New Threads

So I sent off an application a while ago and have only just realised that I somehow managed to put down that I had done work experience at a law firm for 2 months even though I had actually only done it for a week.
Should i contact grad rec and let them know???

Hi all,

This is the first ever online assessment I've ever had to complete (first year). I've been doing a few practice tests & my % is around 80-85. Does anyone know how much HSF expect you to get, or does it vary?

Hi, just received the news that I have been invited for the Watson Farley and Williams (WFW) Video Interview. I was wondering if anyone had any insight into video interviews in general or maybe even for the firm-specific?

- What type of questions should I expect? (Im guessing why the firm, why commercial law, competency based question like an example of teamwork)
- Any tips for preparation?

If you have WFW-specific knowledge that ever better!!

Thank you and have a great weekend!!

I'm struggling a bit with the following question, and haven't seen anyone else discussing Akin Gump so far so I figured I'd post it:
The first part is obviously just a standard 'why firm X' question, but I'm not as sure how to approach the second part. Especially as it's specific to the vac scheme (if they said as a trainee, that would be different). Not trying to sell myself short, but I feel like it seems a bit delusional (lol) to claim that I'll be able to add any real value to the firm's work, culture, etc. over the course of just two weeks as an intern. I can think of what I'd gain from the experience, and why I might be a good fit, but none of that seems to answer the specific question they're asking.

Which is correct?

Shadowing a trainee in the insurance department

or

Shadowing a trainee in the Insurance department

Many thanks!

I'm struggling on how to approach this. I have a potential spring vac scheme scheduled but I have just been told that I have a university assessment during the spring holidays that I cannot miss. Would firms be accommodating to the fact that I may have to miss a morning to go do the assessment or would this compromise my chances of doing well on the vac scheme? I don't want to confirm any offers until I'm sure.

Thanks!

Hello,

Just wondering what the consensus is on whether you should always wear a skirt suit (or trouser suit) to an interview or assessment centre?

In the past I have done, but just wondering what everyone thinks

Thanks.

If any of you guys are interested in attending a LawTech Event, a panel event on smart contracts and their legal implications (how will the law regulate them & how will the legal services market change) is happening on Tuesday 22nd January from 6:30-8:30pm at Student Central (Malet St, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7HY).

The event will give you a lot of insight into the interaction between law and blockchain and will definitely help you provide unique analysis of LawTech in your applications and at interviews!

Diverse mix of speakers will be on the panel: the current Chancellor of the High Court (Lord Justice Vos), CEO of a smart contract company, and a QC. Lord Justice Vos, in particular, is part of the UK LawTech Delivery Panel, which was established to promote the use of technology in the UK's legal sector, so you'll get to hear what UK is doing to make itself a leading market for LawTech!

Pls come along if interested! I'll add a link to the event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/316967075592385/

What makes you particularly suited to a career at XXXX compared to other applicants?

I find this question difficult to answer than those like the normal: ‘Why are you applying to XXXX?’

I know the reasons why I wish to work at XXXX but that’s different to why are you suited to the firm?

My answers end up describing the firm rather than why I am suited to working there? Does anyone have a particular approach to answering this sort of question that they use?

Also, is it best just to stick to three reasons why you are suited to the firm and then back these up? i.e a particular practice area, culture of firm and vision.

does anybody have any advice about the final Mischon interview? Would be super grateful.

Does anybody have any insight into the structure of the telephone int? What to expect etc?

Hi everyone,

I have recently submitted an application, and reviewing it just now I have noticed that the last word of an answer was cut, even though it is within the word limit (just checked in a word document). Has this ever happened to anyone of you? Would you recommend contacting the recruitment team?

thanks!

Hi Guys,

I was wondering if anyone has applied for Leigh Day before and also how I can answer a 'why a claimant law firm' question. Any tips and recommendations would be very much appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

From January 20, 2019, TCLA will be returning with our weekly commercial classes. These classes are designed to develop your understanding of key commercial topics in preparation for interviews and assessment centres in 2019.

The topics will be the same as last year, but we will be updating the classes to reflect recent developments.

Class Schedule

• 20 and 21 January 2019: Private Equity
• 27 and 28 January 2019: The US-China trade war (note: this class may be pushed back)
• 3 and 4 February 2019: The GDPR and Cybersecurity within law firms
• 10 and 11 February 2019: Finance and the Capital Markets
• 17 and 18 February 2019: Mergers and Acquisitions Case Studies
• 24 and 25 February 2019: How to talk about Brexit in a law firm interview
• 3 and 4 March 2019: Law firms as a Business
• 10 and 11 March 2019: Commercial Interview Practice

As before, we will teach our classes in small groups via Skype. The classes will be interactive and students will receive preparation material in advance of the class.

