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Hi

Hello,

I am currently in my second stage of university, studying law.

My mother passed away at the beginning of my A levels. I went into care as a result. I then became a care leaver and had to live alone in temporary accommodation during year 13. I was responsible for managing finances, paying rent, food shopping and making sure I get myself to sixth form everyday.

As a result I achieved BBC in my A levels due to my circumstances. I also attend a non RG university.

I did not do extremely well in my first year, I passed the year with 51.65%. During that time, I was working between 16-32 hours per week.

During term 2 of my second year, I recently got diagnosed with dyslexia. Which means I've always had it. I also had bereavement counselling for 3 months.

I have received all my second year results, however I did not do as well as I wanted to. I did improve compared to first year. I am on track to get a 2:1, but I aspire to get a first.

My outside circumstances has affected my
performance and I am worried that I will not get a VC or TC because of my grades. I have never applied to VCs or TCs before. I hope to in my third year.

I am debating retaking the whole of my second year or just going into third year to achieve a 2:1.

I would still need to apply to TC and VC in my second year if I choose to retake. I would like to show firms that I have improved. I understand that magic circle firms are more picky with grades. I heard that they normally consider one bleep in applicants education. I have multiple bleeps.

I have been to open days, I have work experience and legal work experience after volunteering at my university law clinic.

I just do not know what to do anymore and I do not feel that confident in my career prospects now. I feel like I have come too far to quit now and I want to become a solicitor.

I'm fortunate enough to be invited to an interview for Simkins LLP. Has anyone done an interview with this firm before? Any tips would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

do law firms consider depression or mental health issues as extenuating circumstances when applying for training contracts or vacation schemes or is that not enough

I went to the GP and they told me they going to provide evidence for me as this has been happening at the start of second year and I have mental health problems and cant sleep properly and i feel like my grades are as a result of this

will this be accepted and if it does what are you supposed to say in the application
if not then what can you do?

im just confused at the moment

Hi all,

Future trainee here.

I'm starting my training contract in September this year and will be completing the PSC throughout August/early September. The PSC will stretch from 12th August through to 5th September for me (we had a lot of free choice over modules/dates)

In your experience, do trainees get paid during the PSC? My firm covers the course fees but I'm not sure if they pay a grant or anything else.

I'll need to be completely out of full-time work for a month with bills to pay, so keen to figure out how much I'll need to rely on my savings between the start of August and my first payday at end of September.

Thanks!

Hello,

Have any of you heard from Kingsley Napley following your application for their Work Experience programme?

Thank you.

Hi

I have previously opened applications without completing them due to university commitments and running out of time. For these firms would I be disadvantaged if I try to apply later down the line?

Thanks

Hi folks,

I am looking at applying for a TC in a few london and global firms. I am a bit older than the other people who would be applying so I am wondering is it necessary to do a vac scheme before doing a TC or is it possible to secure a TC through the direct TC route? Does anyone have any ideas on which firms typically recruit solely from their vac scheme cohort?

thanks!

Hi, I have an interview with Rare Recruitment for their Candidate Coordinator role. Has anyone interviewed in the past and is willing to provide some insights?

Thanks!

I mostly have a first overall, but when it comes to my overall rank, its not that great. Wanted to know if that makes a difference

Hi All,

I'm looking at the GDL part-time at the College of Legal Practice. Whilst the cost is very attractive the 10 months duration seems a very short time to complete this course. Does anyone have any experience of this course and is it doable in the time frame specified?

Many thanks in advance

Hey guys long time listener time caller here,
Returning to law after a 2-year gap to chase the dream

Hi anyone has any experience with interviewing at Haynes and Boone (first interview) as well as any insight regarding their written task- any help will be appreciated! Thanks

Hi @Jessica Booker, @James Carrabino and @Jaysen!

I hope you all are doing well! I was hoping to get some advice regarding my TC interviews with WS and WB.

I am only at the first stage yet, and have tried to look for specific advice relating to the two firms but unfortunately have not come across anything.

I would really appreciate any advice on how to best prepare for the two. Thank you so much in advance for your input

j

Hi everyone!

I have a vacation scheme coming up and it involves a negotiation workshop assessment. Can someone who has done one before or has information please provide information on what to expect and what will be assessed?

Thank you!

Just received my first year grades as follows this morning:
- Legal Foundations - 65
- Contract - 64
- Public - 56
- Criminal - 55
I put this into a grade calculator and this gives me exactly a 60% 2:1 average. Would this very low 2:1 in and of itself be a significant hindrance when applying for TC and VS, particularly at MC/US/SC level? Thanks in advance for any advice offered for my situation

Hello all,
I have been wondering if there are any success stories related to two scenarios:

1. Having really poor A levels, but top 2% excellent University grades (both undergrad and postgrad - RG) and solid legal work experience in commercial practice, and still making it further in the application stage, or all the way through, to MC or international law firms without an A level requirement;
2. The same situation in point 1 but for firms who have an A-level requirement but strongly encourage you to apply nonetheless if you have strong grades elsewhere and a great overall application.

For context, one of the international Firms I spoke with falling within point 2 told me to still go ahead and apply as things will be looked at "holistically."

Your engagement will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hi there,

I have a vacation scheme coming up with a silver circle firm in 1 week and another city firm in a few weeks. I have been told that for the first vacation scheme (3 weeks), the final partner interview will take place following the scheme. My other vacation scheme will commence directly after the first one finishes and goes for 2 weeks. I think there is a high chance they will schedule my interview soon after I finish the first vac scheme and this would clash with my second vacation scheme. I'm sure I'm not the only with back to back vacation schemes but I'm wondering if anyone has advice on how to approach this? Should I be upfront with grad recruitment at the beginning and just say I am not available from 15-26th July for an interview and if they can schedule this the following week and if I need to mention my reason (I have another vac scheme) or if I should leave that out?

BPP requires a 2:2 qualifying law degree, but my exam results are not out until July. I have made the payments for the course. Do I just wait for the exam results to come out now and submit the?

Hello,
I'm an Indian law student currently going through the international law firm vacation scheme rigmarole. I have done my research on the firms, etc. But I would like specific advice on the questions asked:
1. Introduce us to a topic you know about and explain why it interests you. (We are looking for structure and succinctness in your answer. Your answer does not need to be related to law or HSF and it is a chance for us to find out more about you and your interests)
2. Why are you interested in pursuing a career at Herbert Smith Freehills?
3. What skills, qualities and attributes would you bring to the role?

For question (1) i've read contradictory views on whether the answer can include any topic or specifically topics related to commercial law. Does anyone have a successful experience after writing a non-law answer, esp if they're from an Indian legal background. I've also read that this answer is to evaluate our writing. What does this mean exactly? What are some general writing advice to keep in mind?

Question (2) - Are they asking for previous trysts with HSF, international experience, etc?

Any further tips for how to approach these and other questions from an international background would be very helpful <3

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone could give insights on whether it is feasible to study the full-time PGDL course while working part-time for up to 20 hours as a paralegal? Really appreciate it

Hi, I interviewed for the Dispute Resolution Internship role in May 2024 but haven't heard back yet. Has anyone else heard back?

Hi ,
I'm planning on studying the PGDL in September at BPP and I was wondering if anyone has information about deadlines. I'm completing a vacation scheme in June/ July, and the firm would sponsor my studies if I secured a training contract. However, if I don't manage to secure a training contract then I'm planning on doing the Masters version of the course in order to access a postgraduate student loan. I get the impression that law schools accept applications up until quite close to the start date, but I don't want to leave this too late and risk missing out on a place and/or government funding. Any information and advice would be appreciated, thank you!