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TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2024-5

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#3,381
Hi, has anyone done the Foot Anstey test/video interview? This is my first one, and I'm really unsure how to prepare/what to expect... I would really appreciate all and any help! Thanks youuuu
 
#3,382
badmintonflyinginsect said:
@Andrei Radu @Amma Usman @Ram Sabaratnam Hi! Starting a VS soon. I'm aware there's a lot of focus on quality of tasks submitted over the course of the VS. What are the usual tasks assigned/what skills do you reckon would be helpful to hone in on/develop prior to the VS?
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Hiya @badmintonflyinginsect


First of all, congratulations on your vacation scheme! Just wanted to chime in, but I'm sure that both @Amma Usman and @Andrei Radu would have some stellar advice for you as well. Although everyone’s experience can be a bit different, in my case, I’ve found that the tasks you’re given can vary. They can vary depending on the seat you’re in, the firm you're at, or the type of work the team has going on. That said, there were definitely some common threads across my various vac schemes.

Typical tasks I completed:
  • Proofreading: One of the most frequent tasks. I’d often be given a draft document (e.g. sometimes a contract, sometimes internal guidance or client comms) and be asked to check it for typos, formatting issues, hyperlinks, numbering errors, or clarity. Attention to detail really matters here. At one firm, I was able to stand out because I had figured out that there were some mistakes made in the calculation of certain figures in the document. Attention to detail can be a difficult skill to master, but I always think it's something that's worth practising now and into your scheme.
  • Meeting attendance and note-taking: I had the chance to join several internal or client-facing meetings during various vacation schemes (even attending one with the Prime Minister of a certain country!). During these, I was typically asked to take notes of the meeting and then circulate them afterwards to those who had attended. These didn’t have to be transcripts, but I aimed to summarise as many key discussion points, action items, and next steps clearly and concisely.
  • Drafting opportunities: During one scheme, I had the chance to draft an agreement entirely from scratch, based on some basic instructions. I typically found templates for these on Practical Law or by asking more senior trainees if they had any precedent documents on which I could go off of. At other firms, I was asked to revise certain clauses in contracts in order to ensure that they better met the client's goals.
  • Research: Research tasks varied widely in scope and complexity. Some were highly technical (e.g. researching insolvency provisions or the application of chemicals regulations) while others were more practical, such as checking public filings on Companies House or identifying regulatory triggers in M&A transactions. I’d highly recommend getting familiar with how to navigate Companies House if you're doing a transactional seat in particular.
  • Transactional tasks: In more corporate-heavy seats, I worked on conditions precedent (CP) checklists, reviewed share purchase agreements, and tried redrafting particularly tricky provisions that were apparently driving causing some challenges for the client. Sometimes, I’d also be asked to summarise the impact of certain clauses for a partner or associate, which required both comprehension and clear written explanation.
Some useful skills:
  • Microsoft Office: It sounds basic, but being able to confidently navigate the Microsoft Office suite can be very helpful. This includes Word, Outlook, Excel, and Teams. You may be given lots of tasks which involve formatting documents, navigating tracked changes, creating internal tables of contents, and using Excel for lists or schedules. In particular, found that having strong Excel skills (e.g. filtering, basic formulas, formatting) made me stand out on a few schemes.
  • Practical Law/Lexis Nexis: If your university/work place has a subscription to either West Law or Lexis Nexis, I'd highly recommend taking a look at these sites and just learning how to navigate them. They are incredibly useful platforms, and learning how to use their search functions and resources effectively can really help you get through the tasks you're given, including any research and drafting tasks.
  • Responsiveness and professionalism: Responding to emails promptly (even if it’s just to say you’re on it or that you won't be able to take on a task due to capacity) is a skill that can go a long way. It shows that you’re reliable and thinking like a future trainee.
  • Initiative and curiosity: Sometimes a task won’t come with full instructions. If I wasn’t sure what a term meant or wanted to understand the deal/case more broadly, I’d take a few minutes to look things up myself before asking questions. That said, if something was genuinely unclear or ambiguous, I never hesitated to just ask other trainees or associates for clarification. This can make a big difference and help you better appreciate why a specific task is particularly relevant to the client matter.
Finally, I really want to emphasise this: Regardless of how small a task may seem to you, treat every task as a chance to show your work ethic, judgement, and attention to detail. In my experience, I've generally found that firms completely appreciate that this may be the first time you've ever attempted certain tasks. There were many times that I had submitted tasks with significant amounts of redlining (during one of my schemes, there was an entire document that I'd submitted which was completely revised and I still received the offer, ha!). What matters is how you demonstrate your reasoning when attempting certain tasks and showing that you're engaged. You don’t need to know everything, but being switched-on, asking any questions you have about deadlines and formatting at the outset, can leave a strong impression on those you're working with!

Good luck with the vacation scheme!
 
