New Threads

Hi all!

I was wondering if you had some tips on to how to practice approaching and tackling case studies? Are there any exemplar case studies that you know of? I know the M&A guide is a good place to start but I wanted some materials so that I could use the guide and apply it to!

Thanks in advance

Hi all,

I'm currently trying to answer the following question for an insight evening: Why do you want to attend an insight evening with us and why do you feel we should offer you a place?

I'm thinking of writing about what interests me about the firm/ wanting to learn more about the firm's culture and my experiences that are relevant to the firm - but not sure if this is enough for this question. I also want to apply for a training contract at this firm - so wondering how I can avoid being repetitive with the reasons for applying to the firm.

I'd really appreciate some advice on how to go about answering this question, thanks a lot in advance!

I thought I'd create a new thread for April 2018 . You can find the March posts here: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy....ommercial-news-update-march-2018.29/#post-466.

04/04/2018

Trump's escalating trade war

• The Story - In response to alleged intellectual property theft, the US government has announced plans for a 25% tariff on 1,333 Chinese products. The products include robots, vaccines, electric cars and military weapons. It also features components that US companies may use. China responded quickly with a 25% tariff on 106 products. That includes cars, soybeans and some aeroplanes.
• The impact on law firms - This is going to impact many US manufacturers and US-China trade relations. The growing trade war hurts companies looking to invest in the US and China or those who rely on international trade and there's a lot of uncertainty about what direction this will take. Law firms have already found it hard to operate in China and they may have to reconsider their expansion plans if this continues to escalate.

PSA to stay after Brexit

• The Story - PSA, the parent company to car companies like Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroen is going to continue to manufacture vehicles until at least 2029. This follows a £9m investment by the UK to guarantee its competitiveness after Brexit.
• Impact on law firms: The UK's investment gives some certainty to carmakers on what's going to happen after Brexit. It's a sign of how interlinked the industry is with the EU as over half of vehicles that are made in the UK are exported to the EU and over half of the manufacturing parts come from the EU.

GDPR to come soon

• The Story - The General Data Protection Regulation will come into force on May 25 and gives regulators to power to fine companies to the highest of €20m or 4% of a company's annual turnover. It also includes penalties for failing to look after data from hackers.
• Impact on law firms - This regulation is going to significantly impact law firms, both directly and indirectly through their clients. Companies and firms will be required to follow stringent rules on how they process and store data and get customer consent. It affects both companies operating in the EU and those who employ EU workers or sell to EU customers. Regulatory and data protection lawyers who specialise in this field will be in high demand as companies will need detailed advice to avoid the significant penalties. The problem is it's going to be costly and it could impact the ability to do business.

Spotify flotation

• The Story: Spotify listed on the New York Stock Exchange and was valued at $26.5bn. But the company didn't go for a normal flotation in a sign of the uncertainty around tech stocks at the moment. Instead of hiring a bank and going through an extensive IPO process, Spotify's route involves a company going straight to the market and selling existing shares.
• Impact on law firms: The recent tech sell off in the stock market has shaken a lot of investors and caused prices to fluctuate a lot in recent weeks. This may be a broader sign of concerns about IPOs and companies may put flotations on hold over fears about the current political climate. Law firms may also support clients in different types of listings. Spotify's route to the market, a direct listing, is seen as a test case for future companies.

Good morning all and happy saturday!

I came across this motivational post on Linkedin last night and wanted to share it with you all for some inspiration

http://www.accidentalcreative.com/creating/run-your-race-not-someone-elses/

Hey guys,

I've really enjoyed reading your applications over the last few months and well done to those of you who've secured interviews.

I would like to announce that from the 31 March 2018, we will be introducing new criteria for application reviews. These are based on the points system listed below. The number of points may adjust in the future but if that's the case I will let you guys know in advance.

10 points = 1 Application Review
15 points = 2 Application Reviews
20 points = 3 Application Reviews
Edit: Points are now allocated as follows:

• 10 points = 1 Application Review
• 25 points = 2 Application Reviews
• 50 points = 3 Application Reviews
• 100 points = 4 Application Reviews

If you don't have enough points but would like an application review, consider signing up to TCLA Premium: https://www.thecorporatelawacademy.com/forum/pember/membership-new

Over the next few days, I will be implementing a number of ways to receive points. They will be based on a number of factors from thoughtful forum contributions to post likes. You can view your points in the 'Members' section of the forums.

