TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[johnsmith]

Did anyone else receive an application update from Macfarlanes saying your application is under consideration but we’re still reviewing other applications. Does it mean I’m on a standby list? Or that they haven’t gotten to mine yet? Anyone have experience with this type of message?

It just reads like a holding email! I wouldn’t read too much into it, perhaps they’ve had a lot of people contacting grad rec asking for updates? Big time sink for them fielding those sorts of enquiries!

 

[Vakil]

It just reads like a holding email! I wouldn’t read too much into it, perhaps they’ve had a lot of people contacting grad rec asking for updates? Big time sink for them fielding those sorts of enquiries!

Makes sense! Thank you

 

[User22022002]

I just got an invitation to the Milbank "online assessments". On their brochure, it lists "online assessment" as part of the 1st stage and "critical reasoning test" as the second stage:

View attachment 7326

Does anyone know what this first assessment is?

 

[V2002]

Anyone heard from Dechert post WE?

 

[arbitrationfan]

Anyone have any advice on Milbank and Mayer Brown online tests? What to expect and how to prep 🙏🏾

For Mayer brown, just research the amberjack pillars to understand how to do their SJTs properly. Unfortunately I don't remember what the VI questions were like.

 

[Amgrad]

Anyone have any advice on Milbank and Mayer Brown online tests? What to expect and how to prep 🙏🏾

I just got an invitation to the Milbank "online assessments". On their brochure, it lists "online assessment" as part of the 1st stage and "critical reasoning test" as the second stage:

View attachment 7326

Does anyone know what this first assessment is?

For Milbank just practice SJT and WE you'd be Fine!

 

[johnsmith]

Makes sense! Thank you

I’m not sure we quite appreciate how many people contact them and are probably a bit annoying with questions clearly on their websites 😆

 

[Jennifer2003]

For those who have done the taylor wessing sjt, how long afterwards did you get your results/did you get them? for those who said they had failed/been rejected, was this immediate or did it take time to come through?

 

[Andrei Radu]

Also, got an AC coming up at Jones Day, my first ever, not sure what to expect when it comes to case study interviews, so any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi @Shahenshah and first of all huge congratulations on getting to the AC 🥳! Case study interviews are often the trickiest part of an AC to prepare for, as they come in a wide variety of formats. Just to list a few types of case studies that I have encountered:

• Commercial article based discussion: here, you would be given an article/number of articles to read on some controversial commercial matter, and would then be expected to go in and explain a summary of the information to partners, answer questions, and engage in a debate based on your views on the topic.
• Client problem simulation: in some other case study, you will be given a short brief as to a matter a client wants to be informed on relating to a problem they are facing/a project they are considering, and then you will have to read a number of different documents and form a view on potential solutions and action-plans. You will then once again be expected to present your views and defend them.
• M&A and document review: some case studies will involve looking at documents relating to companies for the purposes of a fictitious M&A deal, and you would have to point out relevant considerations to decide on a target to acquire and how you will mitigate against risks in the transaction.
• Research and presentation: some case studies will partly involve a research task (although normally not very extensive research is expected), where you will be briefed as to a problem and then have to find your own materials to base your opinion on.
• Writing task presentation: finally, some case studies also involve first preparing a written piece on the matter and only afterwards presenting it and discussing your views with partners.

As such, I would advise you to try to gather as much information about what Jones Day's case study interview looks like (perhaps consider reaching out to trainees, etc). Unless you get a good view of what the interview format will be, in my view, the only way to prepare is by developing the underlying skills every case study will seek to test: time-management and work under pressure, clarity of writing and structure, commercial awareness and analysis, ability to digest large amounts of information, etc.

To do that, I think it is useful to both practice actual case studies and to read more widely about the commercial matters that might be relevant for them. A particularly helpful resource for me was the course offered by TCLA on the matter (which you can find here). It includes a number of mock PE and M&A case studies, recordings of two hour long sessions explaining how to think through written/interview style M&A case studies, and a number of questions that are analyzed in depth by the TCLA team. To link a few useful free resources on TCLA:

• An amazing guide for M&A case studies by @Jacob Miller, which includes both a mock case study and a model answer with detailed explanations of how you should think through the materials (which you can find here).
• A mock written case study offered by TCLA here.
• An excellent article written by @Jaysen Sutton, which explains the process, types, structures, and general terms of an M&A transaction (which you can find here).
• A glossary of M&A terms by @Amma Usman here.

Besides these, I have also found a few external resources you may want to take a look at:

• A great LSE article giving an overview of case studies and preparation methods for each element
• An article with tips from the Oxford Careers Service
• A Next City Lawyer case study available on a fee basis

Finally, I quoted bellow a posts I wrote on how to improve your ability for commercial analysis:

Besides that, I advise you to generally work on your commercial analysis skills in the coming week by engaging with commercial awareness material in a more critical and active manner. Thus, when you next read an article or listen to a podcast, instead of doing so passively, only aiming to improve your stock of background knowledge, ask yourself questions like:

• What are the essential points about this story I would mention if I had to summarize it quickly and clearly?
• What are the causes for the events in the story?
• Who are the different stakeholders, and how does this impact them?
• What are potential responses in light of the story, and what are the arguments for each? What is my view, and how would I substantiate it?

This kind of thinking will develop your ability to analyze commercial topics better, which is the key skill case studies assess.

