New Threads

[deleted]

Basically i am thinking of going with Barbri for SQE 1. On the barbri website I can just apply to SQE 1 but on the Central Applications Board it says I can also for a slight reduction apply for both courses. Is it worth it? I am not sure if Barbri is the best for SQE 2 and was thinking that I would much rather use ULaw for SQE 2, which my employer is willing to pay for (Only SQE 2). Is this possible and should I do it?

Does anyone know the number of contact hours per week and start times for the evening part-time pgdl at UoL or City or London Met? I'm considering working part-time and would like to know what time the lectures/tutorials start and how many days per week. Thanks!

Hi, can any Watson Glaser gods out here explain how and why the approach to these 2 questions should differ? Why should I infer the statement in Q1 but cannot infer the same in Q2? With the logic of Q1 I can equally say that the Q2 statement can be inferred because the Belgian public model literally only considers relevant factors and therefore has (probably) helped / contributed to eliminate discrimination

My thinking is that:

The aim in Q1 could be racial background and gender instead of appearance (beauty), or maybe only gender, or maybe the policymakers might have simply copied another country's or EU blanket policies. To assume that the Belgian model is necessarily related to appearance just because the previous sentences talks about how appearances can be a ground for discrimination is stretching too far, let alone saying it is the aim (It could be an unintended benefit that wasn't in the mind of Belgian policy makers)

I think Q2 is more easily Probably True because it's both logical and common sense that anonymised candidate selection CAN HELP reduce if not eliminate a lot of discrimination based on appearance / gender / racial background. How do you racially / gender / looks discriminate someone if you have no info on those areas? It has to be a NET POSITIVE don't you think?

Hi everyone! In the Sidley Austin VS application there's a question which asks applicants to describe a 'current commercial issue that has interested you'. I'm not 100% sure what counts as 'commercial' news - for example, could I discuss recent changes to employment law and how that will impact firms? Also, does the 'issue' have to be related to the firm's most reputed practice areas - e.g. with the employment law example, it's not as big of a department in Sidley as some others.

Any advice would be appreciated!

i've decided to create a thread on my journey to a TC, as like others, i want to hold myself accountable. last cycle, i put out 28 applications and i must say i rushed most of them and did not truly research the firms. i think i did this because i did not know what i wanted from a firm but since reflecting on my applications, i know what i want now.

about me: i am going into my final year at a non-rg uni. i finished both 1st and 2nd year with a high 2:1.

my interests align mostly with certain US firms (small cohort, early responsibility, focus on private equity, a seat in one of my top 5 practice areas, interesting clients, international work), but i do have some other firms on my list that i am interested in for other reasons as i have either been to these firms and enjoyed learning about the work they do. just to note, trainee intake is something i am open to so i will be applying to a firm that takes in 100 trainees a year, but a smaller cohort would not allow me to hide and force me to come out of my comfort zone and GROW which is very important to me.

i have 14 firms on my list, i may replace one firm with another as i realised that i am not too interested in what they specialise in.

the firms: akin, a&o shearman, arnold & porter (not too sure now), ashurst, davis polk, freshfields, gibson dunn, goodwin, latham, nrf, skadden, travers smith, weil and wilkie.

where i want to be by the middle of august: i want to have completed a forage internship in either private equity or banking. i also would like to have started drafting winter applications for 3 of the firms.

i don't know what else to say lol but good luck everyone and i pray it goes well for all of us!

Hi all,

Does anyone know when BPP starts actual teaching for the LLM/PGDL from Sept 24? I’d ask them myself but I’m having big admin issues with them which are affecting my enrolment. Also need to know when to time leaving my current job.

Hi all,

Went to uni as a mature student, did not do A levels and have minimal GCSE's (just Maths & English) as I was home educated and pursuing a sports career in my teens.

