New Threads

Hello, as the title suggests. I just got my final set of results today (about an hour ago). I have been awarded a 2:1 and i was two marks from a first, i feel that i should be really happy but i am not for some reason. I feel disappointed in myself. My dream law firm is Clyde&Co and i just want to know if a 2:1 is good enough. Thank you

Hey everyone!

Check out @Jake Rickman Commercial Awareness Discussion forum where Interest Rates and the Banking Industry are being discussed. 5 TCLA Premium 1-month memberships are up for grabs for the first 5 excellent contributions to the discussion!

At 6.30pm on 12 July, Jake and I are also going to be holding the inaugural Commercial Awareness Office Hours where we discuss this news story in depth from the perspective of law firms and their clients, as well as time to answer any burning questions about recent news stories. Sign up here - all are welcome to join in!

The discussion thread and the office hours are excellent ways to practice your commercial awareness and learn how to talk fluently in interview about new and niche topics!

Hi everyone, I wanted to take some time to introduce myself and my background. My name is Giorgos and I just finished my second year at QMUL( Queen Mary University of London). I am currently studying medical genetics and I am interested in IP law. I get many questions on how I decided to switch my focus from such a specific biology/medicine-related degree to law. Well to be honest, I don't even know myself, I started reading law cases out of curiosity and a couple of my friends were studying law at university so a lot of the conversations we were having were about different laws. To make a long story short, I became immersed by it and here I am getting ready for the law route. I am currently organising my CV, starting to practice Watson Glaser Tests, and conducting my research into law firms. I do not have much knowledge of the whole process and any help or recommendations on how to complete the application forms accordingly, answer the "why law" question( I am very much struggling to answer that one), or any other part of the application process.

Hi all. Just finished my first year, got 53%. Was gutted because I thought I'd have scraped a 2:1, I received BBC in my A-levels. I am aiming for commercial law, however, I do have interest in criminal law (so if anyone has any advice for that too). I applied for a good six or so insight schemes with Law firms, that 'don't look at A-level results' being Macfarlanes, Mishcon De Reya etc. and had been rejected by all of them. I have not been able to get in-person work experience, I have a lot of virtual work experience. Attended virtual insight days. I have some extra-curriculars too.

Definitely will try and get a 2:1 next year, can't fix my A-levels. Any advice on what I can do during the summer? I don't want to waste my time. I've been asking local small firms for work experience, a few have said they're not offering any at the moment.

I know A-levels and poor first year grades are a delay in my journey, if anyone has a similar story of how they managed to get a TC would be greatly appreciated.

TCLA is trialling a new approach to facilitating commercial awareness among the TCLA community. Based on this week's commercial news article, we want to encourage the community to actively engage with each other so that we can all improve our commercial awareness.

With the following articles in mind, consider the prompt below:

• Reuters, “Central bank surprises see June become bumper 2023 rate hike month”;
• Reuters, “UK mortgage rates rise again, turning screw on homeowners and buyers”; and
• BBC, “Bank bosses told to explain low savings rates”.

“How might the current economic climate create new challenges and opportunities for the banking industry? Why is this relevant for the commercial legal sector?”.

When answering this prompt, you may find it helpful to approach it from the following perspectives:

• What does this story mean for the law firm’s clients?
• How does this story directly impact the law firm’s business?

The first five responses to the thread will get one month of TCLA Bronze membership for free. The only condition is that your post makes a genuine effort to answer the prompt as you might in an application or interview question.

Finally, there are no right (or wrong!) answers. The important thing is to refine our approach to commercial awareness more generally, which requires practice.

(Separately, we will be considering this prompt in more detail during next week's inaugural Commercial Awareness Office Hours. All are welcome to attend — click here to sign up).

Hello everyone!

So basically, I had a really poor first year (see results below) which left me unable to apply for vacation schemes during my second year. However, I've had what I believe to be a decently strong second year (see below) which I hope to follow up with an even better third year. I know that my first year marks put me at a disadvantage compared to other candidates and I may not have much success, however I find (like almost anyone else) that I get better at things with more time/practice and believe that having a chance to familiarize/expose myself to the application process (questions, WG, SJT etc) will put me in a better position when applying for Vacation Schemes during the 2023/24 cycle. Aside from my poor first year marks, I believe that I can put forward a high quality application as I have a decent amount of legal work experience and I've already researched these firms. That being said, if applying to Direct TC's will bar or otherwise disadvantage me in regards to 2024 Spring/Summer VS, it isn't worth it as I think my application will only get stronger from here on out.