 

[Andrei Radu]

I have already messed up on the first VI question for Macfarlanes simulate assessment. I panicked and didn't really make much sense. Am I better off not submitting it so that they won't have a record of it if I want to apply in the future?

I think you should still submit it. You would be surprised how many times people progressed past a VI they really thought had gone horrendously - particularly if only one answer was bad, recruiters can sometimes overlook it and play it down to nerves and an awkward format if you otherwise showed yourself as a promising candidate.

Even if you do not progress, it is very unlikely that the firm would make note of a bad performance and hold it against you; I have never heard of this happening at the VI stage. If anything, not submitting it could look worse, as the firm may think you did not even bother to engage with an opportunity many other candidates would have wanted; and a perceived lack of interest could look a lot worse than a somewhat nervous performance.

Simply put, I think this is a situation where there is a lot of upside to submitting and a non-existent/minimal downside, so I would advise you to submit it.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Where can premium members watch recordings of the recent class on "why you, competency stories & work experience"?

You can find the live recordings of our classes and our other presentations on the topic on this link (scroll all the way down if you cannot see it at first).

 

[Shahenshah]

Hi @Shahenshah and first of all huge congratulations on getting to the AC 🥳! Case study interviews are often the trickiest part of an AC to prepare for, as they come in a wide variety of formats. Just to list a few types of case studies that I have encountered:

• Commercial article based discussion: here, you would be given an article/number of articles to read on some controversial commercial matter, and would then be expected to go in and explain a summary of the information to partners, answer questions, and engage in a debate based on your views on the topic.
• Client problem simulation: in some other case study, you will be given a short brief as to a matter a client wants to be informed on relating to a problem they are facing/a project they are considering, and then you will have to read a number of different documents and form a view on potential solutions and action-plans. You will then once again be expected to present your views and defend them.
• M&A and document review: some case studies will involve looking at documents relating to companies for the purposes of a fictitious M&A deal, and you would have to point out relevant considerations to decide on a target to acquire and how you will mitigate against risks in the transaction.
• Research and presentation: some case studies will partly involve a research task (although normally not very extensive research is expected), where you will be briefed as to a problem and then have to find your own materials to base your opinion on.
• Writing task presentation: finally, some case studies also involve first preparing a written piece on the matter and only afterwards presenting it and discussing your views with partners.

As such, I would advise you to try to gather as much information about what Jones Day's case study interview looks like (perhaps consider reaching out to trainees, etc). Unless you get a good view of what the interview format will be, in my view, the only way to prepare is by developing the underlying skills every case study will seek to test: time-management and work under pressure, clarity of writing and structure, commercial awareness and analysis, ability to digest large amounts of information, etc.

To do that, I think it is useful to both practice actual case studies and to read more widely about the commercial matters that might be relevant for them. A particularly helpful resource for me was the course offered by TCLA on the matter (which you can find here). It includes a number of mock PE and M&A case studies, recordings of two hour long sessions explaining how to think through written/interview style M&A case studies, and a number of questions that are analyzed in depth by the TCLA team. To link a few useful free resources on TCLA:

• An amazing guide for M&A case studies by @Jacob Miller, which includes both a mock case study and a model answer with detailed explanations of how you should think through the materials (which you can find here).
• A mock written case study offered by TCLA here.
• An excellent article written by @Jaysen Sutton, which explains the process, types, structures, and general terms of an M&A transaction (which you can find here).
• A glossary of M&A terms by @Amma Usman here.

Besides these, I have also found a few external resources you may want to take a look at:

• A great LSE article giving an overview of case studies and preparation methods for each element
• An article with tips from the Oxford Careers Service
• A Next City Lawyer case study available on a fee basis

Finally, I quoted bellow a posts I wrote on how to improve your ability for commercial analysis:

Andrei, this is a gold mine - thank you so much! if I get in, it's thanks to this!

 

[aspringlawyer25]

Has anyone heard from Latham re November open day? I'm hoping they get back this week, as I have a trip coming up, but I also wanted to check in case anyone has gotten an invite. This is for the Nov 6 open day, btw.

 

[Jennifer2003]

Has anyone heard from bird and bird regarding open days?

 

[msclm]

is it common for firms to allow you to postpone offers - say their winter offer to spring? I have an AC and partner interview coming up for 2 firms, but have already accepted another wvs with my top firm, so kinda wondering if there is any point to continuing with the process for the other 2 lol

 

[J1234]

I've got a Gibson Dunn first stage interview with grad recruitment coming up, and was wondering if anyone had any insights or advice for preparation! would be so grateful

 

[LawAspirer]

I've got a Gibson Dunn first stage interview with grad recruitment coming up, and was wondering if anyone had any insights or advice for preparation! would be so grateful

When did you apply if I may ask?

 

[RSK]

Has anyone heard from Latham re November open day? I'm hoping they get back this week, as I have a trip coming up, but I also wanted to check in case anyone has gotten an invite. This is for the Nov 6 open day, btw.

also waiting to hear back; i've seen from October open day attendees that they give people a week's notice, so we should hear back by Thursday I reckon

 

[GiveMeTC2026]

Simmons pfo as I did not reach the test benchmark.

 

[johnsmith]

Simmons pfo as I did not reach the test benchmark.

Sorry to hear this! What were your scores?