Bristows Interview 2019 - 2020

Jaysen

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  • Feb 17, 2018
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    Please state the month/year you interviewed at the firm.

    September 2019

    Please specify what the interview was for.

    Training Contract 2021

    Please give an overview of the day with approximate timings.

    Interview 1
    ==========
    10am Interview with Partner & Associate
    11am Tour around the office

    Interview 2
    ==========
    10am Written Exercise
    11am Interview with 2 training partners

    Please provide a summary of each assessment on the day with approximate timings.

    Interview with Partner & Associate - very motivation based, not very technical. Some questions designed to make you think. Associate tends to play good cop and partner tends to play bad cop, although this is very mild.

    Written Exercise - 1 hour to read through various articles on GDPR and provide a letter of advisement to a fictitious client in a scenario. There is a lot of information so you are required to pick out specifics, and you are given a word limit to get everything in which I recall being quite small (around 700-1000 if I recall correctly).

    Interview with 2 grad recruitment partners - much harder interview, one of the hardest interviews I've ever had. Lots of technical questions - they are an IP/Life Science firm, so not necessarily legal questions but not your standard commercial questions. Every single answer I provided would be met with 3-4 followup questions going deeper and deeper into my answer (more than the usual 1 followup you might get elsewhere).

    Please list any interview questions you were asked.

    Why Bristows?

    If you were sat on the train and you saw opposing counsel reading a confidential bundle about your case, which you could read, what would you do?

    If you finished a meeting and were clearing out papers and you realised that opposing counsel had left a confidential document on the table, what would you do?

    Tell us about a recent story in the news and why it relates to Bristows.

    If you were leading a research project at your University, where would you look for funding and why?

    What kind of issues do you think you would get with regards to getting this funding?

    What role do you think Bristows plays in the IP and Life Science sector, and why does that appeal to you?

    If you were a doctor who had produced a new program which would help other doctors diagnose disease, what kind of liability do you think you might encounter?

    How would you give other people the rights to use your program, and what legal issues might arise?

    Also a small exercise where you are given 2 products and you are asked to walk through any potential IP claims that might arise (they are very similar).


    What is your best advice for each aspect of the assessment on the day? Please break this down for each assessment. This can include advice for preparation, as well as tips for the day.

    Written exercise - plan your answer. You have a very small word limit, and lots to write, so make sure you write a plan for yourself first as there is a lot of information to get through.

    Interview - applies for both interviews, and I can't stress this enough - don't be afraid of thinking about your answer for a good 20-30 seconds before replying. They were impressed that I thought through each answer instead of saying the first thing that came to my head, which meant that when I answered follow-up questions (and there were a lot), I was able to come up with reasoned answers.

    Were you successful?

    Yes
     

    Ruby96

    Standard Member
    Future Trainee
    Oct 29, 2019
    5
    23
    Hi! Thank you so much for this, I've got a 2nd round interview coming up with Bristows next week so this is really helpful.

    I was curious about any further detail that could be provided for this round specifically? Furthermore, I know Bristows is a very technically-focused firm, so wha areas would be best for me to research in regards to getting myself updated with the type of questions they are likely to ask?

    Thank you! :)
     

    VSH

    Active Member
    Nov 28, 2019
    12
    7
    Hello! I have a first round interview with Bristows tomorrow so I am very nervous. Particularly since it is a video interview which I found out about this morning - so one day for prep!!! Any tips on what to prep for today?
    Also, what is the turnaround between the first interview and hearing back?
    Thanks :)
     

    Alice G

    Legendary Member
    Future Trainee
    Forum Team
    M&A Bootcamp
    Nov 26, 2018
    1,731
    4,183
    Hello! I have a first round interview with Bristows tomorrow so I am very nervous. Particularly since it is a video interview which I found out about this morning - so one day for prep!!! Any tips on what to prep for today?
    Also, what is the turnaround between the first interview and hearing back?
    Thanks :)
    Wow that’s a quick turnaround! I’m unfamiliar with the firm’s recruitment process but one great tip shared by @Jessica Booker is to have post its on your laptop or on a blank wall behind your laptop to help you as prompts. So you could have one dedicated to ‘why Bristows’ and just bullet point three key reasons to help you when you are on the spot :) otherwise just try and look as you would for a face to face interview in terms of attire, be smiley and remember to look at your camera, not at yourself :)

    Sorry it’s late to help with prep but have why the firm and why commercial law nailed down. I would also recommend knowing some key competencies so strengths and weaknesses, times you have worked in a team, shown leadership or resilience etc but that’s just my hunch on a first round interview. Like I say, I sadly don’t know anything about the firm’s process or interview style so I shan’t delve deeper than that :) good luck!!!
     