Students who book a class will also:

• Join our new Commercial Awareness Discussion Group 2019
• Receive a detailed outline after the class
• Receive a free recorded version of the presentation (due in March)

Classes can be bought individually or in packs of four, paid in monthly installments. TCLA Premium members receive a 25% discount to each class.

The first class is now available for booking. To kick us off, we will be offering this class at an additional 25% discount.

Standard Booking
TCLA Premium Booking

Hi everyone,

I've seen this type of question pop up in a couple of vac scheme apps and was just wondering what peoples general thoughts were on the topic. Although the wording of the question varies between apps, the underlying question remains the same - taking Osborne Clarke as an example:

Q: You have been approached by two prospective clients to complete two discrete projects by the same deadline. It is not possible for you and your team to complete both projects due to the complexity of the work and the tight time frame. Outline FOUR key pieces of information that you need in order to decide which client’s work you should accept, along with a detailed rationale for each.

I would probably answer along the lines of:
1) Which client can you foresee a long-term relationship with, that you can do more work for in the future
2) Who the client is - small or large/national or international/reputation in the marketplace etc
3) Leading on from the second point, which project would be most profitable for the firm and generate the highest rate of income
4) More info on the project itself - does the firm have the sector knowledge and the best team in place to fulfil the demands of the client as best it can?

Just wondering how other people would answer this and if anyone has any further or differing points from the above.

Thanks

Hi All,

I found this excellent post from Reddit (as you do), which I've shared below, it should bring you up to speed on the Brexit vote today. If you are free tonight, I encourage you to watch the vote take place (you can use one of the links below). Beyond being useful for your commercial awareness, it's a pretty historic event.

Feel free to post any comments in this thread.

The UK Parliament votes on the Brexit Deal - Megathread

Background:

On June 23, 2016 the UK voted to leave the EU ('Brexit'). Following the vote, British Prime Minister David Cameron, who campaigned in favour of the UK remaining part of the EU, resigned and Theresa May, who also was a remainer, followed him as PM. The British government submitted an Art. 50 withdrawal notice to the EU on March 29, 2017. Between that date and November 2018, the EU negotiators and the UK worked out a "Brexit deal". This deal is up for a vote on Tuesday.

The vote TODAY:

The vote will take place on Tuesday, January 15th, 7 pm GMT (now 8pm GMT) in the House of Commons. Theresa May meant to bring this agreement to a vote in early December, but postponed the vote since she knew the deal would not get a majority.

Possible outcomes:

• The Brexit deal passes in parliament: The negotiated Brexit agreement will be accepted, the UK will leave the EU on March 29, 2019. It will be followed by a so-called "transition period" that will last until December 31, 2020. During that time, the UK will remain part of the single market and the customs union and it will be bound by EU legislation while itself can no longer influence EU policy. The transition period is meant to allow for a smooth transition while giving time to legislators and negotiation teams to work out a lot of issues that either have not been agreed on in the brexit deal (both sides deem a future trade agreement between the UK and the EU to be a top priority) or haven't been part of legislative efforts yet (the UK follows EU regulation instead of national law in many areas of life).
  
  
• The Brexit deal fails to reach a majority: The outcome of this scenario is entirely unclear. In terms of political consequences, possible that Theresa May could be replaced as PM in this scenario, although the technicalities are unclear. She could resign, be forced to resign, Labour plans to bring on a motion of no confidence. It is entirely unclear what the "Brexit consequences" would be. It could lead to the UK leaving the EU on March 29 without any deal or transition period ("Hard Brexit). Another possibility is a second referendum on Brexit. The EU has stated that they are willing to agree to an extension to the leave date, but only under certain conditions (helping the UK government secure support for the deal, potentially a second referendum). The third option is Westminster voting to withdraw from Art. 50, effectively cancelling Brexit, this is rather unlikely however.

Live Streams:

BBC Live Stream

UK Parliament Live Stream

Live Articles:

CNN

The Guardian

The Herald Scotland

The New York Times

The Telegraph

Live Articles for Monday, January 15

The Guardian: Brexit: Theresa May urges MPs to 'take a second look' at her deal – Politics live

The Telegraph: Brexit vote latest news: Theresa May pleads with MPs to 'take a second look' at her deal as Jeremy Corbyn calls for an election (soft Paywall)

Background articles:

BBC: May says opponents of Brexit deal risk 'letting British people down'

BBC: Possible amendments to PM's Brexit deal

BBC: Theresa May sets January date for MPs' Brexit vote

CNBC: A crunch Brexit vote is coming that could trigger even more political chaos

Financial Times: How big will Theresa May’s defeat be? (Paywall)

The Guardian: May makes final case for Brexit deal: 'Don't let the people down'

The Guardian: What does the week ahead hold for the Brexit debate?

The Irish Times: Nobody can say with confidence what way Tuesday’s Brexit vote will go

Hi all!

