TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[Harvey Specter]

For those applying to Akin, how are we meant to approach these two questions, as they appear to be pretty similar:

1: what motivates you to pursue a career as a commercial solicitor, and why do you see Akin as the right place to begin that journey?

2: what are you looking for in your legal career, and how do you see a firm like Akin helping you achieve those goals?

Any help would be appreciated! Also, if @Andrei Radu or @Abbie Whitlock have any insight that would be super helpful too!​

 

[Novaa]

Same here but I think its bc its a weekend! I did it last year on a sunday and heard back on monday

Yeah I think so too!! Really hoping for some good news lol, the feedback report left me slightly confused

 

[aliltired]

Can someone please confirm if the Latham 1st stage test needs to be sat before the deadline. I know you have 72 hours to sit it but not sure if this needs to be done by today. Thank you!

Also wondering

 

[Rads]

For people asking whether Latham's test needs to be completed before midnight today, this is what it says:

"To access the assessments, please log back into the apply4law homepage. The deadline for completing these assessments is three days after submission of your application for all vacancies."

I think it can be done after the deadline as well.

 

[Rads]

Hello, I submitted my NRF application but have not gotten the test yet. Is it manually done by the Early Careers team?

 

[yuhhhh]

If I scored 4/4/3/2 on my Arctic Shores is that good enough to progress to the next stage of the assessment for NRF?

 

[johnsmith]

Top Strengths:
Analytical / Complex Thinking
Effective Communication

Professional Development:
Self-motivation (???????)

This round I got:

Strengths:

Detail Orientated​

Analytical/Complex Thinking​

Professional development:

Self-Motivation​

 

[Sharkfin]

This round I got:

Strengths:

Detail Orientated​

Analytical/Complex Thinking​

Professional development:

Self-Motivation​

Fingers crossed for a swift quick stage 2 inv!!!

 

[elle woods]

Hi all, I'm wondering if it's possible to email Early Talent about switching my application from a Spring scheme to the Summer one? The timeline no longer works and the deadline for both schemes is today - if I email today would that be acceptable? I don't want to cause a lot of hassle for them though. Please let me know if anyone has tried doing this before!

 

[johnsmith]

Hi all, I'm wondering if it's possible to email Early Talent about switching my application from a Spring scheme to the Summer one? The timeline no longer works and the deadline for both schemes is today - if I email today would that be acceptable? I don't want to cause a lot of hassle for them though. Please let me know if anyone has tried doing this before!

It seems to vary by firm, but I had Links cancel my winter VS application in favour of a DTC app.

 

[Novaa]

Hi all, I'm wondering if it's possible to email Early Talent about switching my application from a Spring scheme to the Summer one? The timeline no longer works and the deadline for both schemes is today - if I email today would that be acceptable? I don't want to cause a lot of hassle for them though. Please let me know if anyone has tried doing this before!

I don’t see why it would be an issue, the spring/summer interviews are usually ran on a similar timeline. So as long as you let them know early on, should be okay. There’s also no harm in asking, I say go for it

 

[Trophy]

For those applying to Akin, how are we meant to approach these two questions, as they appear to be pretty similar:

1: what motivates you to pursue a career as a commercial solicitor, and why do you see Akin as the right place to begin that journey?

2: what are you looking for in your legal career, and how do you see a firm like Akin helping you achieve those goals?

Any help would be appreciated! Also, if @Andrei Radu or @Abbie Whitlock have any insight that would be super helpful too!​

Ask Chris brown he said he got a vs there…

 

[elle woods]

I don’t see why it would be an issue, the spring/summer interviews are usually ran on a similar timeline. So as long as you let them know early on, should be okay. There’s also no harm in asking, I say go for it

Ok thank you! That does make sense :0

 

[Bread]

How do you write a strong conclusion for a written exercise? And how should it differ from an executive summary at the start of the email/memo?

 

[Abbie Whitlock]

Hi all, I'm wondering if it's possible to email Early Talent about switching my application from a Spring scheme to the Summer one? The timeline no longer works and the deadline for both schemes is today - if I email today would that be acceptable? I don't want to cause a lot of hassle for them though. Please let me know if anyone has tried doing this before!

Hi!

This can vary between firms, but it's often possible! After securing a Summer VS, I contacted the early careers team at another firm I had to applied to for a Summer VS and asked whether I could switch to the Spring scheme instead. They agreed, and I ultimately received a Spring VS offer from them (so it isn't going to negatively impact your application!).

If you're considering doing the same, just make sure you reach out as early as possible as it makes the process much easier for them to accommodate. A polite email explaining your situation and asking whether a switch is possible is completely acceptable

 

[TortillaTC]

How many achievements/positions of responsibility did you discuss on Willkie's application given the 500 word limit? Gemma said 3 should be fine but firms usually have 300 words for this question not 500.

 

[llblawstudent]

People who've applied for the Simmons AI internship, did you hear back from them yet?

Nope

 

[Andrei Radu]

Thank you @Andrei Radu - this is really helpful. Also, I'm wondering beyond knowing about banking & finance, M&A, and private equity - is there any other concepts regarding practice areas that we need to know. I don't mean like trends or inflation etc, but pure substantive concepts and content. And if so, what exactly should we learn? I hope that makes sense. The US firms I have in mind are strong in corporate, PE, capital markets etc

Thank you

No worries! For the types of transactional-focused firms you mentioned, the information relating to the practices you mentioned covers the core of what you will need to know. Besides that, I think you should just aim to be able to explain in laymen terms some more basic business and commercial law concepts, such as:

1. Fundamental company law & company organisation matters, such as the different roles of shareholders vs directors, role of articles of association, concept of limited liability and separate legal personality, differences between companies and partnerships, etc.
2. The different economic sectors: you should be able to categorise an companies according to the sectors they operate in, and to have a general understanding of how the sectors work (ie what are the final products and services, how do their supply chains operate, who are the biggest players in the market)
3. Types of institutions in financial markets and their different roles: corporates, investment banks, PE funds, hedge funds, venture capital funds, asset managers, private credit funds, etc.
4. The different types of legal services offered to these clients by different practice areas of a law firm, particularly in relation to what teams come into a transaction at different times (ie you should be able to explain what antitrust, employment, data & privacy, disputes, tax, IP and other teams do and how they contribute to successfully representing a client in an M&A or finance mandate).
5. A basic understanding of the differences between dispute resolution methods: you should be able to explain what litigation, arbitration, mediation, and negotiated settlement are and when each of those may be most appropriate.

 

[Andrei Radu]

How many achievements/positions of responsibility did you discuss on Willkie's application given the 500 word limit? Gemma said 3 should be fine but firms usually have 300 words for this question not 500.

I think what matters more here is how you go about discussing achievements or positions of responsibility rather than how many of them you discuss. You want each of your points to be properly contextualised and to be very specific about what you exactly did and accomplished, but at the same time to be concise and to stick to what is truly important. For a 500-word answer, I think anything in the range of 3-5 separate experiences to discuss would be considered acceptable.

 

[elle woods]

Hi!

This can vary between firms, but it's often possible! After securing a Summer VS, I contacted the early careers team at another firm I had to applied to for a Summer VS and asked whether I could switch to the Spring scheme instead. They agreed, and I ultimately received a Spring VS offer from them (so it isn't going to negatively impact your application!).

If you're considering doing the same, just make sure you reach out as early as possible as it makes the process much easier for them to accommodate. A polite email explaining your situation and asking whether a switch is possible is completely acceptable

Thank you!! I've emailed them now - the deadline for the scheme is tonight, so hopefully I am early enough!