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    VSH

    Active Member
    Nov 28, 2019
    12
    7
    Hi Alice,

    Sorry for my late reply, I have just seen this. Thank you so much for your help. I have prepared answers to all these competency based questions. I agree it should be quite competency based and the second interview will probably be more technical. I will let you know how it goes this afternoon, thank you again :)
     
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    Alice G

    Legendary Member
    Future Trainee
    Forum Team
    M&A Bootcamp
    Nov 26, 2018
    1,731
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    Hi Alice,

    Sorry for my late reply, I have just seen this. Thank you so much for your help. I have prepared answers to all these competency based questions. I agree it should be quite competency based and the second interview will probably be more technical. I will let you know how it goes this afternoon, thank you again :)
    Please do! Sending lots of luck your way, you’ll smash it :) :)
     

    VSH

    Active Member
    Nov 28, 2019
    12
    7
    Thanks Alice. Annoyingly I had every IT issue on the planet happen. So after 20 mins of frustration we had to move it to a phone call interview which was strange. Oh well fingers crossed I did the best I could in the circumstances. :)
     
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    Alice G

    Legendary Member
    Future Trainee
    Forum Team
    M&A Bootcamp
    Nov 26, 2018
    1,731
    4,183
    Thanks Alice. Annoyingly I had every IT issue on the planet happen. So after 20 mins of frustration we had to move it to a phone call interview which was strange. Oh well fingers crossed I did the best I could in the circumstances. :)

    Don't worry - you are not the first and certainly not the last and even if you check your connection 100 times before a call, it is almost always when you need it to work the most that it will fail you. Well done for remaining agile with the interview, that won't go unnoticed, and I really hope you get a positive outcome!
     
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    Reactions: VSH

    LuNo

    Star Member
    Future Trainee
    Junior Lawyer 33
    Mar 15, 2020
    28
    77
    Thanks Alice. Annoyingly I had every IT issue on the planet happen. So after 20 mins of frustration we had to move it to a phone call interview which was strange. Oh well fingers crossed I did the best I could in the circumstances. :)
    Hey! I wouldn't worry too much about the technical issues, my video kept freezing during my interview and I couldn't see them and it was very distracting... I told them they said we should just do our best and they wouldn't take it into account! I'm sure you've done well. Best wishes :)
     
    • 🤝
    Reactions: VSH and Alice G

    LuNo

    Star Member
    Future Trainee
    Junior Lawyer 33
    Mar 15, 2020
    28
    77
    Hi! Thank you so much for this, I've got a 2nd round interview coming up with Bristows next week so this is really helpful.

    I was curious about any further detail that could be provided for this round specifically? Furthermore, I know Bristows is a very technically-focused firm, so wha areas would be best for me to research in regards to getting myself updated with the type of questions they are likely to ask?

    Thank you! :)

    Hi! I also have a second stage interview coming up and I was wondering if anyone shared tips with you if they could message me as well! Thank you in advance and good luck to everyone :)
     

    Lawgrad1417

    New Member
    Jan 27, 2020
    4
    1
    Hi! I also have a second stage interview coming up and I was wondering if anyone shared tips with you if they could message me as well! Thank you in advance and good luck to everyone :)

    Have you have your 2nd interview yet? I had mine today. Dont know how it went, feel like i couldve answered the questions better tho
     

    Hadrien Cignaco

    New Member
    Jan 2, 2020
    2
    0
    Hi!

    Has anyone heard back post second interview? I understand how difficult it must be to continue the hiring process right now but I was wondering whether first offers had been made? I emailed grad rec a week ago but have yet to receive a response.

    Thank you, good luck to all
     

    Phoebe

    Star Member
    Junior Lawyer
    Sep 25, 2018
    49
    202
    Hi :)

    Well done to all of you to making it to interview stage - I've got a video interview with Bristows and as this will be my 3rd attempt, I was wondering whether anyone had any tips? I'm aware that partners review the video interviews so I was wondering whether that means I should be more technical with my answers to 'why Bristows' i.e. explain why IP interests me so much?

    Thanks
     

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