We are introducing this so we can better support the students who have contributed to our community and to have some fun in the process! It will also help me to work on website updates and the commercial awareness posts.

If you have any questions or feedback do let me know.

Best,

J

Hi All,

When answering firm questions such as describe an issue you are following in the press and how it will affect x y z firm, would it be best to addresss both the positive and negative aspects and also your opinion? What are people’s thoughts on this?

Hi everyone,

One of the key things with the commercial awareness updates on here is that students get an idea of what to look out for, how to analyse news stories and then how this may affect firms. However, a lot of the content on this site seems (I may be wrong) geared towards magic/silver circle firm applicants.

For various reasons, I'm targeting city/national firms for vacation schemes/TCs.

Does anyone have any tips for using this content in helping gain commercial awareness about issues which are more likely to affect the firms I am targeting? Or would I need to look at different issues altogether?

If this doesn't make sense then apologies in advance!

Hi guys,

I'm currently working on a summer VS app for Shearman & Sterling, and I was just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on how to approach a question like this:

"As one of only a handful of elite, international law firms, how do you think Shearman & Sterling LLP maintains its competitive advantage?"

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

Hellloooo everyone.. just me with another forum title.

Anyone here applying to Kirkland & Ellis for a straight TC?

Sorry for creating a new thread, I was unsure as to where I should post this.

Anyway, I wanted to ask if anyone has ever applied to the Bird & Bird and how they found the application questions? I'm set to start writing my TC app but wanted to get an idea of what the firm looks for in respect to successful applications.

We find it's often helpful to connect students with others on their vacation scheme. That way you can get an early opportunity to get to know students and discuss the scheme. So feel free to post your scheme, dates (and location, if relevant) below.

Thank you to Varis from The Student Room for providing some excellent vacation scheme application tips. This year, Varis has secured vacation schemes at Clifford Chance, White & Case, Gibson Dunn, HSF, Travers Smith, Sidley Austin and Davis Polk.

"I think the application process is very much a 'game' in which it may be useful to think about each component of the application process and break it down to better prepare for it.

Writing the application - I think here, I cannot speak with certain authority in how one should write their application. There are many elements that make an application good, such as being well written, having no spell or grammatical mistakes, having a clear structure, being well researched and evidenced when you make a point, being substantive rather than superficial with points (don't recount quotable marketing material if you aren't able to contextualise it or personalise the point), etc.

I personally have found great success from my 'style' when writing very concisely. The pros of this style means that due to the lack of adjectives and conciseness of my writing, I am able to really get in a lot of information within the word count. However, the drawbacks of this style means that my vacation scheme applications are very dry to read and at times lacks a nice linking narrative or flow between each paragraph or point.

I also know other people who take a very personal, emotive and colorful writing approach and have found similarish success (Although I have found this to be in the minority of cases). Perhaps it is very much down to the firm and the graduate recruitment's preference. But to that, I can only say it would be quite difficult to swap from style to style just to optimise your vacation scheme application due to the fundamental differences each approach takes and the uncertainty in how much 'better' your application would become if you took X approach over Y. The application process is ultimately a very personal journey and it is imperative that the person applying is able to feel comfortable and confident in what they've done. It is much harder to copy someone else's style, get rejected despite that, and improve in light of that rejection.

For the Assessment Centres / Interviews - I think breaking down and researching what type of assessments you will face is crucial to success. I personally perform poorly under pressure and I make up for that weakness by providing myself as much comfort and certainty when going into an assessment centre. If you're going to Clifford Chance, for example, you can definitely do a lot to prepare yourself by practicing case studies, practicing answering competency questions and reading commercial news stories. For Sidley Austin, you perhaps should place more focus on understanding your application, the experiences you've had, and being able to articulate all the points that may flow out of your application and experiences so that you are not caught off guard.

