General Discussion Thread 2020-21

[KerC14]

With the risk of sounding like a broken record, anyone heard anything from Blake Morgan post application for direct TC? Getting antsy

Also has anyone got any experience with the Government legal profession SJT test?

 

[O]

Interesting to see Clifford Chance have replaced their 2021 vacation scheme with a virtual internship, open to all: https://www.legalcheek.com/2020/07/...-to-launch-virtual-work-experience-programme/.

Thanks for sharing this.

Curious to see if this will become a trend across City firms.

 

[S87]

Interesting to see Clifford Chance have replaced their 2021 vacation scheme with a virtual internship, open to all: https://www.legalcheek.com/2020/07/...-to-launch-virtual-work-experience-programme/.

@Jessica Booker and @Jaysen Do you think that recruitment is going to change? And if this becomes a trend across city firms how will it impact on the SQE?

 

[Senai H Tes]

Does anyone have any tips for Mishcon’s case study assessment?

How was it? Mine is next week.

 

[D]

CC have been in a transitional period for some time. For example - they remain the only 'large' firm to recruit candidates from the first year of Uni. They are going even further than that now with their apprenticeships. I presume their strategy is to try and "snap up" the "top talent" as early as possible. The other firms will likely monitor their own intakes to see whether there is a noticeable drop in competency. Given the breadth of quality out there though, I highly doubt it.

Anecdotally, I know quite a few candidates who completed SPARK in Year 1, were offered their TC, and subsequently turned it down having received alternative offers.

 

[AH97]

Has anyone who applied direct for a TC heard anything from Macfarlanes or Travers Smith? I applied sometime late last year for both and other than an email from TS saying 'we are still considering your application' I haven't heard anything.

I believe TS said that due to the high level of applications this cycle (from October 2019), they will now only be offering further review of applications and interview invitations after the closing date!

 

[man063]

Has anyone who received a WG invite from Bakers actually been sent the test? I got my invite on Friday which said the test would be sent within a few working days but I still haven't got anything.

 

[OB]

With the risk of sounding like a broken record, anyone heard anything from Blake Morgan post application for direct TC? Getting antsy

Also has anyone got any experience with the Government legal profession SJT test?

I just completed the GLP SJT and it was pretty straightforward and nothing really to stress about!

 

[O]

Has anyone who received a WG invite from Bakers actually been sent the test? I got my invite on Friday which said the test would be sent within a few working days but I still haven't got anything.

Same here. Got the invite email on Friday too.

 

[Matt_96]

I believe TS said that due to the high level of applications this cycle (from October 2019), they will now only be offering further review of applications and interview invitations after the closing date!

Yikes. That doesn't sound good. I only chose to apply direct TC because on its recruitment literature TS said in practice it did not differentiate between VS and direct TC applicants and I just wanted to get on with it! Thanks for the heads up though!

 

[AH9891]

Does anyone have any experience with client pitch exercises (group exercise) by any chance and can shed some light as to what to expect etc? Thank you!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Does anyone have any experience with client pitch exercises (group exercise) by any chance and can shed some light as to what to expect etc? Thank you!

for a vac scheme or for an assessment centre?

 

[AH9891]

for a vac scheme or for an assessment centre?

vacation scheme. We’re doing a virtual client pitch and there has been zero info, so just trying to see if I can prep a little bit

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

vacation scheme. We’re doing a virtual client pitch and there has been zero info, so just trying to see if I can prep a little bit

You have been given the client though?

 

[AH9891]

You have been given the client though?

No we have not been given any information. We won’t know anything until the day of it...

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

No we have not been given any information. We won’t know anything until the day of it...

to be honest I don’t think there is much prep you can do for it as it will depend on the client you are being asked about. You could get stuck doing a lot of research that won’t be used, especially if you are only preparing it with you group on the day itself.

At best you could research the following:

- find any client marketing / business development publications (however this could be too much as they tend to be divided into practice areas of sectors) and just read them to see the type of language they use to promote the firm to potential clients.

- read their annual report (if they publish one) and see what specifically say about providing service to clients

- have a quick scout of the legal press to see if you can find anything about the type of clients that have won recently (typically their are announcements on which firms get on panels for major clients).

- do a bit of reading on competitors (again this might be too big a task because again it tends to vary by practice area or sector).

