New Threads

Hi all,

I am a 22-year-old graduate who recently finished working with the UN in London as part of their legal protection team. I have a lot of experience in immigration law, largely as a caseworker (before my role with the UN), and never really considered applying to vac schemes or TCs while at university. Over the last year, my interests changed and my career ambitions shifted, I am now looking to qualify as a solicitor in London, and as such, I am going to start applying to vac schemes and training contracts throughout the year .

I am applying for an open day at Taylor Wessing. I wanted to ask whether this would be the correct approach for answering questions like this. The second question in the application has a word limit of 300 words. The question asks, what questions would you put to our lawyers?

I do not feel I have enough questions to reach the 300-word limit. However, I want to provide context for each question as to why I am asking these questions, and potentially explain why I am interested in understanding more about this sector of the firm, for instance. Would this be a suitable approach?

For a vacation scheme application question entitled "please describe a commercial issue that has interested you" is it a fitting answer to discuss investment trends (such as increased investment in a certain sector) so long as you provide analysis on how this affects clients and law firms?

Further, is it essential to link the answer back to the firm specifically, even if the question does not ask for this?

Hi all,

I am an incoming Politics and IR student and strongly interested in pursuing a career as a solicitor.

I'd like to progress as early as possible towards a career in law, and was hoping to get any pointers as to what schemes I should look out for, any grants, and in general just any tips that could be of use to a first year non-law.

My background is that I am coming from a non-selective state school and low income family.

Thank you in advance!

Hello!

I am wondering if anyone is/ has been in the situation where you are working full-time and then receive a TC offer (where the firm is sponsoring the SQE preparation courses (full-time) and providing a living allowance)? If so, I am wondering if you can share any advice on how you made up the difference between the living allowance and a full-time salary? I am struggling to see how this is manageable with a rent contract/bills/cost of living etc. and would be so grateful for any insights!

To add more detail, the firm have an arrangement where trainees do a full-time course and I already have a master's so I can't apply for student funding.

Hi guys, i have been invited for the white and case VI for direct TC applications. I would greatly appreciate any tips or links to resources.

Personal thoughts.



I am familiar with the LPC assessment and study format. However, is the LPC redundant, as most firms seem to prefer the SQE? If I completed the LPC, is it possible that later on, I would have to take the SQE2 exam?



Personal circumstances.



1) I do not have a training contract.



2) I attended a Russell group uni studying for a non-legal undergrad degree.



3) I attended Ulaw to study GDL.



4) I can self-fund.



Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I am accustomed with the LPC study and assessment format. However, the LPC seems redundant as most firms prefer the SQE.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

A&O Shearman's winter vacation scheme entails an online interactive assessment which is sent to applicants via email. However, it makes no mention of when the online assessment must be completed by; e.g., within 5 days of receiving the link for the test.

A&O Shearman's own website says "You will need to complete your application and interactive assessment ahead of deadline." (https://earlycareersuk.aoshearman.com/faqs)

Does this mean so long as the online assessment is completed before the application closes for winter vacation schemes (and other schemes vice versa), applicants will be fine?

Cheers all.

Hi all, I have just progressed to the W&C video interview invite. I would appreciate any tips or links to resources. Thanks in advance.

Hi,

I got my second-year results back and I received a 57% average. I did get some low 2.1s and a first in one of my law modules, however, I did get a 45 in one of my exams and quite a few 2:2s in my other core modules. I do have mitigating circumstances, as the past academic year was quite mentally draining for me and I do have letters from my GP to support me. I am also receiving more help from my university and GP to deal with my mental health issues. Although, I did get a 2.1 in first year, I don't know if I should even bother with this application cycle because of these results, or just wait until I improve my grades even more.

I would also like to ask what firms are lenient with their 2:1/Mitigating circumstances requirements.

As mentioned, I scored at least a 2:1 for all my papers and I do have fairly unique extracurricular achievements with positions at College, Society and Sports domains.

Hi
I am a 21-year-old International Relations and Politics (soon to be) graduate. I barely finished with a 2:1 in my final year and due to my mitigating circumstances, I will be graduating in December (I deferred out of fear that I would graduate with a 2:2 if my claim were not accepted).

University was exceptionally challenging as I dealt with SA in my first year and SA from a previous partner and family bereavement in my second year. Though I should have taken a gap year or studied abroad I was focused on gaining corporate experience and pushed for unsuccessful placement applications. I was burnt out in my final year and hence did not achieve the grades I knew I could have. I have chosen to take a step back from university and focus on work experience before I attempt the PGDL. My university does not teach law and I have no resources or societies to reference within this process easily accessible to me.

I have a week of work experience shadowing paralegals at Freshfields Bruckaus Deringer in 2019; I did an internship at a social housing charity as an administrator and support worker in 2023; In my final year, I managed to become a sustainability ambassador and student ambassador producing and hosting workshops to inspire my community. At present, I am preparing to apply for the next vacation scheme cycle and will be volunteering with citizens' advice from September 2024.

Overall, I feel entirely alone in not just my experiences but also my pursuit of corporate law as nobody I know personally has any connection to this field.

I want some advice on how I might explain to a potential employer my mitigating circumstances and whether my work experiences so far would make me a competitive applicant for Vacation Schemes regardless of my circumstances.

Thanks for reading!

I am an international student studying in the UK. During the past year, I've done five vac schemes in my home country at UK and US firms. However, I failed to convert them into a TC either due to minor slip-ups in a task/exit interview or not being social enough to make a strong impression (most associates and trainees I worked with gave really positive feedback on my work). The current market also means many firms have to cut their trainee intake.

I am planning to apply to vac schemes in the UK this cycle, and I was wondering whether the fact that I failed to covert multiple vac schemes is a major red flag. Should I only disclose two vac schemes (instead of all) to make my application look less alarming? How likely will firms ask why I failed to get a TC (overseas)? Any advice is appreciated.

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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!