Broadly speaking, there are therefore different categories of interviews and assessments. Commercial case study-centric interviews, competency focused interviews, strength based focus interviews, written interpretation exercises, legal case study-centric interviews, ethics and morality based interviews, application-focused interviews, etc. There are also styles, whether it is conversational, robotic and to the point, etc. Identifying which of these components will be relevant for your assessment centre and preparing accordingly will place you in the strongest position to remain calm, prepared and allow you to execute well.

In terms of things I wished I knew beforehand - I think the importance of a person's network should not be understated. Being able to find out specific details of a case study, or interview, or types of questions being asked for any component of the vacation scheme application process is greatly advantageous. Although this perhaps goes against the idea of being tested purely on your own individual merit, it is certainly a very useful thing that people do in practice. Thus, get out there and ask people who are better than you for help! I found myself struggling in my first year to secure vacation schemes and only until I was able to let people see all my strengths and weaknesses was I able to really get proper, tailored and useful advise.

Because the vacation scheme application process is so personal, people often like to lie or hide their weaknesses. Everyone wants to appear to be perfect candidate, even to people who have no bearing on our success. If you are not able to tell someone about your low grades, or personal and vulnerable areas, it is very hard to actually get meaningful help.

As for the rest of the tips and tricks, there is a plethora of 'good advice' out there. Although, insofar as it is actually taken to heart and applied, that is another story."

Thank you Varis!

(Reminder: These are posts I'm copying that Jaysen made in The Student Room)

Should I knock on doors?

Your supervisor/trainee buddy will generally give you work, so I wouldn't worry too much, unless (a) you've been told to, (b) you've run out of things to do, or (c) you're at Jones Day.

You’ll have a tour of the department you’re sitting in on the first day – that’s when I’d usually mention that I’d be happy to take on any work from others. You can also offer to take on work - if you have capacity - if lawyers come into the office.

It’s a bit strange because you’re on a scheme with many highly-qualified students, so I know it often feels like you need to go above and beyond everyone else. But I’d think of standing out this way – just focus on doing well in each activity you do. That means work really hard on every task you’re given; be friendly to every person you meet, from the IT staff to the secretaries to other students; and ask genuine questions during department talks. I think it’s better to get good reports from a smaller number of people you do interact with than spreading yourself thin or working endlessly to get the attention of senior lawyers.

(Reminder: These are posts I'm copying that Jaysen made in The Student Room)

Pretty hard.

There was one vacation scheme where a partner set me a huge task (at least I thought it was huge, but he didn’t seem to notice!), where I had to write a report about an ancient law for every country the firm had an office in. I was worried that this was going to take up too much time and I wouldn’t be able to work for other people (this was at a firm where that was important), so I ended up getting in early and working on the weekend. Although note, that was an unusual vac scheme and you shouldn't find yourself working on the weekend or late nights.

For another US firm, we had lots of assessments during the scheme, so I had to balance this with vacation scheme work. In that case, it was about being efficient and using my time wisely. We also had a client pitch and a TC interview on the last day, so I’d come home and work on those or stay late.

But it’s important to work hard on the right things i.e. the areas you think you need to work on. For me, that meant preparing questions, pushing myself in presentations or putting in the effort at a networking events.

It also means different things for different firms. For one of the other schemes, it would have looked bad if I stayed late. As I mentioned, I’d advise against working late unless you really have work to do (and can’t push it to the next day). Please don’t be the guy who used a sleeping pod on a scheme – especially when partners needed to use them!

Whilst you’re not always working hard in terms of actual tasks, vacation schemes are pretty intense. It’s a new environment where you have to be switched on all the time and I think it’s important to mentally prepare yourself for the two weeks - clear out as much of your schedule as you can and devote your time to it – after those two weeks, you can then relax.

Feel free to post your own thoughts on this question here too

(Reminder: These are posts I'm copying that Jaysen made in The Student Room)

The final interview will have some overlap with the vacation scheme interview – they’ll be looking to see your motivation/experience/commercial awareness. But now that you’ve been there for two weeks, it tends to focus more on how you found the scheme. So they’ll dig into your personality to see if you’re a good fit. It’s a bit tedious but I would suggest keeping a work log during the scheme and filling it with as much information as possible – who you worked with, who was the client, what you did, what you learned, how it fits into the bigger picture etc. Then when it comes to the interview, you’ll be able to use evidence to justify why you want to work at the firm. You’ll also be able to discuss what you did well and any areas you feel you could have done better – which tend to be popular questions post-vacation scheme.

