligations lecturer, so my interview was particularly technical on the law. Questions I got included:

• Do contractual assignments cover rights and obligations?
• What is the difference between tag-along and drag-along rights?
• Advantages/disadvantages of a New York jurisdiction clause vs an English jurisdiction clause?
• What is the difference between a warranty and representation?

HR interview

This was described to me as purely forward-looking, but in reality it was a mixture of forward-looking and competency-based questions. The questions asked are similar to the SJT – ‘what would you do if X’ – and then you are asked ‘have you ever had a similar situation where you had to do X’. Again, you can take your time to ask clarification – I asked my interviewer to repeat questions when they were particularly lengthy, and made notes on a notepad before answering questions.

Questions I got included:

• If your colleague was slacking at work because of personal issues that they didn’t want to share with their boss, what would you do?
• What would you do if your boss removed you from a project you’d been working on for a long time?

Trainee tour

Standard chance to speak to a trainee about life at the firm and have a coffee on A&O's stunning roof terrace. This part is completely unassessed.

Hey, so I'm applying to CRS for their training contract, I was wondering if anyone has applied or is currently applying, what you wrote for the character section. They ask, 'What film character would you be and why?'

Hi All,

Some of you may have already seen this on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6503600885489369088. I thought you guys might find it interesting.



So many applications on the last day!

Hey guys,

Hope you're well!

I just have a few questions about applying for a direct training contract in the summer. I'm in my third and final year of university at LSE studying Law, and I've been applying for vac schemes since my second year. It looks like I won't be getting one this summer, despite having a few interviews.

My first question is, what are the chances of me getting to a direct TC interview this summer, if I make an application, even though I haven't done any previous vac schemes? My following experience is this: (1) attended numerous (7 to be precise) open days at US and MC firms (2) Did one week of legal experience in Dubai (3) have undertaken lots of extra-curricular positions at my university, such as Peer Support and Widening Participation (4) and have been in a part-time research job for 2 years. I'll get a strong 2.1 from the LSE, in the region of 65-69 as an overall mark,

My second question is, after the summer deadlines close for direct TC, is this the last chance to apply for a 2021 TC? I'm quite concerned, because if I do apply after the summer cycle, does this mean I will have to wait until 2022 to commence my TC? This seems a long time away to wait to begin a job, despite the LPC.

Thirdly, if it happens to be 2022, what are the chances a firm will move your TC forward if you ask? (E.g. if someone drops out etc)

Thanks guys!
TCP

Hey guys,

Just a reminder to say don't give up - keep driving towards your goals.

Hi Guys!

Can I just be cheeky and ask along what lines people are prepping this question? Like are you targeting a law that is specific to a firms core practice areas?

Thank you

I am applying to Charles Russell Speechlys and their application has a 200 word limit on the questions. I am finding it quite difficult to say anything substantive in 200 words without abbreviating the firms' name.

Is it okay to abbreviate the name after having said it once and included the abbreviation in brackets. i.e. Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS)?

Hi,

I have an assessment centre for a vacation scheme for Pinsent Masons this week which includes an in tray exercise.

Has anyone does this before and has any advice for me?

I guess the most important is to prioritise the tasks according to their urgency and hierarchy (so do task given from partner before the task from a fellow trainee?)
Am I also expected to delegate tasks where appropriate?

Any advice would be very much appreciated

What sort of topic would you focus on if they asked for a legal story you've been following? As opposed to a general commercial news story.

I'm sure someone posted something about this a while back but can't seem to find it.

Thanks!

AC Jan 2018

I applied for London office but the AC also had people applying to other offices so it the same process for all.

The AC had about 12-15 people on it, and at the start we had about 30 mins to chat and get to know each other a bit.
There were 3 different exercises, and we were split into 2 groups and did them in turn.

Group exercise
I think everyone does the group exercise first. You are given about 15 minutes to read through all the information provided yourself and then have about 40 minutes to discuss as a group.
There was a lot of information to read through, I would first flick through all the pages and decide which to read first based on how important. I managed to at least skim through everything, but some people didn't get to the back pages. There was a different issue to work through on each page. I think the most important thing is to try and read everything but also jot down some ideas that you can contribute to the group discussion.

The most important thing to remember is that you try and work well with the others, so make sure to include people and listen to what others are saying. But if you have a good point and the others aren't keen try and defend it a bit.

Case study
You had about an hour prep time to read through quite a lot of documents and come up with recommendations for a client's business. I would make sure you use the time well, so limit yourself reading to a certain amount of time and then use a decent proportion of it to plan your answer. Try and think broadly and consider the risks and benefits of your approach. Don't forget to pay attention to the figures!
The presentation is about 10 minutes, just to one partner who then asks a few questions. It was actually quite a fun task.

