TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2021-22 (#1)

[User1726]

Amazing!! What did they ask you? If you don’t mind me asking

Spring or summer?

 

[legalgemma]

Do you mean your feedback report? I got the straight after, but haven’t heard following myself video interview!

No i got the feedback report straight after too, I haven't heard following VI!

 

[aspiringlawyer22]

Is anyone still waiting to hear from Links (post app) and Freshfields (post WG)

 

[amzey2]

I have a question on acquisition finance, if anyone can help. Apart from debt and equity, what are the other forms of financing a M&A?

Debt, Equity and Cash

 

[manifestingaTC]

Does anyone have any insights into Covington's group exercise for the VS AC? Currently prepping for negotiations but not sure if it actually is one hahaha

 

[JohnDoeTCLA]

Anyone heard back from Morgan Lewis post PI btw? (Had the PI last week)

 

[S87]

Does anyone have any insights into Covington's group exercise for the VS AC? Currently prepping for negotiations but not sure if it actually is one hahaha

First of all congrats,
May I ask you when did you apply and when you heard back?

 

[MartineA]

For the people with Kennedys VIs, are these for their training contracts or SQE positions?

TC

 

[JohnDoeTCLA]

Has Weil sent out all of their VS offers btw? Did their AC on the 25th and haven’t heard back so assuming PFO

 

[p2bv]

Any tips for Norton rose Fulbright vi?

 

[lawgrad123445]

I did the AC for the Winter VS and was successful, and it was really enjoyable. I know that sounds strange to say for an AC, but it really was! Pay attention to detail for the technical interview to make sure you don't miss anything. Prepare your usual commercial law areas (M&A, contracts etc) The competency interview is very friendly and more a conversation about your journey so far based on what was in your cover letter. Do ask the associate and HR person in the interview some things about their work towards the end - for me, this "asking questions bit" wasn't forced at all because they were so friendly and open. For the group exercise, make sure to get your bit in but also encourage your teammates and make sure you demonstrate good collaborative ability.

Good luck! I hope it goes well for you

So to be clear the technical interview is about you speaking about the commercial world in general or are you given a case study to look through and answer questions about. And is the group exercise a negotiation exercise?

 

[Asil Ahmad]

Any tips for Norton rose Fulbright vi?

Is it not a TI instead of VI.

 

[p2bv]

Is it not a TI instead of VI

oh yeah it is I got mixed up for a second lol

 

[Asil Ahmad]

oh yeah it is I got mixed up for a second lol

I was just curious as I have seen it been TI for NRF this cycle.

 

[sxw517]

Anyone heard back from Morgan Lewis post PI btw? (Had the PI last week)

The lady who I had mine with said they would get back to candidates at some point this coming week

 

[Rob93]

Has Weil sent out all of their VS offers btw? Did their AC on the 25th and haven’t heard back so assuming PFO

No, they were still giving out VIs last week.

 

[JohnDoeTCLA]

No, they were still giving out VIs last week.

Fair enough - Anyone who did the AC on the week of the 24th heard back?

 

[M&Amakesmyday]

It's basically just debt and equity, but those can work in a few ways.

Most straightforward is cash, which you use to buy out the equity and might raise by borrowing and attaching debt at various points in the capital structure. Generally speaking the acquirer will think of their own cash as the 'equity' component of the deal and the rest as debt, but some of the cash raised by way of debt could and often will go towards purchasing the equity held by the seller. Hope that makes sense.

Equity and debt instruments can also be used as acquisition consideration in their own right. If you're a public company making an acquisition, you may provide your own shares to the sellers as part of the deal - this reduces your cash consideration and can be very attractive if your shares are trading well and you think that the company you're buying will be a substantial boon to your balance sheet, as dilution concerns won't be huge - ideally existing shareholders end up with more total value even if their holding is diluted.

You can also use debt instruments like some kinds of bonds or commercial paper. Essentially, in the process of buying out existing shareholders you agree that the company you are buying will owe them a bunch of money at fairly high interest. These are basically in lieu of cash and let you gear up to a level that banks or bond underwriters might not be willing to facilitate - though restrictive covenants in loans (common) or bonds (currently less common) may limit your ability to do this. This kind of paper leverage used to be very popular in PE LBOs, I don't think it's as common these days but maybe people just talk about it less cause it's kind of dodgy.

I guess if you're a public Corp you could also issue your own bonds to sellers to pay for an acquisition but I would imagine that's not attractive from a capital perspective unless you're a megacap corp taking over another megacap corp. There may be tax reasons to do this in some cases, but I'm not sure.

Thank you so much for this!

 

[sxw517]

What is a good percentage for WG tests, I'm currently floating around 80% mark

Total Score: 80% Recognising Assumptions: 75% Evaluating Arguments: 75% Drawing Conclusions: 83%

however I see some people on here get around 90%+, do firms just judge yours against a benchmark at an AC or against the others in the AC?

 

[emilyrose99]

Does anyone please have any tips/useful links on how to structure answers for SJT Qs and for case studies in video interviews? Thanks in advance!