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#3,383
badmintonflyinginsect said:
@Andrei Radu @Amma Usman @Ram Sabaratnam Hi! Starting a VS soon. I'm aware there's a lot of focus on quality of tasks submitted over the course of the VS. What are the usual tasks assigned/what skills do you reckon would be helpful to hone in on/develop prior to the VS?
Click to expand...
The tasks that I have completed in my vacations schemes I think were quite illustrative for what one may expect to find in the respective practice areas:
  1. In corporate M&A/PE: reviewed contracts for chance of control clauses, reviewed and prepared a memo on a due diligence report prepared by the seller's counsel, drafted clauses for ancillary documents, took notes on meetings, researched legal uses of particular legal instruments in transactions (such as purpose of using a deeds in an M&A deal).
  2. In litigation: many research-centered tasks, whether on substantive legal points pertaining to a dispute, procedural rules for submission of documents to a court, or past damages figures awarded for similar litigations.
  3. In financial regulatory (although I suspect it applies more broadly to advisory practices): again research-heavy tasks, which were however more focused around regulatory frameworks and prior decisions of regulatory bodies such as the FCA and PRA.
As for the skills you can work on prior to the VS to maximize your chances of completing your tasks to a high standard, I would list the following:
  1. Research skills: as you have seen legal and commercial research is a core part of work in a law firm, particularly for juniors. As such, it could be very helpful to familiarize yourself with Westlaw and LexisNexis, particularly in relation to use of short cuts and filters.
  2. Drafting skills: as important as research skills is the ability to communicate legal points in a precise manner. In transactional practices this is essential, as the details of your writing will one day determine the rights and obligations of the parties, but it should not be overlooked for advisory and contentious practices either. In most cases, you will need to communicate your findings via an email or a memo and you will need to simplify your research into a shorter format whilst retaining all the relevant nuance. Moreover, more generally, a big part of the assessment of your work product will come down to how well structured and clear your writing is.
  3. Planning skills: a significant part of ensuring you complete many tasks to a high standard will come down to proper planning, ensuring you (i) have enough on your plate to keep you busy but not so much that you get overwhelmed; and (ii) have received proper instructions. Both of these I think come down to asking the right set of questions when you are receiving a task and noting down answers and further instructions.
 
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#3,385
Tintin06 said:
Holding myself accountable (Ashurst test invite)

CC* ✅📝❌
HSF ✅📝❌
NRF ✅📝❌
Weil ✅❌
Akin ✅❌
Sidley ✅❌
Orrick ✅❌
Willkie ✅🎥❌
Cooley ✅❌
Latham ✅❌
Milbank ✅❌
Kirkland ✅❌
Dechert ✅❌
Ashurst* ✅📝
Skadden ✅❌
Goodwin ✅❌
Covington ✅❌
Linklaters* ✅📝❌
Paul, Weiss ✅❌
Slaughters* ✅❌
Freshfields* ✅📝❌
Fried Frank* ✅
Gibson Dunn ✅❌
Macfarlanes* ✅📝
White & Case ✅❌
Morgan Lewis ✅📞❌
Paul Hastings* ✅
White & Case* ✅
Morgan Lewis* ✅
Hogan Lovells* ✅📝
Cleary Gottlieb ✅❌
A&O Shearman ✅📝❌
Vinson & Elkins ✅❌
Arnold & Porter ✅❌
Baker McKenzie ✅📝❌
King & Spalding* ✅
Winston & Strawn ✅❌
Morrison Foerster ✅❌
Sullivan & Cromwell ✅❌

Key: ✅ = application submitted; 📝 = test received; 📞 = TI; 🎥 = VI; ❌ = rejection.

*Training Contract applications.

Automatic but a win's a win.
Click to expand...
You run out of patience and hope after receiving so many rejections. You start to wonder whether your law degree is worth anything.

I can't even secure paralegal work as a temporary job, so I'm considering a career change at this point. Horrifically bad market right now.
 
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#3,390
Holding myself accountable again (K&S rejection)

CC* ✅📝❌
HSF ✅📝❌
NRF ✅📝❌
Weil ✅❌
Akin ✅❌
Sidley ✅❌
Orrick ✅❌
Willkie ✅🎥❌
Cooley ✅❌
Latham ✅❌
Milbank ✅❌
Kirkland ✅❌
Dechert ✅❌
Ashurst* ✅📝
Skadden ✅❌
Goodwin ✅❌
Covington ✅❌
Linklaters* ✅📝❌
Paul, Weiss ✅❌
Slaughters* ✅❌
Freshfields* ✅📝❌
Fried Frank* ✅
Gibson Dunn ✅❌
Macfarlanes* ✅📝
White & Case ✅❌
Morgan Lewis ✅📞❌
Paul Hastings* ✅
White & Case* ✅
Morgan Lewis* ✅
Hogan Lovells* ✅📝
Cleary Gottlieb ✅❌
A&O Shearman ✅📝❌
Vinson & Elkins ✅❌
Arnold & Porter ✅❌
Baker McKenzie ✅📝❌
King & Spalding* ✅❌
Winston & Strawn ✅❌
Morrison Foerster ✅❌
Sullivan & Cromwell ✅❌

Key: ✅ = application submitted; 📝 = test received; 📞 = TI; 🎥 = VI; ❌ = rejection.

*Training Contract applications.
 
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#3,393
coachedtohighheaven said:
Received a call from Kennedys this afternoon and I've been offered a TC! My AC was I think early Feb. Finally received a TC on my third year of trying!!
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Amazing news! Congratulations!

Clap Applause GIF
 
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#3,395
Logan1101 said:
You run out of patience and hope after receiving so many rejections. You start to wonder whether your law degree is worth anything.

I can't even secure paralegal work as a temporary job, so I'm considering a career change at this point. Horrifically bad market right now.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear about your difficulties. Not a law graduate but still. It's been a tough few months. Go follow Kate Green on LinkedIn. She could help with paralegal jobs.

Running out of patience quite possibly. Also running out of firms lol. Hopefully HL has some positive news.
 
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