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Hi all

This is to mention my new book on legal writing and contract drafting skills. It's aimed at trainee solicitors, but it should also help anyone writing CVs/application forms and doing written exercises at assessment centres.

(I was a solicitor at a magic circle firm for 26 years and I now teach writing/drafting at several firms.)

You can buy the hard copy book here and there's a Kindle version here (free if you have Kindle Unlimited).

And here are a few tips:
1. Have a proper structure: put the most important stuff first, put related issues together and use informative sub-headings that allow your reader to skim-read.
2. Have short paragraphs and use numbered lists/bullet points. They're much easier to read than long slabs.
3. Avoid grammar or spelling mistakes. In particular, avoid the 'comma splice', it makes senior lawyers' heads explode. (That was an example of a comma splice.)
4. Write in short sentences with fewer than 25 words.
5. Write in plain English. That's how practising lawyers write to each other. Don't try to sound fancy: no-one is impressed. Avoid this kind of thing: 'I endeavoured to orchestrate the strategic direction of Freshers' Committee such that it complied with our stringent budgetary constraints'. Better: 'I ensured that the Freshers' Committee came within budget.'

Here's my website - https://www.staveleyandatraghji.co.uk/
Feel free to link in with me - https://www.linkedin.com/in/melatraghji

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone who has applied for the NRF summer vacation scheme, taken the Arctic Shores test, has heard back for a video interview?

Has anyone received a Latham Assessment Centre yet?
The last email I received was them saying they will get back to people by the end of January, but no rejection or AC since then.

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone could offer tips on my interview technique.

I was recently interviewed by a partner and senior associate at a US firm. It was my first interview in a long time, and what I immediately felt was a tension between being concise and to the point with my answers, and trying to show them the full breadth of my skills, motivation and research.

For example, when they asked me "How are we different from similar firms", I gave them the differences, but was wondering if I should go further and explain why those differences matter to me.
Or, if they asked me about a situational judgement question, I would tell them what I would do and why, but was wondering if I was should use a past example from my career to further flesh out my decision.

I think I had a fear that the interviewers might get impatient, or that they were busy people and needed to finish the interview on time, or that they might get annoyed if they perceive I'm going off on a tangent. I also relied overly on the interviewers to ask me follow-up questions, but they never materialised.

Does anyone have any advice on navigating this please?

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Has anyone had a call back from Bird & Bird after their AC for the Spring Vacation Scheme 2024? The wait is killing.

Hi all,

To be honest I scraped my LPC with a pass in most of my subjects with multiple resits. Every candidate I’ve seen so far whether it’s a non RG uni, ends up doing quite amazingly on the LPC or if they failed one exam, still excelled in the rest. This is bearing in mind I’m already from a non RG uni background with not so great a levels. I don’t necessarily have mitigating circumstances aside from working more than full time on the LPC

I know firms now do the SQE, but I really can’t put myself through that again. Does anyone have tips or genuinely think there’s a realm of possibility that a firm will let me stick to the LPC route?

Somehow received assessment centre offers to a few law firms and have made it near to the assessment centre rounds for top law firms (MC firms/US). I applied on a whim as I used to be interested in law but due to familial pressure of not going down that route, for years I just left the idea of it.

Currently have no clue how anything works, how I am meant to prepare, how to prepare case studies, build commercial awareness. I'm currently in my penultimate year of a 4 year degree studying a STEM subject - I literally just have no clue about law firms in general and don't want to make a fool of myself. I didn't think I would make it this far (I don't have amazing grades although I have huge extenuating circumstances but applied anyway as I thought it might be good practise for next year when I am more prepared).

I am not commercially aware and I know that takes a while to get the hang of. I don't know where to start in my preparation!

Grateful but also know I am up against insanely strong applicants. What do I do? Only case study prep I have done is for consulting which I guess is "easier" to do as it doesn't require much technical knowledge. I am bricking it - want this to go well because I am a low-income student and this would change both mine and my family's lives plus it seems like a fulfilling, rewarding, and highly stimulating job.

How high are firm's expectations when it comes to VI's? I was cut off on one answer but other than that I feel like it went ok, is being cut off likely to harm my chances?

Check out a day in my life as a trainee solicitor in London!