We'll be posting a complete interview guide soon that runs through the most popular questions asked at interview.

(Reminder: These are posts I'm copying that Jaysen made in The Student Room)

How to do well on the scheme?

It’s going to be a little scary, but remember – the firm has decided that you’re a good candidate; that’s why you’re on the vacation scheme. Even then, you don’t have to get everything right; schemes tend to be about not shooting yourself in the foot rather than being the perfect candidate. That means handling situations appropriately (communicating if there’s an issue), conducting yourself professionally (especially on the socials) and being friendly (it’s very obvious when you’re trying to be competitive).

Vacation schemes are exhausting. Or at least, that was my experience. It’s not so much the tasks, but going from uni life to a day of work was harder than I thought. It’s a new environment where you have to be switched on all day, so it helps to mentally prepare for that. I’d suggest preparing as much as you can in advance e.g. your outfit, travel routes and times (don’t do what I did and turn up late to your first day), and track what you’re doing each day – that’ll help for your TC interview if it’s held on the last day of the scheme.

If you’re getting set quite a few tasks, you’ll have to practice managing expectations. It’s good to get into the habit of asking when the trainee/associate/partner needs the work by. If you don’t think you’ll get it done on time, the best thing you can do is speak to whoever set you the work – it’s much better to give them notice than rush a piece of work or miss a deadline completely. Likewise if someone tries to set you work when you’re at full capacity, briefly let them know what you’ve got to do at the moment and check whether you can do it after. Proofread your work, many times. Make sure there are no typos or obvious errors – print it and read it over if necessary. Otherwise, it looks sloppy.

There will be times when you’re not sure what to do in a task, that’s fine, just relay that back appropriately. Prepare informed questions and ask the person who set you the work if you can run through it with them (instead of just saying you’re lost). Or, if you get stuck and want to know if you’re on the right track, you can use your trainee buddy. Explain what work you’ve been given and don't be afraid to ask for advice, or whether the partner likes the work in a particular format – this is something we also do in practice, and it’s something your trainee/supervisor will respect.

When a trainee/associate/partner sets you a task, it often doesn’t make complete sense until you start it, so make good notes – that can be a lifesaver. It might also be helpful to re-write your notes once you’re back at your desk/after your conversation with the lawyer – that can help you to understand what’s going on and flag up any immediate issues which you might want to ask. It’s quite hard to balance listening and note taking, which for me, led to some of my notes not making sense at all!

I'd suggest updating a to-do list each morning and evening. I found this to be essential for keeping track of different workloads/assessments/meetings during the day. This can combine as a work log. Some firms have their own for you to fill out, but otherwise this is useful when it comes to the TC interview, so you can easily run through what you’ve been working on.

The final interview will have some overlap with the vacation scheme interview – they’ll be looking to see your motivation/experience/commercial awareness. But now that you’ve been there for two weeks, it tends to focus more on how you found the scheme. So they’ll dig into your personality to see if you’re a good fit. It’s a bit tedious but I would suggest keeping a work log during the scheme and filling it with as much information as possible – who you worked with, who was the client, what you did, what you learned, how it fits into the bigger picture etc. Then when it comes to the interview, you’ll be able to use evidence to justify why you want to work at the firm. You’ll also be able to discuss what you did well and any areas you feel you could have done better – which tend to be popular questions post-vacation scheme.

I came across a possible TC interview question "explain currency exchange rates" - would you mind providing a little guidance/help on how to answer this?

Anyone currently doing the LPC and how are you finding it?

Hey everyone,

It's an exciting day for us today because it's our two-week anniversary since we launched the website. (I know two weeks isn't something people normally celebrate but it feels like our first milestone!).

We also had an idea.

