New Threads

Hey guys!

Found this article interesting https://www.gulf-times.com/story/618047/Blockchain-is-making-its-way-into-Islamic-finance

With lots of firms specialising in Islamic finance, I think it's interesting to consider some of the implications of blockchain in this area.

Is it possible to request from firms a breakdown of how you answered each question, in order to learn for the future? Or are firms quite strict with just telling you whether you passed/failed?

Hey guys!

I am in the process of applying for a TC at Orrick and in addition to their cover letter requirement (500 words), we are also required to answer 6 contextual questions. My question is what you would recommend including in the cover letter if most of the contextual questions cover things you would traditionally write (ie. I would normally explain why I chose law, why I chose the firm and why they should choose me in the cover letter but the questions essentially cover this). The questions include:

-Why specifically are you interested in training at Orrick? What makes us different to the other firms you have applied for? (250 words)
-Why have you decided to pursue a career as a commercial lawyer working in an international law firm? What factors and influences have affected your decision? (250 words)
-Have you been following any recent news stories or events that have attracted your attention and you think would have an impact, or be of interest, to Orrick? (250 words)
-What is your proudest achievement and why? This does not need to be academic related. (200 words)
-Please detail academic awards, prizes or scholarships and non-academic achievements at school, university and law school (if applicable). (200 words)
-Describe your involvement and positions of responsibility in any extra-curricular activities including societies, sports, charitable and voluntary work. (200 words)

Thanks in advance!

Hey guys,

I have a Linklaters AC coming up in less than two weeks. Would anyone be able to share some advice? I have never taken an e-tray exercise before, so any tips for it would be greatly appreciated!

Hi guys,

In the midst of sending off more vac scheme applications as a second year law student.

I am just wondering what the realistic possibility of me landing one is considering I have only got a 3 day regional firm administrative work experience stint a couple of years ago and a couple of paper rounds under the work experience section...

I applied for a few insight days last year but I was not accepted, and spent last Summer studying at NUS on a university Summer School type programme.

Any advice on what my next steps should be? Or is this not fatal to my application.

My first year results from a Russell Group uni were all an okay 2:1, but not outstanding.

Thank you in advance!

Please use this thread to post any links/thoughts on these topics.

To kick us off: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-46944696

Google has been hit with a €50 million GDPR fine by the French data regulator.
This was due to a "lack of transparency, inadequate information and lack of valid consent regarding the ads personalization".

Hi All,

I have recently come across the above question during an interview, and I was wondering how do people tackle this sort of question?

I try and mention a few unique features of the firm, i.e. innovative nature, high cross border deals, international reach etc..

It would be interesting to see what others think.

Hey guys,

I am trying to draft an answer to the following question: 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

This is the answer I have so far:


In second year, I stepped in as interim fundraising officer for LSESU Global Brigades. As fundraising officer, my task was to raise at least £1000 in six weeks as our minimum brigade contribution. I had to balance this task with other commitments, including participation in moot-court competitions and deadlines for summative coursework. I navigated this challenge by doing three things.

First, I broke down our £1000 target into smaller goals, aiming to raise at least £400 every two weeks. To accomplish this target, I estimated potential revenues from one fundraiser, eventually determining that two weekly fundraisers could help us achieve our target. I assembled both brigades for a meeting and proposed these targets.
After receiving their approval, we collectively planned a ‘fundraising calendar’ and designated Tuesday and Thursday as our weekly fundraising days. After this, I contacted the Activities and Development officer at the Student Union, outlined our tight fundraising timeline, and convinced her to reserve a weekly stall for our society for the next six weeks. On the day of each fundraiser, I had to set up the stall with our baked goods, assist team-mates with sales and record our cash-flow. Our fundraising experienced several ‘bumps’; sales were slow, especially due to the snow in February. I proposed that we individually visit various faculty buildings and pitch our goods to academics. We were able to increase our income by around £108 due to this ‘door-to-door’ fundraising in February.

Secondly, I resolved clashes with fundraising and my other commitments by prioritising academics and communicating with my team in advance. One example of this was when I had a 4,000-word summative essay due on Friday and the semi-finals of a moot competition on Thursday evening. I told my team that I would not be able to supervise at the stall, and the business brigade leader helped me by volunteering to set-up and supervise.

Consequently, we held ten fundraisers over the course of six weeks, and raised £1042. In addition to this, we sold glow-sticks at the local club queues for five Fridays straight, eventually adding £237 more to our revenue.

I am having the following issues with my answer:

1) Am I being too descriptive? I am not sure if I have adequately answered the question enough.
2) Any bits or details that you guys think are not needed? I am running way over the word count so any tips on how to trim the waffle would be great.

I just got invited to do a video interview for Gowling WLG's summer vacation scheme.

The email says 'it is a short interview to give you a realistic preview of the type of work we do at Gowling WLG and also what our culture is like. This means that we will present you with a scenario and will ask you how you would deal with it, what action you would take and how you would achieve a positive outcome'.

Has anyone done a video interview with them before? I'm guessing this a situational judgement test in the form of a video interview (and probably mixed with competency based questions). Any tips would be appreciated! Thank you.

This is one of the VS questions from CRS...just wondering if anyone had any tips on how to answer?! I'm guessing they are just looking to see what sort of values the character holds and in what ways you identify yourself with them - but I really have no idea who and how to pick! Has anyone else had to answer this before?

Hi,

DOes anyone have any suggestions for good questions to ask at the end of an interview?

Does anyone have any tips as to how to value a company using its balance sheet, my thoughts are subtracting the liabilities from the assets. Though I'm aware shares are also included in the balance sheet (correct me if i'm wrong pls) - how would i take those into account?

Just generally as well - any guidance as to how to talk about about a balance sheet in interviews?

Thank you!!

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has experience of the Addleshaw Goddard Assessment Centre? The e-mail received tells me that there will be a group exercise, an interview, a partner briefing exercise and a proofreading exercise.

Has anyone got any ideas what the partner briefing exercise will be?

Huge thanks for any help!

Hi guys,

I cannot access Mayer brown graduate website.

Am I the only one who is having this problem?

Hi,
I am currently working on a research task for my interview at a law firm next week.

The scenario is that a private funds client in the States is setting up a new fund structure in a couple of different countries and is considering adding a limited partnership/private fund limited partnership.

Now I need to give a recommendation to the client advising them whether to set it up as a traditional LP or a PFLP. I also need to include the advantages of using each of these vehicles.

I understand that the new PFLP is much more flexible as it reduces the administrative burden and also can give the limited partners more rights.

However, the whitelist does not guarantee LPs any actual new powers over the fund - it is still up to the investors and managers to commercially agree on the inclusion of such power in the contract in the first place.

I would definitely recommend the client to go ahead with the Private fund LP and cannot really see any advantage that the LP has over the Private fund LP.

Am I missing out on an important point here?

For those in on a Saturday night, Trump is about to make a "major announcement" on on “the humanitarian crisis on our southern border” and the partial government shutdown. For context, this is the longest government shutdown in US history.

You can watch it here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

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.