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As a law graduate I'm curious to know whether its required to pass the SQE before commencing a training contract with a law firm?

Also, I would like to understand if certain law firms sponsor candidates for the SQE, and whether possessing the SQE qualification enhances one's chances of securing a training contract compared to having just a law degree?

Hi there,

Was just wondering if anyone had a compilation of successful applications. I have been struggling to get my hands on them and I don't exactly have the money for TCLA premium.

I wouldn't mind it for any firm! Just trying to get a grasp of the writing style and format.

Thanks!

Wishing best of luck for those of you who have your SQE1 exams tomorrow.

If anyone wants to share how they are feeling, please feel free to comment here.

All of us at TCLA are rooting for you

An opportunity to undertake a training contract at the firm, commencing in 2025.

Apply here.

An opportunity to undertake a training contract at the firm, commencing in 2025.

Apply here.

An opportunity to undertake a training contract at the firm, commencing in 2025/26.

Apply here.

An opportunity to undertake a training contract at the firm, commencing in 2025.

Apply here.

An opportunity to undertake a training contract at the firm, commencing in 2024.

Apply here.

An opportunity to undertake a training contract at the firm, commencing in 2024.

To apply, complete the attached application form and email it to '[email protected]'.

Find out more here.

Hello,

I would like to ask how long does it take between the time a person agrees to move forward with a paralegal role advertised by Flex Legal and the interview stage/starting the role?

It has been two weeks since I agreed to move forward with a paralegal role at Flex Legal but I have not heard anything since then. Was wondering whether I should email them to follow up? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

Hi, I have an offer from FF and I haven't done a scheme there. I am curious about what people think of the work culture there and environment generally. You do hear the occasional anecdote of it being intense but I think that is the same of most MC firms. Any insight would be really appreciated!

Hi, I can't really find info on whether Weil allows you to apply twice in the same application cycle. Does anyone know? Thanks

Hey, im doing LLM SQE1&SQE2. Does anyone know when it finishes? Is it August? I was hoping for a bit of a summer before my TC, but maybe not?!

Hello all!

Hope everyone is progressing well with their Training Contract (TC) applications ahead of the key deadlines kicking in over the next couple of days/weeks.
I have set up this forum to allow applicants to keep track of updates specifically related to the White & Case TC applications for the 2025 programme.

Looking forward to speaking with you all

Thanks

Hi everyone,

I’m new here and would be grateful for some advice regarding my current situation and the best course of action in order for me to secure a TC. I am considering doing the LLM SQE at BPP University (one of their regional campuses) and would benefit from some advice on next steps.
For some context, l will explain my journey so far which has been a rather rocky one!

Growing up l confronted an extremely challenging home environment with emotional and physical abuse. l for example slept in the living room throughout school up until l was 18.

Despite this, l worked really hard at school and got involved in a lot of extra-curricular activities including, being Head Girl and serving in the National Youth Parliament. l was also very proactive in gaining legal work experience at a few places law was something l knew l wanted to do from a young age.

Fast forward a few years, l managed to obtain A*AB in my A-levels, and secured a place at a top RG uni to study law. However during my first year, just before my first year exams, l fell seriously ill and was eventually diagnosed with a serious long term health condition. Naturally, this had a knock-on effect on my first year grades and l finished first year with a low 2:1.

However, in my second and third year l was determined to improve my grades, eventually graduating with a First in 2016. During this time l did a few apps and managed to get to AC stage with a couple of silver circle firms. However, l did not secure anything at this stage which was largely due to the fact that l did not fully commit myself to the level of prep and work required for a TC and moreover, whilst coming to terms with my diagnosis, l did not have the mental capacity to fully apply myself to both my studies and VC/TC apps. I did however gain some experience through Rare Recruitment having been selected to participate on their Articles programme during which l got to spend time in some MC and silver circle firms. I also attended the Bright Network Commercial Law Festival, and took part in Aspiring Solicitors Commercial Awareness competition with my team reaching the semi-finals.