I know so this may vary by firm so these are the ones I am interested in applying to:
Freshfields
Hogan Lovells
Norton Rose Fulbright
White and Case

Any advice or help is greatly appreciated!

Year 1:
Constitutional and Administrative Law - 64%
Criminal Law - 55.2%
Contact Law - 54%
Legal Foundations - 50%
Overall Year 1: 55.8%

Year 2:
Competition Law- 75%
European Union Law- 72%
Land Law - 66.4%
Equity and Trusts - 64.2%
Tort Law - 64%
Overall Year 2: 67%

Hello,

Have any of you already applied to Peters & Peters for the Work Experience Scheme and secured it? If so, could you please share your thoughts on the application process? Also, what are your views on the Work Experience Scheme?

Thanks.

Hello,

Have any of you already secured a Training Contract at Peters & Peters? If so, what are your views on the training experience?

Thank you.

Hello,

Have any of you already applied to Peters & Peters for the Work Experience Scheme or the Training Contract? If so, could you please share your thoughts on the respective application processes?

Thanks.

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 Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) TC applications for the 2025 programme.

Please share your current status, i.e., whether you have not yet applied, or have submitted the application and are either awaiting a response or have heard back etc.

Looking forward to speaking with you all

Thanks

I am planning to prepare the SQE by myself.

Does this make any difference to Law firms or do they expect us to have done it through a particular provider?

I think it shouldn't but I would like to be reassured if it is correct.

Thank you.

Hey all - for those thinking of completing the SQE, I could use your help. I'm going to run a series of virtual events over the next few month for members of this community.

To kick off, I'd love to know: what would be the most useful virtual event for you right now?

If none of the above, please reply below with your suggestions!

Hello everyone!

I am currently self-funding the LPC LLM at ULaw, Jan to Oct. Since the beginning I have been struggling concentrating and working on my modules - always felt like I was not able to give my 100% for unknown reasons. That's how I ended up seeking for help through a therapist - who later picked that I might have ADHD + fear of failure, which honestly made 100% sense. I am already booked for an ADHD assessment in August.

Now the issue was that it all happened 2/3 weeks before my core module exams. I was able to take advocacy, real estate and professional conduct but I applied for concession for BLP and taking into consideration to apply for concession for DR as well - as I had a hard time dealing with the news and somehow the idea behind a presumed diagnosis. I am really, really passionate about becoming a solicitor and I do not see myslef doing anything else.

I was wondering what firms will think about concession and how kindly they will take it? - I ahve a week worth of work experience in a corporate US firm in the city and I volunteer with CAB. I had not worked as a paralegal but I volunteered during the undergrad for my univeristy's legal clinic.

I have been massively stressing out in the couple of weeks on how the firms will see my concession - any advcie will help.

Thank you.

Hi Everyone,
I’m a career changer looking to do Law conversion and follow the SQE route at ULaw. I’m debating between MA Law SQE1 followed by SQE 2 prep course, or just doing the PGDL and apply training contracts to fund the SQE components/ do the LLM legal practice if I don’t get a training contract. Wondering if anyone has had any experience with either/ any advice?

Also if anyone has any input on Moorgate vs Bloomsbury campus, which one would be better, or makes no difference?

Thanks in advance

Hi everyone!

I have been busy updating our law firm deadlines calendar over the last few days, there are a lot of deadlines coming up tomorrow! You may have noticed that each time I add a new deadline, it creates a new thread on the forum. Lots of new deadlines = lots of new threads!

I wanted to check in with you all to see how you are finding this as forum users - are all of the new threads causing you any issues? Or perhaps they aren't impacting you at all? Ensuring that the forum is as user friendly as possible is very important to us, so I'd love to know what you think.

Please feel free to be as honest as possible, I'd look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Thanks!
Erin

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.

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.

Find out more here.

To apply, download and complete the attached application form and email it, along with a cover letter, to '[email protected]'.

An opportunity to undertake a training contract at the firm, commencing in 2024/25.

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.

Find out more here.

To apply, complete the attached application form and email it, along with a cover letter to [email protected].

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

Apply here.