I instead have an Access to Higher Education diploma, with perfect grades equivalent to AAA (144 UCAS points). How would you guys go about explaining this on vac/TC applications? I've just graduated, had very little success with applications in 2nd and 3rd years. I have had a few applications progress past the form stage with a range of firms (Skadden, CMS, Fladgate, Mishcon) so I know it isn't an absolute barrier but would like to iron out risk of grad rec/automated systems filtering me out straight away because of this. I have a high 2:1 from a top uni, and a reasonable range of experience for a fresh graduate, so would be frustrated if this ended up being a roadblock given I have fairly strong application on paper.

I normally just go through the 'Other' option on the menus under A level sections, and note the equivalent UCAS points. Should I also add that it is equivalent to AAA and note in mitigating circumstances the reasons behind my alternative route? I of course would welcome advice from anyone but if anyone also comes from an Access to HE background that would be fab,

Cheers in advance and good luck everyone with apps!

Hi I applied for the HSF vac scheme and a lot of my batchmates received their rejections early on. Many of them have also completed the interview round and some have received AC invites.

I have still not received an acceptance or rejection relating to my application and am not sure if I can still go on to do the telephonic interview so late since the AC is scheduled for the end of the month.

I emailed the Grad Rec Team and they said that they were still reviewing apps and would let me in two weeks' time, it has been two weeks and I still haven't heard anything from them. Should I safely assume that my appln has been rejected?

Hi, all. Just trying to get my head around to the timeline between getting a TC offer and starting the TC for a career changer who has already graduated.

If I get a TC offer in summer 2025 due to start in autumn 2027, what are the two years made up of? I've seen on Legal Cheek that firms offer a grant for each the GDL and the SQE. If you do the SQE full time I'd it just one year? And what happens if you fail - are there opportunities to resit?

Do you do both SQE & GDL as non-law or just SQE, or does it depend on the firm? If so, anyone know what the route is for Pinsent Masons / Eversheds?

Thanks a lot!

Hi all, any insight would be much appreciated on the above. Anything would be helpful, but in particular:

• How did you prepare for the AC, and looking back, how would you prepare differently?
• What did you learn about the firm on the day?
• What kind of content did the written and/or group assessments contain?
• Was there anything unexpected about the AC?

Thank you very much!

Hi

If I complete a TC at a regional firm, is it possible to move firms, say to a national firm or mid-market firm in london? Or am I limited by qualifying in a regional law firm.

Thanks!

Has anyone done the final Training Contract interview (post AC) for Burges Salmon? I've been invited in next week so keen to find out more about the style of the interview from those who've done it previously.

Hello!

What is the best way to go about researching firms? I'm struggling to find a starting point because there is just so much information. I would really appreciate if anyone could let me know their researching methods?

Hi everyone,

With a new recruitment cycle starting in the next few weeks, we thought it best to start a new master thread to discuss direct training contract applications for the 2024-2025 application cycle.

You can find the 2023-24 cycle thread here.

Best of luck to everyone for this upcoming cycle

Thanks,

Jess

With some firms opening their applications for winter, spring and summer schemes in the coming weeks, we thought it was time to open a new thread for a new application cycle.

Please use this master thread to discuss anything related to vacation scheme applications for the 2024-2025 application cycle. This can include everything from application and interview queries to news from particular law firms.

If you want to check last year's thread you can find it here: TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2023-24

Wishing everyone the best of luck for the upcoming cycle.

Thanks,

Jess

Hey!


I have decided to create a thread to document my journey to getting a TC!

I think this will help hold me accountable and will motivate me! ATM I am all talk and so I'm hoping by regularly updating this thread I will be able to force myself to do the work.

Facts about me:
I am going into my third year of my law degree at a Russel Group university. I am state school educated. This would be my second application cycle and I plan to use the entirety of August getting ready for this year.

What firms I am interested in applying to?
Linklaters
Covington
HSF
Baker Mckenzie
NRF
Freshfields
Hogan Lovells
White and Case
Latham
Wilkie
A & O Shearman
CC
Maybe:
Reed Smith?

Commercial Awareness:
Does anyone have any tips on how I should be consolidating any commercial stories/podcasts I have been reading/listening to?

AIMS:
- Start listening to FT everyday and a firm podcasts.
- Start a FORAGE work exp - maybe CC first?
- Begin research!!!


