• Get Everything You Need to Secure a Training Contract
    Now half the price. Join TCLA Premium for £30/month and get step-by-step application support, daily commercial awareness practice, and 700+ successful examples of past applications and interview experiences. Plus so much more.
    Join Premium →
  • From AI to Energy Deals: Inside a Full-Service Law Firm with Osborne Clarke
    8 Dec 2025 · 6pm (UK) Zoom · Registration Required
    You want to write a strong Osborne Clarke application — but what really makes the firm different, and how do trainees experience the work day-to-day? In this session, you’ll hear directly from current trainees and Recruitment Advisor Patrick Fermin Ryan, so you can speak with clarity and specificity in your applications and interviews.
    Register →

TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2023-4

Status
Not open for further replies.

TCLA Community Assistant

Legendary Member
TCLA Moderator
Gold Member
Graduate Recruitment
Premium Member
Forum Team
Aug 1, 2019
15,526
21,763
While mentioning about a firm's deal should I only focus on the deals done by the office where I'm applying or any deal?
I would recommend focusing on deals at least partly covered by the office you are applying to. If you are using it as justification as to why you want to work at the firm, it can often fall a little flat if lawyers in the office you are applying to haven’t worked on the matter. There are some exceptions if it is framed slightly differently in the way it is written, but it will generally be more persuasive/convincing if you use something English lawyers have worked on.
 

axelbeugre

Legendary Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Premium Member
Junior Lawyer
Sep 14, 2023
1,269
1,723
While mentioning about a firm's deal should I only focus on the deals done by the office where I'm applying or any deal?
I agree with Jessica here, citing cases that the English offices have worked on is definitely more convincing. However, in my applications last year I did mention a lot of US deals too, especially when it came to big US law firms who have their most profitable offices in the US. However, when this is the case, the focus should not be on the location itself but on the quality of the deal, the clients they work with and why that type of work is of interest to you and how it relates to your background.
 

Winter

Legendary Member
Gold Member
Premium Member
May 15, 2022
310
988
Fieldfisher PFO post TI!!

crying and dying in bed. official done applying to firms this cycle.

Good luck to everyone!!
Sorry to hear that but don't give up! You could be one app away from a TC!

But also please do give yourself a well-deserved break this festive season and see how you feel after.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

About Us

The Corporate Law Academy (TCLA) was founded in 2018 because we wanted to improve the legal journey. We wanted more transparency and better training. We wanted to form a community of aspiring lawyers who care about becoming the best version of themselves.

Get Our 2026 Vacation Scheme Guide

Nail your vacation scheme applications this year with our latest guide, with sample answers to law firm questions.