The above might sound like a lot, but my concern would be you invest too much time into the above with little benefit for the exercise.

 

[AH9891]

to be honest I don’t think there is much prep you can do for it as it will depend on the client you are being asked about. You could get stuck doing a lot of research that won’t be used, especially if you are only preparing it with you group on the day itself.

At best you could research the following:

- find any client marketing / business development publications (however this could be too much as they tend to be divided into practice areas of sectors) and just read them to see the type of language they use to promote the firm to potential clients.

- read their annual report (if they publish one) and see what specifically say about providing service to clients

- have a quick scout of the legal press to see if you can find anything about the type of clients that have won recently (typically their are announcements on which firms get on panels for major clients).

- do a bit of reading on competitors (again this might be too big a task because again it tends to vary by practice area or sector).

The above might sound like a lot, but my concern would be you invest too much time into the above with little benefit for the exercise.

This is really helpful, thank you Jessica! I will definitively try to have a quick browse, but like you said, we don’t know the client, so might be a bit of a stab in the dark

 

[NickMcK]

This is really helpful, thank you Jessica! I will definitively try to have a quick browse, but like you said, we don’t know the client, so might be a bit of a stab in the dark

Just to add to Jessica's really good advice. The other prep you can do is to consider the structure of your presentation and research tips/guides for presenting virtually. These can make or break a presentation and apply regardless of whether it is a pitch or related to commercial law.

A few things to think about before you get the brief:

• Do you know roughly how long it will be? 10-20 minutes is not a long time!
• How will you guide your audience through the pitch? You can map an outline of this before knowing the topic. This is as important as getting the content right. If your structure is poor the content of your pitch won't land.
• What is your personal style? I've worked with great presenters who have ranged from talking through a prepared speech word for word to others who captivated an audience using only 5 photographs that they ad-libbed against. Consider a style that gives you confidence rather than gets in the way of what you want to get across.
  
• Will you use slides? If so, how many? You don't have to use slides just because other people do. Bad presentations tend to use more slides than they have time for, have too much text on each slide or use slides when they aren't necessary.
• Will you allow questions throughout or at the end? How will you prep for answering questions?
• Will you have an interactive element or a quick breakout discussion? Ask the right discussion question and it can be a great way to show you know a client's market/business. Do this badly and it can be awkward.
• How will you adapt to presenting virtually?
• Are you confident screen sharing over Zoom/Skype/whatever platform you have been asked to use, and have practiced this?
• Consider, what do you gain/lose from presenting over the internet compared to being in a room with people?

Good luck!

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Just to add to Jessica's really good advice. The other prep you can do is to consider the structure of your presentation and research tips/guides for presenting virtually. These can make or break a presentation and apply regardless of whether it is a pitch or related to commercial law.

A few things to think about before you get the brief:

• Do you know roughly how long it will be? 10-20 minutes is not a long time!
• How will you guide your audience through the pitch? You can map an outline of this before knowing the topic. This is as important as getting the content right. If your structure is poor the content of your pitch won't land.
• What is your personal style? I've worked with great presenters who have ranged from talking through a prepared speech word for word to others who captivated an audience using only 5 photographs that they ad-libbed against. Consider a style that gives you confidence rather than gets in the way of what you want to get across.
  
• Will you use slides? If so, how many? You don't have to use slides just because other people do. Bad presentations tend to use more slides than they have time for, have too much text on each slide or use slides when they aren't necessary.
• Will you allow questions throughout or at the end? How will you prep for answering questions?
• Will you have an interactive element or a quick breakout discussion? Ask the right discussion question and it can be a great way to show you know a client's market/business. Do this badly and it can be awkward.
• How will you adapt to presenting virtually?
• Are you confident screen sharing over Zoom/Skype/whatever platform you have been asked to use, and have practiced this?
• Consider, what do you gain/lose from presenting over the internet compared to being in a room with people?

Good luck!

Agree with the above. Where it is a group exercise though, don’t fixate on how you want to do things, as you will need to work with the group to ensure it works well for everyone.

These are all good questions to ask your group once you have the details and you can start working together on it.

 

[Pallatablelawyer]

have u guys heard about this kickstarter program? could be interesting if law firms take it up? Essentially they will be paid to have interns for 6 months and that could be crucial for helping find TCs .. although i doubt this will be available for international students! if youre a home student, enjoy if law firms take it up!