Rather than having sneaky updates that no-one knows about, we thought it would be a good idea to keep you guys updated on exactly what we're doing at the moment. So we'll be posting our updates on this page once or twice a week. Oh, and if there's anything you like or don't like anything please feel free to comment here or in our suggestions thread.

Thank-yous

I have a couple of thank-yous to give out first. A few of you have messaged me recently because you've received training contract offers. I won't tag you as I'm not sure if you want it to be public news but you know who you are. It's always a pleasure to hear when you do, so thank you - it makes my day to hear news like that! Please stick around too! In the near future, we'll be building resources for future trainees.

On that note, thank you to all our future trainees @Amy Hillier and current trainees @Nicole Shroff @Rayhaan V for taking the time to give out advice and answer questions. I know you all have busy schedules, which is why it has been so pleasing to see your thoughtful and detailed answers.

Now, onto the page:

What we're working on:

• Updating the law firm insights page. These are still being worked on so apologies for the clunky wording. Next on the list is Shearman & Sterling - thanks to @Denisa Olaru for the suggestion.
• Application reviews and mock interviews: I have been impressed with the applications I've seen over the last week, there are some very diverse candidates here!
• Getting funding/expanding! We're currently talking to an organisation that shares a similar mission (hence why I'm up at this time working on a business summary ).

Short-term coming soon:

• We have a few more lawyers who will be joining us soon to answer questions. One of them is an associate from Cooley. He works in the emerging companies practice group and directly advises founders and investors of start-ups and tech companies, from formation to exit (@Jonty - this seems right up your street!).
• A new guide to law firms where we break down how they function as a business, how they make money and how lawyers manage risk (thanks @GD1995 for the suggestion!).

Medium to long-term:

• I'll keep that a surprise for now but lots of exciting stuff!

Best,

J

Do you have any advice on how to do well for the following assessments for TC?

- research and drafting task;
- business simulation group exercise;
- partners interview involving preprepared presentation;

I really want to be as prepared as possible and your insight would really help!

What’s going on?

On 1 March 2018, Trump proposed a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminium imports. It’s supposed to be aimed at China - for a long time, China has been exporting excess capacity at low prices. This has been undercutting the US steel and aluminium sector who can’t compete and causing job losses and factory closures.

Business

Damage to trade:

• Whilst the tariffs are supposed to be aimed at China, Canada and Mexico will be hit worse. They export a lot more to the US – 86% of Canada’s steel exports and 88% of Canada’s aluminium exports head to the country. To put this into context, China doesn't factor into the top 10 for the US. [Last night, Trump suggested he may exempt Canada and Mexico but it remains to be seen what he'll do].
• Since it was announced, global carmakers, big exporters like Boeing, US machinery (and others in construction), oil producers (steel is used for drilling), mining companies and US defence companies have seen a fall in their share prices. A rise in tariffs will increase the cost of raw materials and make it more expensive to export their goods. General Motors, for example, saw its shares fall 8.5%, the worst weekly fall in over two years.
• The tariffs are likely to cause a fall in investment by those affected. For example, Electrolux, Europe's largest home appliance maker has put a planned 250m investment on hold. The company had planned to invest in its US plant but is waiting to see the impact on the market and whether it could affect the competitiveness of US operations.
• Canada, Mexico and the EU have threatened retaliatory tariffs. If this becomes a trade war, the impact will be far-reaching. Foreign manufacturers will face rising costs and falling profits, they'll cut jobs and global growth will slow. This will also spread to other sectors and countries. For example, a Deloitte spokesperson suggested it would cost 20,000 jobs across construction, mining and retail in the Australian economy. Meanwhile, Germany has a lot of car manufacturers and exports a lot more than it imports – should Trump decide to tax cars from the EU it would hurt both US and foreign carmakers. Higher prices will then pass onto consumers and that can cut spending.

Interest rates:

• Higher tariffs push up inflation because it raises the cost of raw materials. If there’s a risk of inflation rising too much, that could encourage the Fed to raise interest rates faster than normal.
• On the other hand, if the Fed is concerned about a slowdown to the US economy, it could reduce the pace of an interest rate rise.
• Tariffs influenced Canada's decision to keep interest rates the same this week - one of the reasons being trade uncertainties.
• The European Central Bank (ECB) is also meeting today and it’s likely that the ECB president, Mario Draghi, will be questioned on the tariffs.

