Walker Morris current affairs question

I am currently in the process of drafting an application for Walker Morris and am a bit stuck on how to structure the answer to one of their questions:

'Tell us about a current affairs topic that you find of interest and why?'

Would it be a good idea to talk about GDPR/Data Protection. And how could I possibly structure my answer.

Would really appreciate some help!

The Middle East - Business Stories/Links

I'll use this thread for for links/stories relevant to the Middle East. Please feel free to post in this thread also.

For those that can access to FT:

Saudi prince’s flagship plan beset by doubts after Khashoggi death - https://www.ft.com/content/c24ab1d4-f8a7-11e8-8b7c-6fa24bd5409c

For those without access, I'll summarise this when I have a moment.

Strengths based interviews

Hi everyone,

I have a telephone interview coming up which is strengths based. I've only just got my head around competency interviews and the STAR format so I'm at a loss with this one. Has anyone had a strengths based assessment and is able to share some tips? Specifically with how to format an answer?

Equally, does anyone have any tips for a telephone interview?

Thanks!
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Fall of Netflix?

A very interesting article was released today by Stephen McBride in Forbes about the probable fall of Netflix in the very near future. This is something which I think may be of interest to people for commercial awareness questions in applications and in interviews.

The link to the full article is here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephe...-worst-nightmare-is-coming-true/#3efbc9146efc

I hope this is useful for people!

Dan :)

Netflix's Worst Nightmare Is Coming True
If you’ve been reading RiskHedge, you know I’ve been warning to keep money out of stock market darling Netflix (NFLX).

This was not a popular thing to say when I first wrote it in July.

Back then, Netflix was the hottest stock on Wall Street. It had surged 107% in six months, hitting record highs.

But it turns out July was the right time to sell Netflix. Since then it has crashed 37%:

https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Fstephenmcbride1%2Ffiles%2F2018%2F12%2FImage_1-20181204_RH_OP_Netflix.jpg


Netflix’s Best Days Are Over
You can review my reasoning for why Netflix is doomed here and here. It comes down to the lifecycle of disruptive businesses.

Netflix pioneered “streaming” video where you watch shows through the Internet rather than on cable TV.

For years, it was the only streaming service in town. Early investors rode this first-mover advantage to 10,000% gains from 2008 to July of this year.

Today I see three other companies in the same position Netflix was back in 2008. I wrote a free special report about those stocks with in-depth research and my suggested buy prices.

But for Netflix, the era of almost zero competition is over.

It’s now coming up against powerful rivals like Disney (DIS)—which I recommended you buy in July.

Disney will launch its own streaming service called “Disney+” next year. It’s going to pull all its shows and movies off Netflix and put them on Disney+ instead.

This is a huge problem for Netflix because Disney has the world’s best content by a long shot. It owns household brands like Marvel… Pixar Animations… Star Wars… ESPN… ABC… X-Men… not to mention all the traditional characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

When it launches next year, Disney+ will be a no-brainer purchase for most families. I’ll certainly be subscribing for my daughter.

Meanwhile, Netflix will lose a lot of its best content… and potentially millions of subscribers who switch to Disney+.

Amazon Is Gaining a Foothold in Streaming, Too

In February, Amazon (AMZN) announced it would spend $5 billion developing original shows and movies this year. In response, Netflix upped its spending by 50%.

Netflix had planned to spend $8 billion on shows and series this year… now it’ll spend roughly $12 billion. It now invests more in content than any other American TV network.

Keep in mind, Amazon is the third-largest publicly traded company on earth. It has much deeper pockets than Netflix or even Disney.

To have any hope of keeping up with its rivals, Netflix must keep ramping up its spending on content.

Problem is, it can’t.

Netflix makes only a small profit, so it’s had to borrow gobs of money to fund its show creation. Its debt has exploded 71% in the past year to $8.3 billion.

That’s not sustainable.

Now, Netflix has three bad choices: continue borrowing billions and bury itself deeper in debt… dramatically raise its subscription prices… or cut back on making new content.

I Recommend Disney

Netflix traded at $400 when I first sounded the warning…

It has dropped to around $275 today. And as I mentioned last time, my research shows it’s worth $190–$200 a share, max.

So, Netflix is still a “no-touch.”

Disney, on the other hand, has gained 11.5% since July and hit multi-year highs earlier in November. That’s more impressive given that most stocks have struggled in the last few months.

Disney is still a great buy at today’s price of $116. My research shows it’s heading for $170—roughly 45% higher than today.

Stephen McBridge is a professional fund manager and the chief analyst at RiskHedge.

  • Poll Poll
TCLA Commercial Class Recordings

Which classes are you interested in?

  • Mergers and Acquisitions & Case Study Interviews

    Votes: 20 71.4%
  • Finance and the Capital Markets

    Votes: 16 57.1%
  • The US Trade War with China

    Votes: 14 50.0%
  • Law Firms as a Business

    Votes: 17 60.7%
  • How to talk about Brexit in a Law Firm Interview

    Votes: 11 39.3%
  • Private Equity

    Votes: 11 39.3%
  • The Financial Crisis and regulatory responses

    Votes: 6 21.4%
  • The GDPR and Cybersecurity

    Votes: 9 32.1%

Hi All,

I am pleased to announce that, starting from next week, I will be publishing recorded classes on the topics I ran last term:
  • Mergers and Acquisitions & Case Study Interviews
  • Finance and the Capital Markets
  • The US Trade War with China
  • Law Firms as a Business
  • How to talk about Brexit in a Law Firm Interview
  • Private Equity
  • The Financial Crisis and regulatory responses
  • The GDPR and Cybersecurity
In each case, they will be focused on how to tackle the topic at a law firm interview.

