TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[Prudentia]

I recently met with some partners and senior associates at A&O Shearman last week (my current employer is one of their clients). Even they said that a lot of the recruitment processes when it comes to training contracts/vacation schemes is down to luck. So if you get rejected at application stage, try not to take it personally. Interview stage is a different matter. They also had a very, very dim view of US firms which makes me wary about applying for them now.

 

[Bread]

I recently met with some partners and senior associates at A&O Shearman last week (my current employer is one of their clients). Even they said that a lot of the recruitment processes when it comes to training contracts/vacation schemes is down to luck. So if you get rejected at application stage, try not to take it personally. Interview stage is a different matter. They also had a very, very dim view of US firms which makes me wary about applying for them now.

Could you please elaborate on what sort of dim views they had?

 

[testing123]

I recently met with some partners and senior associates at A&O Shearman last week (my current employer is one of their clients). Even they said that a lot of the recruitment processes when it comes to training contracts/vacation schemes is down to luck. So if you get rejected at application stage, try not to take it personally. Interview stage is a different matter. They also had a very, very dim view of US firms which makes me wary about applying for them now.

that is really good to know, shame though that it comes down to luck when people put in so much effort to apply. Can i ask, what exactly is their view on US firms? As someone who has never applied to this process before this cycle, i am still trying to figure out what the dynamics are. thanks

 

[M123]

I recently met with some partners and senior associates at A&O Shearman last week (my current employer is one of their clients). Even they said that a lot of the recruitment processes when it comes to training contracts/vacation schemes is down to luck. So if you get rejected at application stage, try not to take it personally. Interview stage is a different matter. They also had a very, very dim view of US firms which makes me wary about applying for them now.

Oo i’m intrigued by your last sentence. Could you elaborate please?

 

[Prudentia]

Could you please elaborate on what sort of dim views they had?

that is really good to know, shame though that it comes down to luck when people put in so much effort to apply. Can i ask, what exactly is their view on US firms? As someone who has never applied to this process before this cycle, i am still trying to figure out what the dynamics are. thanks

Oo i’m intrigued by your last sentence. Could you elaborate please?

They basically said that the training is a lot less structured and there's a lot less support available for trainees. Because US teams are very lean, trainees end up doing a lot of the grunt and grudge work because there's nobody else to do it. Whereas other firms have more staff so it means trainees aren't lumbered with (too much of) the boring work. The culture at US firms also tends to be a lot more cutthroat and they have less tolerance for people who take longer to develop. If you know what you want to do and are prepared to work extremely hard, the US firms are it. If you're unsure, it might be a baptism of fire which you don't recover from. They didn't explicitly say "don't apply for a US firm", but it was more of "know what you're getting into." US firms are also constantly trying to poach their talent, which is a further annoyance. Then again, US firms have massively disrupted the City law market and have become serious competitors to MC firms, who used to have a monopoly on being the pinnacle of the big law legal profession. So there are likely elements of bias, but their perspective was interesting.

I met with another lawyer last week over lunch who trained at Freshfields. They now work for a regional firm, but they advised training at the best law firm possible because it opens doors down the road. It's much easier to move from MC/SC/US to a national or regional firm than the other way round.

 

[Prudentia]

I should also add that the A&O Shearman partners and senior associates I've come across have all been really friendly and very generous with their time when I've had questions about applying for training contracts. I don't have much contact with them on a day-to-day basis, but when I have cold approached them for advice they have been really nice, forthcoming and genuinely passionate about their work.

 

[yk1906]

I should also add that the A&O Shearman partners and senior associates I've come across have all been really friendly and very generous with their time when I've had questions about applying for training contracts. I don't have much contact with them on a day-to-day basis, but when I have cold approached them for advice they have been really nice, forthcoming and genuinely passionate about their work.

Thank you for sharing!