Does anyone have any experience with a Debevoise Open Day/AC, especially the interview component? I can't seem to find much about the assessment process online and the website/Grad Rec are strangely under the radar as well.

This what the email containing my invitation says:

"The session will start with a brief introduction to the firm, after which you will spend approximately one hour or so with one of our trainees or lawyers. During this time you will be given a tour of the office and have the opportunity to ask any questions that you may have. We will then reconvene for lunch. In the afternoon session, you will be provided with an Article to review for 45 minutes. Following on from this, you will have a short interview with one or two of our Associates or Partners."

E.g. Is the interview based purely on the article, or can I expect more of a general chat about my motivations alongside competency- or strength-based questions as well? Does the assessment process also comprise of a written exercise to go along with the article? Etc.

Any information at all would be very helpful! Thanks in advance

Hi all I'm applying to quite a small law firm

regarding this question:
Please use the space below to introduce yourself and tell us why you wish to pursue a legal career at a boutique law firm

I'm a bit stuck on the introduce yourself bit- On other parts of the form, it already asks for Uni attended and the basic questions eg work experience etc... So I don't want to repeat myself and state the basics but I'm not sure how to address that part of the question. There are also separate questions for "why this firm" etc so should I just focus on why a boutique firm?

Would appreciate any advice.

Hi All,

As a reminder, we are restarting our series of commercial classes next week. The first class will be on private equity and is scheduled for Sunday 20 January and Monday 21 January. You can find below a snapshot of the preparation material and the outline for our next class.

A few people have asked about the times of the sessions. Note - we are very flexible with our times as we schedule them around the availability of the group. In the past, we've done group classes early morning and late evening; moreover, if you can only do a particular time (such as lunch break), we are happy to schedule one-to-one sessions to fit you in.

To kick us off, students will receive a 25% discount on our first class. In addition to this, TCLA Premium members receive a 25% discount on all classes. For the avoidance of doubt, if you were voted to receive a free subscription to TCLA Premium, you are still eligible for this additional discount. You can book below:

Standard Booking

TCLA Premium Booking

We will be closing sign-ups on Friday 19 January.

Hi,
I'm currently applying to CRS Summer Vacation Scheme and one of the application questions is ''describe the market perception of Charles Russell Speechlys in your own words.'' (250 words) I was wondering if anyone could advise on the best way to answer this?
Thanks

Hey guys so the qn is:

An issue impacting the legal profession- how and why

I'm quite concerned that my answer speaks more about how cybersecurity affects law firms rather than the legal profession- but I'm not sure if that's just me over thinking it. Would appreciate any feedback!




As a profession that demands and thrives upon trust and discretion, cyber-attacks are a significant threat to a law firm’s reputation. As firms innovate, they increase their reliance on technology, making them more susceptible to a security breach. A potential loss of clients is not the only consequence, however, as a successful attack can result in an expensive claim in negligence.


At a time when the legal profession is under increasing pressure to reduce costs, firms will have to increase spending on cybersecurity, potentially leading to reduced budgets elsewhere. In turn, this could result in some firms struggling to retain their competitive advantage.

For many firms, the threat of a cybersecurity breach will result in changes in the way that legal services are provided. There is likely to be increased separation between departments to ensure that exposure of sensitive information is limited. For the same reasons, firms are likely to strengthen and fragment their network; lawyers could find that they have reduced remote-working capabilities as a result.

Hello,

i am aware for both AC's there is a case study interview.

If anyone has any guidance please can you let me know how I can prep for them, and if there are practice ones available at all online. I've never done a case study interview before so have no idea what to expect, would really appreciate any tips from anyone who has experience.

On a separate note - any advice on how to juggle 4 AC's all within just over a weeks time, whilst working full-time, I find that I'm only having my 1hr lunch break time to actually do preparation. To say im stressed is an understatement lol.

Thank you in advance!

Hey guys!

So I am currently trying to complete and submit my Skadden application, and I am facing issues with answering 'Why Skadden?' in a satisfactory manner.

The main reasons for why I decided to apply to Skadden were:

1. The exceptional international arbitration practice (and some really cool deals such as their work representing South Sudan in an ICSID dispute against Sudapet, but I feel like this deal is so famous, nearly every other candidate will mention it?) rounded with a well-established corporate practice; this distinguishes it from some other U.S. firms in London, whose training contracts tend to be transactionally heavy.

2. The small trainee intake of around 10-12 each year; I like this because it means you may have a greater sense of community with your trainee cohort, more flexibility in tailoring the TC to your needs, and hopefully, greater levels of responsibility (though I realise that none of these are necessarily a given.)

I am not sure how to make my reasons more specific to Skadden. Anyone on this forum who has a bit to add? Or anyone who made it to the Skadden ac previously?
Thanks guys