New Threads

Hi Jessica,

I hope you are well!

I am currently writing training contact applications. I achieved a 2:1 in my degree. Unfortunately, I faced two occasions of bereavement (both of which were close family members) in my first and second years at university. I hesitated to write about these in my application 'mitigating circumstances' section. I did not want to remind myself of my setbacks in my first two years at university. I achieved 59% in my second year, barely attending university and moved back home to support my family. I am reading the threads below, and writing about this might help with my applications and justify why I achieved the grade I earned in my second year. However, I am still trying to figure out the best way to do this. The university was well aware of my situation, providing 1:1 in-house councillor sessions and multiple personal tutor meetings in my final year to help find ways to improve my grade, so my personal tutor is always someone I write as a referee in my applications.

I would really appreciate your advice on this.

Himisha

Hey! Has anyone been through the NTU sqe/llm prep course? Would you recommend it? I initially wanted to attend ULaw but missed key deadlines as an international student so my only choice now is NTU? Will it make a difference?

Hi everyone.

I’ve applied for the Early Character and Suitability Assessment and had an e-mail confirming my case has been allocated. I’ve had contact with my case handler and today provided all my evidence in support of my application.

Has anyone been through this recently and able to give any timescales of how long it took to receive a decision? I am aware I’ve applied right in the middle of their busiest times as applications are closing next week. They are currently saying 6months but usually decide within 90 days.

Any feedback appreciated

I have gotten my second-year results back averaging a low 2:1 (2 high 2:1, 2 low 2:1 and 1 2:2). It was better than last year but it was lower than what I predicted from my January assessment. May I know whether a low 2:1 itself is a dealbreaker for city law firms? I have done a fair amount of insight day/schemes but never done a full vac scheme. Also, how does the same low 2:1 affect my chances of getting an entry paralegal/ legal assistant job? I know my chances of TC are low so I am planning to start as a paralegal so there is something else to be considered other than my grades.

P.S. A bonus red flag is a 2:2 contract module in my first year but I do not know how this will change when I take commercial law modules entirely in my final year.

Hi! I am a May 2024 starter PGDL student at BPP in desperate search of past papers for the MCQs and long-form problem questions. Other than the formatives, which are only cover half of the module content, they offer no past or example exam papers with which to study. If there are any past PGDL students with any help and/or guidance it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance

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I just graduated from Law at a top 10 RG uni with a low/mid 2.1 and no work experience.
Over the last 3 years, I only managed to get 1 first-year insight scheme and 1 internship at a commercial law firm in my home country (not the UK).
Other than that, I failed to progress to the interview stage for all but one of my applications (19 applications in total over 2 years, both VS and direct TC).

I've now returned to my home country and moved back in with my parents right after graduation because I cannot afford to live in London (or anywhere in the UK really).

I don't really know what to do now - I could self-fund the SQE, but at this point I'm not sure that pouring any more money (or time) into a commercial law career that may never even happen for me would be reasonable. This is the only career I've considered over the last 3 years, so now I find myself without any experience or ideas as to what other career I could pursue. I'm really lost and feeling hopeless - coming to study law in the UK, I was honestly expecting this to be at least a little bit easier, especially considering the prestige of the degree/my uni.

This is only half request for advice and half rant - I just want to know how others have coped in a similar situation, or whether you have any tips you could offer me here.

Hi - I'm wondering if there's a standard protocol on cold reaching out to grad recruitment teams or firm HR on LinkedIn regarding general advice? I have a lot of personal/professional mid-level and senior connections at various firms with whom I've discussed and reviewed my applications, but I still have been unable to make it to any interview stage. At this point, there's clearly something that legal personnel and I aren't catching in my application, so wondering if directly speaking about my candidacy with an HR rep would be of more use in terms of getting through the written stage of apps? If so, is there a recommended way to go about this?

Hi

Is anyone aware within how many days/weeks of the VS completion do White & Case and Freshfields give out their TC offers ?

Thanks.

Hi,

I've always felt unsure about how I can effectively communicate my interest in a firm's work or culture. Is it best to have experienced similar work? Is it fine to say I attended an event and then read more about it? Is it fine if i just talk about a story that I have followed which I know matches really well with the work that particular firm does? Can I just explain why I find it appealing, or is that too general?

Thank you!

Hi,

I hope you are well!

Could I flag my application to join the TCLA junior lawyer's community, please? I applied last week and have not heard since. I apologise for my impatience, I just am very keen to learn from others before I begin my TC

I was hoping for some insight to other resources that I should learn from before my TC starts too (other than the obvious Training Contract Handbook by Jake Schogger).

Thanks!

Hi, I'm planning to do an undergrad in Law and was wondering if anyone would be able offer some advice on writing the personal statement and how to prepare for the Lnat exam.

Hey everyone,

This is so so premature but is more of a curiosity question than anything, as it's something that only just occurred to me. I'm going into my second year of non-law and looking to apply to some vacation schemes in the next few months.

I know for many/most vacation schemes there is the opportunity to convert to a TC at the end of the scheme, and that plenty of firms recruit mainly/only from their vacation scheme. However I also know that law firms usually recruit 2 years in advance, which is why most firms only open vacation schemes to final year non-law students.

My question is for the small number of firms that do offer vacation schemes to penultimate year non-law, is it possible to get a TC offer 3 years in advance, or would you just be expected to do a direct TC application the following year even if you were successful on the scheme?