Upon graduating l did a few more TC apps, getting to AC stage with a few MC and silver circle firms. However, again l think l just did not put in the required level of preparation required to get through AC. At this stage l had also lost a lot of confidence in myself and had honestly given up - my world also came crashing down, as for the first time, l also had the time to process everything l had gone through in my life up until this stage. Whilst l was at uni l had a sense of purpose and could focus my efforts on my degree but with a lot more time to myself l was only beginning to fully process everything. I really wish l had just gone ahead and done the LPC at this stage - however l managed to talk myself out of it based on the above, and also l did not have the money to self-fund and did not explore some ways around this (Scholarships etc.).

So, l have ended up working in a few different roles over the years, ranging from working a couple of years as a Legal Cashier, in local government, and in the last couple of years, have been working in Management Consulting. Yet the desire to work in corporate law has always remained with me.

Since graduating l have not done a lot of networking or being proactive in interacting with firms l am interested in, however l have done a couple of things here and there, including taking part in the Aspiring Solicitors Aspire programme. I could also say l have law related work experience from working as a Legal Cashier.

This year, at the age of 28, l finally decided that l’m going to try one last time to get a TC and really commit myself to the process. I was initially fully set on doing the LLM LPC and have been offered a place at BPP for September, albeit, l have quickly realised that the firms l would be interested in working for (mainly MC, US and Silver Circle) will have moved to SQE from September 2024. I do however have the option of switching to the LLM SQE with BPP before September.

Whichever option l do go for l will of course be giving up my current job - however l am okay with this, because l really just want to finally secure a TC. I have also applied for a a couple of scholarships, and l’m really hopeful that l will be successful with at least one of these. Failing this l will have my student finance loan to fall back on.

There is the option of continuing to work in my role and applying for TCs - however at this point l feel that l’m just ready to throw myself into the process and apply for TCs whilst doing (most likely) the LLM SQE. I also think since it has been a few years since my law degree, l would benefit from the career related opportunities you can only really get from being in university - careers service, law firm events etc.

It’s also worth adding that l have been applying for TCs in this application round - l have done 3 so far with one rejection and awaiting to hear from the others. I also have a few that l am in process of completing, with upcoming deadlines. Otherwise l’m also doing as much prep as l can with The Forage, and really brushing on my commercial awareness etc. l’m keeping my fingers crossed that something will come out of one these but l’m also preparing for the fact that it may not as l probably need to obtain more up-to date legal experience on my CV through open days etc. Should l not be successful in this application round, l intend to gain as much experience as l can through open days, VCs etc. to enhance my applications.

Is anyone able to please offer advice on my best options taking all the above into account ?

*As a side note whilst l would have preferred to do the SQE/LPC in London Holborn where a lot of city firms send their students - the regional campus will be more financially feasible for me as it means l can stay at home.

Hi all,

One theme that commonly appears in training contract/vacation scheme applications is discussing a recent business deal (or story) in the news that has captured the applicant's interest and how that might impact the firm and its clients.

How do you determine how a business deal might impact a firm that has no involvement in the deal? I know that some deals represent a shift in market (or regulatory) conditions, which is something that the firm could advise their clients on.

Is it preferred or standard practice to use a deal that the firm has worked on or had some sort of involvement in?

And in terms of structure, would the below be appropriate?

1. The business deal (short sentence or two)
2. Why it's captured my interest (back up with evidence of possible, e.g. completed a course on private equity)
3. How it impacts the firm
4. How it impacts the clients

Grateful for any advice and suggestions .

Hello

I am a 47 year old looking to become a solicitor. Rather a late career change.

Work wise, my career has spanned 25 years in IT, the later years as a consultant.

Law has always interested me, but owing to age, costs and the relative gold dust like qualities of training contracts I considered that the ship had already sailed. The advent of the newly SRA introduced SQE qualification routes has altered my career aspiration trajectory.

Academically, I completed an IT Open University degree 10 years ago. I accepted the award on the basis of having accumulated enough module credits (300) at ‘standard degree’ level. Juggling full time work and a young child heavily influenced my decision. As such, the degree does not carry a final grade. My transcripts show that the average module grading was at 2:2 level. In hindsight, I perhaps wish I had studied an extra 60 credits to be eligible for an Honours degree.

I have three options open to myself before I consider SQE exams:

1. Complete an Open University Law Degree (graduate entry) and aim high for a 2:1 / first.
This route takes two years full time study. Cost is £13,848

2. Complete a PGDL course at the University of Law. This takes 9 months full time. Cost is £10,950

3. Complete the College of Legal Practice course, ‘Graduate Foundation in Law’. This takes 20 weeks full time and costs £3,250


Advice from a relatively senior individual at a well-regarded law firm was that for someone my age and qualification, the focus should be on obtaining a PGDL and not a LLB degree.