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Hi all, I graduated in 2023 and am currently in a legal role for a particular United Nations agency, and after a 3-year-long deliberation, I have finally decided I would like to try to seriously apply for TC's or Vac schemes. I literally have 0 friends that pursued this path so its really nice and encouraging to read through all of your stories here

How would one write an effective and punchy executive summary for a written exercise portion of an AC?

What should it look like? What must be included? Should it be in bullet points or prose?

Examples would be much appreciated. Many thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm Iz and currently on my journey from pharmacy to commercial law.

I've been fortunate enough to have completed an internship and a few mentorships which have greatly helped me on my journey, alongside TCLA. Sometimes it's absolutely daunting to be switching from healthcare to the corporate world so I'd like to set this thread up for all of my MDT colleagues - nurses, medics, physios and the rest!

This is my first application season and I've found luck it getting through the first hurdle of the application stage. However, I've found myself stuck at the VI station. Any advice on this stage and also helpful hints and tips for those switching from healthcare to commercial would be greatly appreciate.

I hope we all have a merry journey in obtaining a TC at our favourite firms!

Iz

Hi all - I had a question on what everyone thought on not getting through on the first stage on most applications despite having 20 years plus legal experience in top City law firms and one high street law firm. I know it is not just down to this section that you would get through on to the next stage. However, in most industries having relevant experience is what is looked for in applying for a job. I have had my training contract applications looked at and one highlighted I had not used the STAR technique enough on my work experience section. I agree this was the case but I got through to the next stage on only one application despite not using the STAR technique so this cannot be the only reason. What are people's thoughts on this? Did it help if you got more legal experience in the area of law you are most interested in working in? This point confuses me as if I have worked in the industry for this long why am I not even getting through the first stage. I am beginning to think that I should turn away from law completely.

On a separate note, if a law firm has an application form where there are just the general questions of exam results and work experience. Other than doing the usual research on the firm's values and what they look for, how can I make the application stand out?

Thank you.

Hi everyone, I've been on the TCLA as a guest viewer for about a year now, long enough to see the discussions around diversity and what law firms can be doing quite repeatedly. As suggested by moderators, I have created a new thread to support the D&I/Representation discussion that was taking place on the Vacation Scheme thread. I will post the message I posted here, I am really keen on knowing what criteria people use when judging whether or not a VS, for example, is representative. Also, happy to have a discussion around any of the points I've made as I'm aware some people reacted negatively to this message.

Elmiro said:

Why is it a shock to the system that Slaughter's vacation scheme consisted predominantly of white students, especially considering that white people account for roughly 80% of the UK population? I think we can have a legitimate conversation regarding representation, but I'm keen to understand what a perfectly representative vacation scheme, in your opinion, would have looked like. I think this conversation will only be meaningful if we define the metric by which we judge representation. If the metric is the general UK population, then having a VS consisting of over 50% white students is a perfectly representative one. If the metric is London, which has a 36% white population, then we can begin to say that white students on the VS are over-represented. In any case, there is still the question of why a VS demographic should be artificially made to represent a wider population.

Edit: In response to the moderator comment, they're right - my 36% stat only accounts for the White Brit population, the general White population in London could be anything near 50%, but my overarching point still stands.

Moderator - statistics relating to the White population of London are incorrect and only factor in the 'White British' population of London.

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I wanted to change a sentence that included the word "garnering" to "raising" but ended up writing "raising garnering". Rest of my CV is ok but this issue quite literally is the first sentence after education.

Hi all, would be grateful for reasoning behind the answers to the two WG questions below

1) Current accounts and savings accounts are both types of bank account, which differ in that current accounts are always no-interest bearing deposit accounts, whereas savings accounts earn interest. Another difference is that the minimum balance required to maintain a savings account is usually low, but for a current account it is much higher in comparison. Tim recently opened a current account with Delta Bank.

Tim doesn’t earn interest with his deposits in Delta Bank
Answer: This deduction is not made – why?

2) The bleep test is a running test used to estimate an athlete’s aerobic capacity. A new study proves that lower bleep test scores are strongly related to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adults aged over 50.

The study shows a positive correlation between bleep test score and increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease in adults aged over 50.
Answer: This inference is false - why?