Thanks

There is a discussion thread on Legal Cheek about Skadden cancelling their Training Contracts. Has anyone heard anything about this?

xxx.

Hello, I recently received a TC offer from a UK law firm. They will sponsor my visa as I'm an international. My graduate visa expires in Sept 2026, which is the same time I will be starting the SQE LLM. My question is: what type of visa will the law firm give me for the year I spend studying for and taking the SQE.

I don't think it can be a skilled worker visa (SWV) because that requires a minimum salary of £34,300, and law firms pay less than that for the SQE grant. The skilled worker visa will likely start after I've completed the SQE and started training.

If not a Skilled Worker Visa, will it be a student visa? Can law firms even sponsor those and will I be required to pay?

Additionally, as I'm sure you're aware, the SQE grant offered by law firms barely covers living expenses in the current economic climate. I have developed a strong resume and qualify for other jobs with salaries ranging from £60-80K. I was wondering if I could continue working while I study for the SQE. If it is the student or SWV, there is the 20h/week limit on how much I can work - which makes having a full-time job quite challenging. I have heard of people getting double sponsorship on SWV, but apparently, employers don't like that sort of thing.

It's difficult to get clear answers online. I'd appreciate any guidance before I contact my law firm for further clarification. Thank you!

Hi everyone,
I am starting my second year of an LLB, set to graduate in 2026. I am getting confused on whether I need to be applying for vacation schemes now or training contracts. I have a list of the firms I want to apply to for their vacation schemes, which applications for those mostly open in September or early October. However I am seeing that some firms (Slaughter and May and Hogan Lovells) have applications for their 2027 training contract closing the end of this month.

Am I too late?

Hi I am I my first year and I got an overall 60.27% but I have a 58.5 in my contract module. I also have some pretty dire extenuating circumstances. Will this impact my chances at securing a vac scheme at a US or silver circle firm?

So I currently work for an IB in their operations department and recently got a new job offer in a different department ( non legal), after completing a FTC there. I had an interview for an MC firm in their finance/billings department, and think it went well, and has a similar salary. I haven’t signed a contract and have only given verbal acceptance to the role at my current company. I’m planning to do a law conversion course in 2025, have a first class non-law BA from a low-mid RG university and have ABC at A level. I like the new team at my current job and want to work in capital markets/commodities law (new job at current firm is allied to this). I know it’s silly but I feel quite bad about leaving my current company - and think I could grow my knowledge of financial and capital markets at it, which would benefit my career. If I get the MC job should I take it, as it’s in a law firm, particularly an MC firm. I have no legal work experience currently, but have a vac scheme in August at a US employment law firm. What would be best for future career option in your opinions. Thanks for the help everyone just need a bit of help to weigh it all out.

A

Hi, I am currently doing the direct TC application for White & Case. One of the questions was to provide details of any interest or extra-curricular activities. Do I answer it by giving every detail of where I spend my free time (volunteering) or I should give a brief description of what I do with a key event written in STAR format? It also asks for any position of responsibilities, do I also answer with one event under the STAR format? There is a 1500 word limit and I am unsure how much I should write.

Hi,

There's a firm I'm really interested in who I want to build my research on over the summer. However, as a repeat applicant, I'm no longer eligible to attend the first-year event that they're running over the summer; I attended it last year though. Would it be appropriate to reach out to them and ask if they can point me in the direction of people i can speak too who usually make themselves available for grad rec events?

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I'm starting to gather all my experiences/skills and how I can write about them in applications. I have been told previously that stronger applications often tell a 'story' - basically meaning all their experiences link together and have a unique angle on why that individual is applying to a commercial law firm, why they are best suited etc.

I'm not entirely sure how to link all my experiences together, and also how to even find my own unique 'story'. Does anyone have any advice please on how to find my own individualised selling point? Thank you!

Hi all,

I've noticed that most big law firms offer candidates the option to attach a cover letter if they choose to do so. However, recruiters, or at least most of them, never request a cover letter from candidates when they submit applications via the firms' systems (based on my experience). Could someone please clarify this matter for me?

@Jessica Booker , is a cover letter necessary when applying for paralegal roles at big law firms, considering that it's often listed as optional?

Thank you very much.

Hey everyone,

Apologies if this is the wrong place to post this, this is my first post here.

I'm a first year/going into second year non-law student. I have only very recently begun to consider a career in law, as in since early May. My uni faculty held a workshop encouraging STEM students to consider it and it really intrigued me. After that I managed to secure a place on one virtual insight day with a firm last week. That I also found very informative and enjoyable, but unfortunately that is the extent of my experience.

I feel a bit on the back foot with everything haha, I'm doing plenty of research in preparation to make some vacation scheme applications when they open in the next few months. Is there any expectation to have prior legal experience. I'm not sure what you could be expected to have this early on in uni, but at the same time I feel I have nothing special to really offer. If they're as competitive as they seem, what can someone do to even get to the interview stage? Or am I misunderstanding what vac scheme applications entail?

As for me, I have the one virtual insight day, a part time retail job, 2:1 average for fist year, and subpar a-levels (ABC). I am hoping to get a committee position (either vice president or president) of my academic society too, but don't know of this for sure yet. All in all feeling very undeprepared for applications.

Any tips or advice?