I would appreciate any tips/ motivating words

I will try to update daily if not weakly!

Signing off,
Me

I am currently applying for Paralegal positions, as I am intending to work as a paralegal throughout my gap year. Most positions are Permanent Contracts. Should I mention that I currently hold multiple TC offers and will likely accept one of them, to make my application competitive?
If not, what are experiences I can mention to make my application competitive? @Jessica Booker

Thank You!

Hi everyone,

I'm interested to hear what everyone is doing to prep for the next recruitment cycle. How many firms are people applying for and how do you narrow down the firms you're interested in?

I'm personally going to aim for 10 next year (for the vac schemes at least) & trying to target 'friendly', full-service law firms which have an element of international work (and ideally, international offices also).

.

Hi has anyone heard back from Travers Smith summer vacation scheme 2024?

Is it appropriate to cold email somebody using their firm email on the internet if you are specifically interested in their work?

Hi! I have recently received a disappointing set of results for second year law and I am in the process of working out what my plan should be going into third year, so some advice would be greatly appreciated.

For context, I did pretty well in my first year. I received three firsts, with the exception of Contract Law, which I got 56 in, and my average for the year was 67. Second year, unfortunately, has not gone as smoothly and I have ended up with a 2:1 in just one module, with the rest being 2:2s. So I'm barely averaging a 2:1 for the two years combined now. Annoying that first year counts for nothing!

I am not too worried in the grand scheme of things because I know that I didn't engage with the degree as well as I should have in this past year, and with second year only counting for 1/3, if I get back to achieving results like I did in first year, then I should at least be able to graduate with a 2:1 still.

My immediate concern now is whether it is worth doing applications again during my third year? I don't want to put the time and effort into applications if my second year results will mean that I almost automatically fall into the reject pile at the first hurdle.

I went into my second year clueless about a career in commercial law. I had next-to-zero knowledge of the whole process and I didn't really have a strong idea of what career path I might be interested in. I had so little knowledge that I was actually blown away just by how many commercial law firms there are in London!!

Anyway, I didn't start the process of applying for firms until right at the end of November, when deadlines for many firms were already approaching. I had no strategy for the kind of firms I wanted to apply for, meaning I went in completely blind to it all. My earlier applications were awful but they gradually improved, and I ended up progressing past the first stage for around 6-8 very reputable firms (mostly American), three of which I reached the final stage for.

Considering I went into my second year with no knowledge of the whole process and the fact that the first half of my applications were no-hopers, I am pretty pleased with the progress I ultimately made. I feel like I would be in a good place to build on this progress now, especially since I feel that I now have even stronger extra-curriculars than I did this time last year, including an open day with an international firm. I would also have a much more focused strategy for applying to firms, meaning I wouldn't be chasing deadlines and cramming applications in, which I think played a big part in not engaging with my course properly last year.

I am just really concerned that my poor results from second year would make the decision to turn me down an obvious one. If that is the case, I would much rather hold off until after I hopefully have some stronger results in third year. Any advice would be massively helpful, thanks!

Hi All,

Has anyone completed Simkins' work placement previously or going to this year's one? Do you have any advice for preparation, particularly regarding the presentation?

Thanks.

Hello.

Recently I have decided to do the Law conversion course LLM with SQE1 at BPP university, but I'm wondering if I should be doing it part time or full time. I was thinking about doing it part time as I have done a non-law degree so I can take my time learning everything without rushing to ensure I get the best grades I can and also work alongside it, but then I will be finishing the course at 2027 and that stresses me in some way because my plan after the course was to become a paralegal gain legal work experience and trying to get a TC, so me finishing at 2027 makes me wonder if I'm going to be left behind considering other applicants will have much more experience than me and I will have to rush if it makes sense?
But at the same time I know I will struggle heavily if I decide to do it full time, I know what's it like to do few years of studying in one year as I did it with one of my A levels. I know I will end up with the passing grade but I know it wont be my best and that I probably wouldn't remember much of anything afterwards, so I'm not sure where to go from here.

Is it possible for me to do part time for a year and the switch it to full time?

Any advise will help, thank you in advance