Given the fact I am a mature entrant, I am minded to progress option 2 or 3.

An advantage of option 3 (other than the significant cost saving) is I could look to obtain some form of legal employment sooner rather than later. If it transpires the non honours degree is an issue, I could study the OU law degree part time. The point being, I will have started legal employment already gaining valuable experience.

An immediate concern that spring to mind for option 3 is perhaps law firms will be more familiar with the PGDL award. They may ask themselves, where is my formal legal qualification.

Appreciate my entry point is pretty far from conventional. I would be interested to hear anyone’s thoughts on my options.

Hi All,

The Stephenson Harwood TC application asks for 3 references, academic, work and personal references. For the first two, I think I'm fine.

But I don't know what kind of relationship is best to ask for a personal reference. I don't think I want to ask a friend. And my colleagues at my part-time work were my friends before we started working there. Should I ask a colleague I not close with, or is there another relationship they're expecting when they say 'personal' reference?

Any insight appreciated!

Hello there, I realize that when researching firms, a lot of them stress that they have a sector-focused strategy. Like NRF, they emphasize that they have a sector approach and are organized by industry lines. Then there are a few US law firms that say that their sector strategy or expertise elevates their client services, etc.

My understanding of a sector-focused strategy or approach is based on the context of investment banks. That sector data goes into the very basis of their advice, i.e., financial modeling assumptions, multipliers, and projections, and as a result, it is crucial that they organize their workforce according to industries such as oil and gas, media, banks, retail, etc. and have their employees specialize in a particular industry. But I can't really wrap my head around how a sector approach is applied in a law firm context because it seems incompatible with differentiating teams based on practice areas in my mind. I would appreciate any help or insight. Thank you.

.

For those of us following the interest rate and inflation themes, we've got some more updates. Specifically, following on from last week's Office Hours where we looked at the FCA scrutiny of UK banks for their refusal to pass along profits to savers, it now looks like there is some positive movement in the UK savings market. At the same time, US banks have posted some of their best lending profit figures in years.

Unless something dramatic happens in the news, I will cover these in more detail for next week's commercial article. We can use this thread as a place to anchor our forum discussion of these themes.

In the meantime, here is a brief overview:

UK Savings Rates

Last week, one of the developments we focused on is the concept of spreads or margins. This relates to the cost of credit: banks may pay another bank 3% to borrow money and charge borrowers 8%. This gives them a 5% spread, which is how banks make money on lending.

The FCA — the banking regulator — has not been happy that banks have not offered savers more competitive rates. That is, a lot of the money banks use to lend is from business and retail savers. The rates they offer have been far lower than what they are charging borrowers. As a result, the FCA has asked banks to account for this.

But on Saturday, a new report shows a marginal improvement on savings rates, suggesting that the banks are either preempting any FCA intervention or passing profits onwards of their own accord.

US banking profits

Simultaneously, US banks including JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo have posted $49bn in margin profit. This is 30% higher than this time last year. This demonstrates the extent to which banks benefit from higher interest rate environments. (Though we might ask how these large bank's investment banking divisions are fairing given the relatively low volume of deal activity...).

The SQE 1 July 2023 sittings are coming up next week...Looking for some reassurance that ULaw has prepared us well for the exam. I attempted the QLTS mock today and was shocked at how many questions are just simply not in the SQE 1 syllabus (and also many poorly structured questions).

Any other July SQE1 warriors out there? How are we feeling?

Hi, I am a law student looking to apply for vacation scheme opportunities. I still have one year of university to go. I have heard previously that being a paralegal is an excellent option to secure a Training Contract, and that firms look more favourably on paralegals than other career paths post law school in case the vacation scheme/training contract route directly doesn't work out. Is there any truth to this? Do I have a significant (or any advantage/disadvantage at all) boost if I aim to apply for paralegal positions? I am hoping to perhaps secure something with a magic circle/silver circle or top US law firm in the future as a trainee, but am a little worried about what to do in case that doesn't happen. Also, would being a paralegal at a good law firm be more impressive to top firms than doing a TC with a smaller regional firm? Thanks