 

[M123]

They basically said that the training is a lot less structured and there's a lot less support available for trainees. Because US teams are very lean, trainees end up doing a lot of the grunt and grudge work because there's nobody else to do it. Whereas other firms have more staff so it means trainees aren't lumbered with (too much of) the boring work. The culture at US firms also tends to be a lot more cutthroat and they have less tolerance for people who take longer to develop. If you know what you want to do and are prepared to work extremely hard, the US firms are it. If you're unsure, it might be a baptism of fire which you don't recover from. They didn't explicitly say "don't apply for a US firm", but it was more of "know what you're getting into." US firms are also constantly trying to poach their talent, which is a further annoyance. Then again, US firms have massively disrupted the City law market and have become serious competitors to MC firms, who used to have a monopoly on being the pinnacle of the big law legal profession. So there are likely elements of bias, but their perspective was interesting.

I met with another lawyer last week over lunch who trained at Freshfields. They now work for a regional firm, but they advised training at the best law firm possible because it opens doors down the road. It's much easier to move from MC/SC/US to a national or regional firm than the other way round.

Interesting! Thanks

 

[Jess_AspiringSolicitor]

Received a Gowling WLG PFO post-Artic Shores test on Thursday evening. I think I had a strong application for this firm overall, I scored 18/20 on the test and tailored my written application well due to having a friend there. But I did lowkey still see this rejection coming.

After submitting, I realised there was a dire mistake in one of my sentences for an application question answer. Not entirely surprised as I submitted this application last minute 2 hours before the deadline due to work deadlines hitting me hard that week. 😖

The struggle of managing TC applications as a career changer whilst working full-time. Sighhh.

 

[Andrei Radu]

They basically said that the training is a lot less structured and there's a lot less support available for trainees. Because US teams are very lean, trainees end up doing a lot of the grunt and grudge work because there's nobody else to do it. Whereas other firms have more staff so it means trainees aren't lumbered with (too much of) the boring work. The culture at US firms also tends to be a lot more cutthroat and they have less tolerance for people who take longer to develop. If you know what you want to do and are prepared to work extremely hard, the US firms are it. If you're unsure, it might be a baptism of fire which you don't recover from. They didn't explicitly say "don't apply for a US firm", but it was more of "know what you're getting into." US firms are also constantly trying to poach their talent, which is a further annoyance. Then again, US firms have massively disrupted the City law market and have become serious competitors to MC firms, who used to have a monopoly on being the pinnacle of the big law legal profession. So there are likely elements of bias, but their perspective was interesting.

I met with another lawyer last week over lunch who trained at Freshfields. They now work for a regional firm, but they advised training at the best law firm possible because it opens doors down the road. It's much easier to move from MC/SC/US to a national or regional firm than the other way round.

Just to add a couple of points from my own experience and observations to the great analysis form @Prudentia:

• Generally, I have indeed been told that the trainee experience at a top US firm tends to be more intense and stressful than at MC firms. Firstly, this is because trainees at US firms are expected to learn by doing - and doing client work a is at first always an anxiety-inducing experience; secondly, this is because they can also often be given more responsibility early on (although this also depends on business need and how well the trainee is progressing) - which once again raises the stakes in terms of cost of error. That said, the upside is (i) comparatively getting to work on "interesting" tasks more often; and (ii) a smoother transition to NQ - while the trainee years do seem to be a baptism of fire at many US firms, I hear the first year after qualification tends to be the same for trainees at MC firms as a result of a substantially more "sudden" increase in responsibility.
• I also agree with the statement that, overall, the top US firms tend to have a somewhat more competitive internal culture and that they also tend to have somewhat higher expectations vis-a-vis long hours and general availability. Nonetheless, I want to point out two caveats. Firstly, in my opinion, the perception of US firms in general tends to be a bit skewed by the huge impact of a couple of big firms - and in particular, Kirkland & Ellis and one or two other very successful private equity-focused firms. Since then are the biggest and most influential US firms in the London market, it makes sense the way people view US firms in general is hugely influenced by what they do. Nonetheless, it seems to me that outside of a couple of firms in this group, it is a lot more difficult to justify the claim that US firms have a more competitive and demanding culture than MC firms. In terms of hours, although you should definitely not assume these surveys are extremely reliable, looking at the Legal Cheek Most List provides some evidence to the effect that there are many US shops with lower averages than the MC firms.
• Secondly, I want to emphasise that the differences between hours and culture may not be as larger as you may think - particularly nowadays when the MC firms are pursuing US growth very aggressively, and apparently even want to leave the Magic Circle label behind to instead be classified as part of the US-dominated "Global Elite" group. To grow in this manner requires them to be increasingly more competitive in profitability for partners and salaries for associates (which is often difficult to offer without an associated increased demand for work availability) and also requires them to compete in terms of winning high end transactional mandates (which once again tends to be associate with more of an "always on" expectation and a worse overall W/L balance). While they may not be quite the same as US firms yet, many people in the legal press comment that we are observing a phenomenon of "Americanisation" of the top UK firms.
• Finally, it often makes more sense to consider and compare the culture and work at different firms on a department-specific rather than firm wide level. Firstly, this is because it is often difficult to talk of a "firm-wide" culture when there is an office with 500+ lawyers - work quality, availability expectations, quality of training and interpersonal dynamics will differ hugely between departments. Secondly, because there are often more commonalities between the work and culture of the same practice areas at different firms rather than between the work and culture of the different practice areas in the same firm. From my understanding, a tax lawyer at Latham will have a lot more in common with a tax lawyer at Freshfields in terms of work and availability expectations than will a Freshfields tax lawyer have in common with a Freshfields M&A lawyer.

All this is to say, while I agree that there are some broad general differences between the TC experience at your average US firm and the TC experience at your average MC firm, and while I certainly think that you should take such costs and benefits into account when deciding where to apply, I would argue differences can sometimes be overemphasised. Thus, my advice is to judge whether you should apply to a given US firm on a case-by-case basis and not base your view on a very strict generalisation.

 

[DavidJC]

Just to add my two cents, in my personal experience, comparing all the UK (not just MC/SC) and US firms I've met in person or even on virtual law fairs (not necessarily LC), I've found the lawyers at every level and GR teams at US firms much nicer and more approachable than those at UK firms, with like two exceptions (but one of them is a massive MC firm and I can clearly see the difference between two separate individuals).

Maybe I'm gullible but I do buy into the idea that most US firms (or at least the ones I've met), particularly with smaller offices, have a more collaborative and supportive culture than the UK ones and they tend to come across as nicer and more open, personality-wise.

 

[hxnnahrobinson]

CMS VI invite!! 🎉🎉 If anyone has any insights on the best way to prepare, I would be very grateful. Thank you!

 

[cos]

CMS VI invite!! 🎉🎉 If anyone has any insights on the best way to prepare, I would be very grateful. Thank you!

congratulations!! is this for a regional office?

 

[hxnnahrobinson]

congratulations!! is this for a regional office?

Thank you! And yes, it is

 

[manifestingthetc]

Kennedys assessment !

 

[futuretraineeihope]

any CMS ACs?

 

[AMullin]

Kennedys assessment !

Me too! I’d almost written that one off as I’d seen some people getting PFOs last week. Time to bomb another SJT 🙌🏻

 

[manifestingthetc]

Me too! I’d almost written that one off as I’d seen some people getting PFOs last week. Time to bomb another SJT 🙌🏻

WOOHOO can't wait to fail it ! (but srsly, good luck!! - i have faith)

 

[DavidJC]

I've been considering possibly applying to additional firms if I have time later in the cycle and the deadlines are a little later. Does anyone know if BCLP have removed their sector-focussed TCs (RE and Financial Services)?

 

[AMullin]

WOOHOO can't wait to fail it ! (but srsly, good luck!! - i have faith)

Thanks, and you too! 💪