If you attended one of these classes live, please note, you will be eligible for a free recording of that class. TCLA Premium members will also be eligible for a discount on these classes.

I will release more details in due course. In the meantime, I'd like to get a sense of which topics you are interested in, so I'd be grateful if you could vote in the poll above. This will influence the schedule in which I record these classes.

Thanks,

Jaysen
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TW Question

Finding this question from Taylor Wessing's application tough:

As a global top 20 law firm, we act for the biggest names in cutting edge industries. No matter your background, you'll find that our trainees – like our lawyers – are united by their focus, their commitment and their spark. What is the biggest challenge you will need to overcome upon entering the profession? (250 words max)*

Just wondering how people would approach this question and without almost shooting yourself in the foot.

Welcome

Hi All,

Welcome to the public feedback forum. This forum is for members to receive feedback on their draft applications from the community.

This forum is for you if:
  • You want help phrasing a sentence
  • You want to know if you're approaching a question correctly
  • You want advice on how to improve an answer
  • You want general feedback on your draft application
  • You want feedback on a draft before eventually sending it in to the TCLA team.
Credit to @John Wu for suggesting this idea!

work experience section

Hey everyone!

I had initially embarked on the barrister route and have done a few mini-pupillages in commercial sets. However, the work was quite similar in all: shadowing barristers to court; assisting in preparing case strategies; drafting.

I was just wondering if there was a need for me to separate each mini-pupillage experience I had, or if I could just put them all under a general heading mini-pupillage (and ofc name the sets I have done the experience with underneath that).

Thank you in advance!

White & Case video interview - commercial questions

Wondered if anyone had any other commercial questions from the W & C video interview? I heard they had a set 24 questions they use for the entire video process(including competency and motivation)

The ones ive seen:

Talk about a recent article that interested you

If you had a £1,000,000 where would you invest?

Would we be better in or out of the EU? (I assume this is probably outdated now)
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Kirkland & Ellis question

I wonder about one of the questions in Kirkland & Ellis

Please tell us what is your proudest achievement and why. This can be from any aspect of your life. (400 words max)*

I ranked the top 16 at the London Universities Sport Leagues 2018 Fencing. Though I was only a novice in the team, I did my best to focus on my matches.

-> Do you guys think that my experience at fencing would be a good one?

Ask Me Anything: Future Trainee at Reed Smith

Hey All,

As Jaysen noted, we will be starting the AMA threads very shortly with future trainees/trainees at different firms, in order to motivate and inspire you all through the application process.

In order to kick things off, Rachael Mintah, a future trainee at Reed Smith (a very close friend of mine who is the epitome of hard work and perseverance) has agreed to answer any questions.

I will post a short introductory paragraph about her shortly but before doing so, brief intro - She recently graduated from Politics at Warwick. She completed a winter vac scheme with NRF last year and despite no offer following the scheme, she still persevered with her applications. Following a straight TC app, completing the SJT and AC, she received a training contract offer from Reed Smith to commence in 2021, once she completes the GDL and LPC.

Please note that Rachael will only be available to answer questions from 7pm onwards this week (still confirming what day).

I hope everyone will be able to join us in welcoming her and given the number of questions relating to Reed Smith’s vacation scheme application this year, I hope she will be able to assist you all!

Edit: Members, I feel like typing up away on this forum is not as engaging or interactive when it comes to AMA threads and I was wondering (if you are all up for it), if a live YouTube session with the trainee or future trainee would be more convenient?

If you could all comment below with yes or no re the live sessions, I would be grateful and I look forward to seeing your responses :)
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Big Commercial Stories | November 2018

Find out about the biggest commercial news stories in November from our team of writers. You will learn about:
  • The UK Digital Services Tax
  • The Danske Bank Money Laundering scandal
  • The US's Iran Sanctions
  • The UK High Street Retail (collapse)
  • Smart Contracts
  • Snapchat's Regulatory Investigations
  • The Fall of Oil Prices
  • M&A deals in the Software Sector
  • Criminal Charges against Goldman Sachs
  • The Brexit Withdrawal Agreement
  • Google's Absorption of DeepMind
  • The Impact of a no-deal Brexit on businesses and law firms
  • The US Tech Stock Sell-Off
  • The Fall of the Pound
  • The Accounting Firms' Disruptions in the Legal Service Sector
Big Commercial Stories | November 2018 (by @kitk, @Abstruser, @Angel, @bugsy malone, @Sara Moon)
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Italy’s fiscal fight and distrust within the EU

This article explains the current standoff between the EU and Italy. You will learn:
  • What is the Italy budget crisis?
  • Why does Italy want to increase its deficit spending?
  • Why is the EU challenging Italy?
  • How is the market responding?
  • Does Europe need fixing?
Italy’s fiscal fight and distrust within the EU (by @Camilla Gionso)
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