Partner interview
My interviewer was very nice and it felt like more of a relaxed conversation. He did have some prepared competency style questions and definitely asked a number of those but also asked some questions based on my application form. Have some commercial news prepared, I kept up to date with the commercial topic I wrote on in my application and also had another prepared - I talked about both.
Asked why a global law firm appealed, what my strengths were/what I would contribute as a trainee.

It is quite an intense 1/2 day, but the people were nice and helpful. Make sure you eat something before, they said they would provide lunch but it was just a few biscuit snack type things.

Hey guys,

When it says to add your cover letter do you also include the mailing address of the firm above "Dear [Graduate Recruiters Name],"??

Thanks

Hi All,

We are planning to launch our first conference in 2019. It's going to be an intensive event packed with commercial classes, workshops, mock interviews and networking sessions.

I want the conference to really add value to your applications and future career, so I wanted to reach out to see what you would find useful in an event like this. If you could design the perfect conference, what would you include?

There are no wrong suggestions here, so please feel free to be as creative as you would like.

My ideas so far:

Classes

• An Introduction to the City (mergers and acquisitions and the financial markets)
• How do law firms run as a business (taught by a managing partner)
• The future of law firms
• US v UK firms (panel discussion)

Workshops

• 15-minute mock interview sessions
• Mock case study practices
• Real legal technology practice (from a legal AI firm)
• How to improve your writing? (from a former MC partner)
• How do you improve your applications (from a former MC recruiter)
• How do you excel during your training contract (for future trainees and trainees)

Networking (with other TCLA members and trainees)

Thank you!

PS: This is going to be for students, future trainees and trainees, so if you're already secured a training contract, please feel free to share your advice on what would be useful for you.

PPS: You may have seen me alluding to some big news before. This isn't the big news, that'll come later this week.

Best,

Jaysen

I'd add the Huawei security risk to the list of commercial topics you need to know for your interviews. It's an ongoing story and links to many broader commercial issues, like the rise of China, the growing importance of cybersecurity and the clash between the US and China for the future of tech.

You can use this thread to post any stories relevant to this topic.

Here's a great series of charts from the BBC (more here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46480208):

Hi Guys!!

When prepping for applications and interviews I realised there aren't many videos online about commercial awareness and the whole process - would this be something people would be interested in? I'm hoping to film a commercial awareness recap approx. once a fortnight. Just wanted to gauge interest on here and to find out if there was anything specific anyone hoped to see!

(I am by no means an expert at all on this, however I enjoy learning from videos so I thought I'd help put what knowledge I have to good use!)

I'm very nervous posting this so please be nice

Clyde & Co Vacation Scheme 2019

The interview was with a senior associate and a member of the graduate recruitment team. The interview itself was pretty straightforward for the most part...why law, why Clyde & Co and then a lot of competency questions. I was also questioned a lot about why I gravitated towards disputes over transactional work. A lot emphasis was placed on how I prioritised work, how I managed stress and whether I enjoyed working under pressure.

For the commercial question I was simply asked to talk about a news story that interested me. They did ask me how the story would effect the firm and how they would be able to capitalise on those developments, so a good understanding of the firms practice areas and international strategy was key.
The main curveball at the interview was that they gave us a mini case study half-way through without telling us beforehand. It was a pretty typical shipping scenario where a ship caught fire when transporting cargo to the buyer. That's the rough idea. There are a few finicky bits that I forget. I would keep in mind that Clyde & Co's bread and butter is insurance litigation so that should naturally be a big focal point of your discussion. I talked about third party cover, trade credit insurance and fire insurance and then identified the parties that would be involved in the different potential disputes. I asked for a pen and paper to do out a diagram which made it much easier to keep track of who's suing who..it does get a bit confusing otherwise.

In general it was a pretty standard interview. They clearly had a set list of questions which they wanted to ask. Personally, I did find it a bit difficult to build rapport with the interviewers because it was so rigid.

Hey!

Please see attached a very informative video provided by Richard Kemp at Kemp IT Law.

The video contains the following:

• A definition of what AI is.
• The elements of AI.
• How quickly AI is likely to be adopted.
• Examples of current use.
• How to analyse AI from a legal perspective.
• Common misconceptions about AI.

Login to view embedded media

Hey guys!

Please feel free to use the attached document which considers the implications of Brexit for the majority of practice areas.

The document is quite long, however the detail is great and should definitely come in handy for questions such as 'what is the biggest impact on X' etc.