China-US relations:

• Trump has been targeting China for some time now. In January, America imposed duties on the import of solar cells. China responded by targeting US exports of sorghum (animal feed). If this escalates, trade between the two countries could be harmed.
• Trump has also been vocal about China’s alleged IP theft. He’s said in the past that a fine will be coming soon. So this could be part of a package of measures against the country.
• The US (and EU) have also become more concerned about Chinese takeovers of US companies. This came to a head very recently as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) intervened in Broadcom’s bid to acquire chipmaker Qualcomm, The regulator cited national security concerns – that it could leave the US open for China to ‘expand its influence’ on the development of 5G technology. It looks like Broadcom want to push ahead but this may stop the deal. Had this gone ahead it would have been the largest-ever debt financing package.

Protectionism:

• The departure of Trump's economic adviser, Gary Cohn has made many worry about a change in policy direction.
• It’s worrying that Trump is willing to use national security to justify his protectionist policies, especially when it’s hitting the US’s closest allies. That could lead other countries to use national security to justify import restrictions.
• NAFTA is currently being re-negotiated. That’s an agreement of free trade between Canada, Mexico and the US. Trump has linked the issue of exempting Canada and Mexico from tariffs on these negotiations. If he pulls out of NAFTA, tariffs will be raised between these countries. And this wouldn't be unprecedented because he has pulled out of TPP, which would have created the largest economic bloc in the world. Many companies have organised much of their business around NAFTA including supply chains and trading relationships. If this ends, the effects will ripple across many industries.

Conclusions

I think Trump proposed tariffs in this way to help his negotiations with NAFTA. But it'll probably prompt China to act faster - so Trump has effectively killed many birds with one stone. He also gets to show to his voters that he’s fighting for US industries and show the world he's tough on trade. If Trump really wanted to target China he could have easily exempted Canada and Mexico (that’s what happened in 2002 when Bush tried to raise tariffs). I’m sure he’ll exempt them soon, but for now, it’s a nice play.

The impact on the market has actually been quite muted despite the headlines. The dollar fell but rebounded quickly and US stocks haven’t been hit that much. It suggests that (1) the market thinks the impact is limited (that Trump will exempt Mexico and Canada or that US policies will offset the impact), (2) the market doesn’t think Trump will actually do it, or (3) the market is simply less responsive to Trump (it’s been rallying despite a number of scandals in the White House).

I don’t think we’ll see a trade war, but I imagine we’ll see more protectionist measures from the US. That won’t be great for world trade, but there is some rebalancing that needs to be done in the market.

I'll send over the impact on law firms shortly .

Hey everyone

To help the commercial awareness side of things, we had an idea. Each week we'll be taking in suggestions for a commercial awareness article. A maximum of 4 topics will get put into a poll which you can then vote on. We'll then write an article on the highest voted topic.

To kick us off, please post your suggestions in this thread. Tomorrow evening we will decide which topics to put in a poll.

Hey all,

I just spoke to a student (thanks @Nick) and wanted to extend this offer to the rest of you. I'll be holding office hours each Wednesday from 8-9pm. If you'd like advice on your applications, interviews or vacation schemes, you can schedule a call at 15-minute call at one of the following time slots:

• 20:00
• 20:15
• 20:30
• 20:45

If you'd like to book a slot, please send me a private message with your preferred time, telephone number and any details that you think would be relevant.

Best,

Jaysen

Hi All,

So I have picked the above topic for the ‘what issue have you been following in the press and how will it affect us’ (the firm in question has a strong reputation representing pharma companies hence the link between M&A and the pharma industry) and I am having difficulties on how to start dividing my answer in a way that 1)answers the questions and 2)highlights the problems,solutions and my personal opinion to my proposed topic. I have started it off with something along the lines of...


Following my time shadowing the M&A and tax department at X Y Z firm, the impact of US tax reform on the pharmaceutical industry has caught my interest. This tax reform would significantly impact (list out the problems) and then from here onwards I don’t know how to proceed with my answer.

Any advice?

Thanks